MSP marketing should be at the center of your growth strategy if you want to become a top MSP company. We’ve created an in-depth guide to help kick-start and implement your MSP marketing plan.
We’ve even thrown in MSP marketing templates to help you get started.
Look…
We’re an experienced MSP marketing agency, and over the years we’ve seen managed service providers struggle to generate a steady stream of paying customers. In the same breath, we’ve helped many distressed MSPs up their game, generate leads, and set out on a path to profitability.
Simply put, we’ve crafted this post from a point of information.
Read through as we let you in on how to develop an MSP marketing strategy that’s proven to work.
But, first things first.
What Is MSP Marketing?
The short answer:
MSP marketing is the process of putting your managed service provider business in front of your target customers.
The long answer:
MSP marketing involves creating a promotion plan, campaign, or strategy to enable you to sell your managed IT services. It includes reaching out to your target audience and influencing potential clients to get in touch with you.
Think of it as a bundle of techniques to enable you to generate new leads and appeal to your ideal target market and buyer personas. The result: more qualified leads from your marketing efforts with fresh new prospects for your sales team to close and your revenue to increase.
MSP Marketing Is NOT The Same As MSP Sales
The truth is…
You’re marketing your MSP business to close deals and sell your services.
But, here’s the thing.
MSP marketing doesn’t revolve around sales only.
Marketing for MSPs focuses on taking a prospect through the customer value journey.
We all know that people buy from people they know like and trust. In order to get qualified leads into your sales process, it’s important for them to know who you are, like your company/product, and trust you’re company will deliver on the products/solutions promised.
How To Take A Potential MSP Client Down Your Sales Funnel
Make The Prospect Aware Of Your Services
First, you’ll make a potential customer aware of your services. At this point, the person isn’t interested in your company or services. You can create awareness through blog posts, adverts, social media, word of mouth, or any other platform that puts your solutions and offering in front of your ideal customers.
This is the most common area for most MSP’s. They consistently struggle to get the attention of search engines and don’t have enough insight into their prospective customers. Meaning what does your customer actually want in their business. When people buy they share what they want but now how they feel after they buy.
They may know they need to buy MSP service but they are buying it because they are exhausted all the time because they worry if their company data is being backed up.
Awareness is where most MSPs come up short. Most MSPs have a great sales process but they lack the attention from their ideal prospect resulting in a dry pipeline. It’s important to get creative to gain attention.
Video marketing, social media marketing, and guest blogging are great ways to attract your ideal clients. Keep focusing on inbound marketing efforts to get more attention sooner than later to keep a healthy pipeline.
From here, you’ll need to create top-funnel content that draws the attention of your prospects and then informs them.
Get The Prospect To Engage With Your Services
This process begins right after your initial touch or interaction with a prospect.
At this stage, you’re having an ongoing conversation with your potential MSP client through blog posts, customer support, email, etc.
Ask The Prospect To Subscribe To Your Email List
When a potential customer likes their experience with your company, they’ll begin to trust you. And, once that happens, it’s time to request the prospect to commit by subscribing and granting you permission to email them.
There’s a catch, though…
Nowadays, people are a bit hesitant about giving out their email addresses. So, ensure that you have something valuable to make this step worthwhile. Think free guides, webinars, demos, etc. These are called lead magnets.
The goal is to provide amazing lead magnets that provide incredible value for potential clients in exchange for their email addresses. Company white papers can be a great resource to give out in exchange for contact information.
If you offer something a potential MSP customer wants, he/she will fill out a form to get it.
Make The Prospect A Customer
If your free offer was valuable enough, your potential customers are often keen to extend their commitment. You only need to tell them how.
The best way to turn a prospect into a customer is through an entry-point offer.
More specifically, create a high-value, low-risk offer that allows a potential client to sample your managed IT services without digging deep into their pockets.
You can, for instance, front an offer to monitor your prospect’s systems for cyber threats.
There are also other options like running a threat scan with Rapid Fire Tools is another way to provide massive value without much of a commitment. You might even be able to give this away for free.
The idea is not to make a profit. You want to enable a smooth transition from a subscriber to a paying customer. Make the offer so good they have to say yes. The goal is to get them to agree to give you their contact information and in return, you have to wow them with your product/service.
You will sell more services to the customer later in the journey. Consider this as a loss leader. Just like you go to the grocery store to buy eggs and milk. They may not make a profit but they are betting on the fact that you buy more. This is true with the above entry point offer.
The goal is to get them to give you their information or buy a cheap product at a steep discount to get them comfortable with giving you their money. The long and short of it is that MSP marketing is all about sharing the value of your services with potential clients so they can move through the customer value journey leading to sales.
Is MSP Marketing Important For Your Business?
The simple answer is yes. Your journey towards becoming a top MSP company starts with a well-thought-out digital marketing plan.
Managed Service Providers are in a relatively competitive industry, so to stay ahead of the curve and, most importantly, generate sales, you must find a way to boost your brand’s online footprint.
Note: The term “online” in this context means having a well-optimized website (more on that later) and taking advantage of social media platforms such as LinkedIn.
If you arent outsourcing your marketing efforts to a Digital Marketing Agency it’s important to have a clearly defined marketing process that provides results. It needs to be simple to follow and repeatable. This will also help refine your sales cycle and can show voids in the sales process that need to be fixed.
