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Public Service Broadcasting: Is Marketing A Service And A Product The Same?

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Most businesses rely on marketing for one specific reason, and that reason is to promote a product or a service. Usually, services meet the needs of a customer or a consumer, but what happens when you need to market a public service, like a doctor’s surgery, or a dentist? Is it the same thing as when you market a business for the purposes of A consumer? Let’s try and answer the question.

The Similarities

Marketing any service is similar to marketing a product. Generally, there are similarities between them. Although products are physical items and services are a tangible experience, both stem from the same place, which is the need to fulfill an area of the marketplace. Ultimately the goal is to provide value for a consumer whatever they may be, and so when you are looking to promote a public service, you will see that there are plenty of promotional materials in respect of these.

Marketing Methods

So when it comes to marketing a public service, as opposed to a store that sells a product, surprisingly the marketing methods don’t differ that much. The one advantage that you have as a public service, whether you are a practicing law firm or a doctor’s surgery, the products is your service, and the needs are derived from a specific area of the marketplace, which you already know is just the people that require your services. So in many ways, you don’t need to rely on the standard marketing techniques such as content marketing. Instead, your goal is to be the best service provider in your area of practice.

Eliminating Competition

When you are a very niche public service, for example, if you were a lawyer specializing in litigation, the competition is very limited. As a result, it becomes easier for you to make yourself stand out because the services you are providing are that niche you already stand a better chance of gaining custom. But in addition to this, there are also some modern marketing techniques that you could benefit from. Search engine optimization is all the rage now, and every business should be taking advantage of it in one way or another, and even now there are SEO firms for law firms, such as Gladiator Law Marketing, that work specifically to drive customers to lawyer websites. Although the product may be different to a website selling candles or a blog, the fundamentals are still the same when it comes to marketing. It’s just that the finite details vary from product to product.

The Big Difference

When you are providing a service such as representing a client in a lawsuit, is that once they’ve used your service that is where your relationship will end. The normal approach would be to continue nurturing the relationship with a customer who has bought your product, however, in these respects, it’s not always possible. But of course, it depends on the area of the practice. For something like a doctor’s appointment or a dental checkup, these can be nurtured by regular emails to the customer to inform them of offers on specific treatments.

In the modern world the products sold by a website, and the products sold by a public service can almost be indistinguishable, apart from a few simple things. But the fundamentals in terms of marketing are almost the same.

 

By John-Shea

Internet Marketing Entrepreneur

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