Promoting Services and Educating Customers.

Chapter 7

index1. The Role of Marketing Communications

2. Challenges of Service Communications

3. Marketing Communications Planning: 5Ws

4. The Marketing Communications Mix: Marketing Communication Tools that can be used

5. The Role of Corporate Design

1. the role of marketing communications● Positioning and differentiation of the offered service.

● Attract potential customers and maintain and improve relationship

with existing customers

● Give customers the chance to evaluate and compare the offered

services.

● Highlight the backstage operations

● Improve customer experience and involvement in production.

● Provide to customers information about the kind of services

available:

○ The place and time of availability and the cost of these services.

○ The specific features, functions and service benefits that come

with these services.

2. Challenges of services communicationsINTANGIBILITY

The main challenge to communicate service benefits to customers, creating 4 problems:

Overcoming Problems of Intangibility★ Use tangible cues in advertising.

★ Use metaphors. Help to communicate benefits of service offerings.

Advertising Strategies for Overcoming Intangibility

3. Marketing communications planning: 5Ws● Who is our target audience?

● What do we need to communicate and achieve?

● How should we communicate this?

● Where should we communicate this?

● When do communications need to take place?

defining the target audience● Prospects: because marketers or consumer services do not

usually know prospects in advance, they need to employ a

traditional communications mix, such as media

advertising, public relations and use of purchased list

for direct mail or telemarketing.

● Users: in contrast to prospects, more cost effective

channels may be available to reach existing users,

including cross-selling or up-selling efforts by front

line employees, point-of-sale promotion and other

information distributed during service encounter.

Employees: serve as a secondary audience for communication

campaigns through public media. A well designed campaign

targeted at users, non-users or both can also be motivating

for employees, especially those in frontline roles.

Specifying communications objectivesCommunication objectives answer the question of what we need to communicate and achieve. Common educational and promotional objectives for service organisations include:

● Create memorable images of companies and their brands.

● Build awareness and interest in an unfamiliar service or

brand.

● Compare a service favourably with competitor´s offerings.

● Build preferences by communicating the strengths and

benefits of a specific brand.

● (Re)position a service relative to competing offerings.

● Reduce uncertainty and perceived risk by providing useful

information and advice.

● Provide reassurance, such as by promoting service

guarantees.

● Encourage trial by offering promotional incentives.

● Familiarise customers with service processes in advance

of use.

● Teach customers how to use a service to create value.

● Stimulate demand in low-demand periods and shift demand

during peak periods.

● Recognise and reward valued customers.

4. The Marketing communication mixCommunication sources -marketing communication mix of services

The Marketing communication mixCommunication sources-source of messages received by a target audience

The Marketing communication mix● Messages transmitted

through Traditional Marketing Channels

★ Advertising: Awareness, inform, persuade and remind.

The Marketing communication mix★ Public relations

Efforts to generate positive interest in an organization or product.

The Marketing communication mix★ Direct Marketing

Personalized messages to highly targeted micro segments.

★ Sales PromotionCommunication that comes with and incentive.

The Marketing communication mix★ Personal Selling

Sell through meeting face-to-face with the customer.

★ Trade ShowsCustomers can learn the latest offering from different suppliers.

The Marketing communication mixMessages Transmitted through Service Delivery Channels

★ Customer Service from Front-Line Staff

★ Service Outlets★ Self-service

delivering points

The Marketing communication mixMessages transmitted through the Internet

★ Email ★ Chat rooms★ Product trial simulation★ Online orders

The Marketing communication mixMessages Originating from Outside

the Organization

★ Word of Mouth★ Blogs★ Media Coverage

Ethical and Consumer Privacy Issues in

Communications

★ Respect customer privacy

★ Adhere to social norms

★ Adhere to government regulations

5. role of corporate design● Helps to achieve a unified image in customers● Good corporate design give a distinctive visual

appearance.

thanks for your attention.

ANY QUESTION?