Secrets to Selling Intangible Products and Services

The secret to selling intangible products and services

Trust is essential when marketing and selling intangible products and services, such as business insurance or cryptocurrency. When there’s nothing tangible to show customers, trust and integrity become the pillars that promote sales.

Your organization’s credibility builds over time. Prospects favor companies with a broad user base characterized by customer loyalty. Loyalty represents the faith customers have in the organization because of previous positive interactions.

When purchasing an intangible product or service, the customer is essentially taking a leap of faith, and trust determines whether they buy. That’s why trust isn’t just a “nice-to-have” — it directly influences buying behavior and long-term loyalty. In fact, the 2024 Forter “Trust Premium” Report found that consumers are willing to spend 51 percent more with brands they trust, while the 2025 Thales Digital Trust Index reported that 82 percent of consumers abandoned a brand in the past year due to trust or data privacy concerns. Everyone in your business must work together to uphold your customers’ faith. 

Goodwill ensues when an organization works with integrity, and happy customers spread word-of-mouth recommendations that draw in even more clients. You can build a brand advocacy program around this.

How to sell intangible products and services

While marketing and selling intangibles can be challenging, it’s far from impossible. With the right strategies, you can build trust, reduce buyer hesitation and grow your business.

Here are some of the best practices to follow when selling intangible goods and services:

Focus on personalized selling. 

According to McKinsey, 71 percent of consumers expect brands to deliver personalized experiences, and 76 percent get frustrated when that doesn’t happen. For this reason, explaining to prospects how your product or service can make a meaningful difference in their lives increases its appeal. Your sales team should tailor conversations to the needs of each target audience and personalize the pitch as much as possible. 

Show the tangible benefits of using the product or service. 

Even if the offering itself is intangible, the results it delivers are often very real. Share success stories, case studies or testimonials to build credibility, as they’re some of the strongest tools in a salesperson’s arsenal. Make sure your pitch addresses the prospect’s specific challenges and clearly positions your solution as the answer. This is the foundation of insight selling, where you guide the customer through the buying process.

Offer comfort and advice to clients. 

A physical product provides comfort just by being something customers can see and touch. Intangible offerings don’t have that advantage, so it’s up to you to create that sense of reassurance in other ways. Be clear about the benefits and the real-life outcomes customers can expect. Take life insurance, for example: The policy may be intangible, but the financial security and peace of mind it delivers are very real. Address concerns openly and show how your offering makes their life easier or solves a problem they’re facing.

Draw parallels between tangibles and intangibles. 

If you’re selling digitized content like e-books, customers can’t flip through a physical copy, so help them connect the dots. Explain that digital content is easier to access, share and distribute instantly around the world. And with global e-commerce sales projected to reach $6.8 trillion by 2028, according to Forrester, consumers are increasingly comfortable buying and consuming digital products. The same approach works when selling software, streaming services, online courses and other intangible offerings.

Demonstrate how your offering works. 

One of the biggest reasons buyers hesitate with intangibles is that they can’t picture what they’re paying for. Help them visualize it by using videos, audio clips and images to show your service or product in action. For example, if you’re marketing a premium massage service, share a short video that gives viewers a sense of the atmosphere and experience. You can also offer short demos, sample sessions or limited free trials to help prospects feel more confident in their decision.

Giving prospects a chance to “experience before committing” can significantly reduce hesitation and make them more likely to buy. Demand for try-before-you-buy experiences is rising quickly — the global virtual try-on market is projected to reach $46.42 billion by 2030, reflecting how strongly consumers value being able to preview an offering before purchasing.

Act responsibly toward stakeholders and the environment. 

Beyond the service you provide, how your organization treats its people, partners and the environment can help shape customer perception. People prefer to stay loyal to brands that act ethically and work under a sustainable business model. 

A 2023 McKinsey study found that products with environmental, social and governance (ESG) claims grew 28 percent over five years, compared with 20 percent for products without them. In other words, consumers reward responsible companies — they stick around longer and spread the word to others.

Mistakes to avoid while marketing intangibles

When selling intangible products and services, it’s essential to avoid common pitfalls that can undermine trust, stall sales and make it harder to attract the right customers.

Here are some marketing mistakes to steer clear of:

• Promoting an unclear vision: If you aren’t clear about the problem your product or service solves, you won’t be able to convey its value to consumers. Take time to define your offering: what it is, who it helps and why it matters.
• Lacking a target market: Not every product or service is for everyone. Develop a buyer persona — sometimes called a customer avatar — to get a clear picture of who your offering is for. You may also want to map the customer journey to understand how prospects move from awareness to purchase. Use data analytics to learn your ideal customer’s demographics, behaviors and pain points so you can create more targeted messaging.
• Missing a unique selling proposition (USP): You must help consumers understand why your brand is the better choice, and this often comes down to a strong unique selling proposition. Without one, you’re just another option in a sea of sales and marketing messages. Your USP should clearly communicate what makes your intangible offering different and why that difference matters to your specific audience.
• Ignoring social proof and testimonials: When selling intangibles, social proof becomes even more critical since customers can’t physically evaluate the product. Buyers look to others to validate their decisions, and the data backs that up: According to BrightLocal’s 2025 Local Consumer Review Survey, 97 percent of consumers read online reviews when considering a purchase from a local business, with 74 percent consulting two or more reviews before deciding. Actively collect and showcase customer testimonials, case studies and reviews to build credibility and trust.

Successfully selling intangible products and services requires building trust through transparency, demonstrating value through tangible outcomes and consistently delivering on your promises. By emphasizing personalization, clear communication and strong social proof — and avoiding pitfalls like unclear messaging or weak differentiation — you can market intangible offerings more effectively in today’s digital-first economy.