MSP Marketing Ideas You Can Leverage To Promote Your Business
There are several marketing channels out there that you can use to showcase your business.
However, we’ll stick to ones with a reasonable conversion rate so let’s get right into it.
Create An MSP Website To Establish Your Online Presence
Having an MSP website means your potential and current customers can find your business anytime, anywhere, even past business hours.
Still, you must optimize your site for conversion.
Here’s how:
Include pop-ups to your Website
Remove distractions
Add testimonials, logos, and reviews
Include CTAs
A/B test your headlines
Add live chat on your website
Offer money-back guarantee
Pro tip: Think about what makes you trust/buy from a company and implement that on your website.
On top of that, make sure that your website is mobile-responsive because 57% percent of all web traffic happens on mobile devices.
Further, your site should load quickly. Remember, 40 percent of users leave a website for the next one if it takes more than 3 seconds to load.
You’re an MSP and master with tech. Those skills should shine through and your website should be a representation of what your business is and how it operates.
Why You Should Have An MSP Website
Hire a good designer to build an MSP website for you. You want a marketing company that can create an SEO-optimized site that wows customers and Google loves to show.
Growth Generators can design a website with your needs in mind. We pay attention to detail with a focus on user experience and MSP SEO. We can even create content that attracts leads and run your content marketing campaign. Join our email list at the bottom of this article to stay up to date on how your MSP can stand out among the rest.
Blog To Attract Prospects Most People Land On A Blog Before The Home Page
Creating an MSP website is one thing. However, what you post on it is entirely different.
The fact is… Your potential customers are turning to Google to look for answers and solutions for their problems.
Do you know what this means? It implies that blogging is a terrific way to attract prospective MSP clients. Besides, blogs are excellent for driving leads down the buyer’s journey. At the top of your sales funnel, generate buyer-centric, informative and engaging blogs.
At the bottom, help your audience understand how your managed IT services fix their problems better than your competitors. Your blogs should focus on education, not selling.
The idea is to make sure that your content showcases you as a thought leader. That way, you become more appealing to a prospect searching for a top MSP company that understands what it is doing.
Blogs enable you to build trust with your target audience and are part of your relationship-building strategy.
Why You Should Blog
B2B businesses that blog draw 67 percent more traffic. Moreover, websites with a blog enjoy 434 percent more indexed pages – a plus for Google searches.
66 percent of people looking to purchase turned to blogs before buying.
You can incorporate blogs into your email campaigns.
It’s a great way to build your email list by providing subscribers with marketing materials that add value.
Embrace Public Relations To Get Your Brand’s Name Out There
Public relations is a powerful MSP marketing strategy with a remarkable ROI value, especially if you combine it with SEO and paid media.
Public relations is all about positioning your company as an authority in the industry. To get started, you can write newspaper or magazine pieces. Or, you can hire an MSP marketing company like GrowthGenerators.
Apart from helping put your brand out there, PR also makes your MSP services look cooler.
Why MSP Public Relations Is Essential
PR complements your marketing strategy.
68 percent of executives believe PR is becoming essential.
Consistent PR will keep your business relevant for an extended period.
80 percent of marketers believe the future is digital storytelling.
Here at Growth Generators, we are consistently published on popular new sites for our work in the digital space and the value we provide. Because of this, we have been able to increase our online exposure exponentially.
Use Email Marketing To Nurture Prospects
Email marketing, when done correctly, is an incredible way to net new customers and keep the existing ones.
You can use email marketing to:
Thank your prospects for subscribing to your newsletter.
Invite subscribers to download premium content.
Invite your readers to a webinar
Cold-email prospects
Speaking of cold-emailing, here are a few cold-email templates for MSP to get you started.
Template 1
Email Subject – Free Security Audit
Body:
Hi (Name)
Have you checked (your company name)’s free security threats audit (insert a link to audit page)?
As a top MSP company in (your location), we’ve witnessed many data breaches in the last few months. I’d be glad to share these details with you and how you can avoid becoming a victim.
I’ll follow up with a call in a week if this email gets lost in your inbox.
Template 2
Email Subject – 3 Things That’ll Shock you About your Business
Body:
Hi (name)
Are you aware of the latest technology trends and how they can improve your business? Well, every week, we publish a post to help you understand the role technology has to play in your business.
On that note, here’s a summary of the last four posts (insert RSS feed including the summary and link to your blog)
Regards
(your name)
PS – Feel free to book a quick call with me if you’d like to find out more about a particular topic mentioned above (insert a link to a calendar booking page)
Even then, it is essential to segment your subscriber’s list and personalize emails. Ideally, you want to target the right section of your subscribers with your emails.
Why MSPs Need Email Marketing & The benefit of It
This strategy has a staggering 4400 percent ROI – $44 for every $1 you spend.
Businesses that use email marketing to generate leads attract 50 percent more qualified leads.
Emails are great for driving calls to action.
87 percent of marketers use email to distribute their content organically.
Leverage LinkedIn For Corporate Connections
LinkedIn offers an excellent opportunity for outsourced managed services to get new clients.
According to a Content Marketing Institute survey, 94 percent of B2B marketers say LinkedIn is their top social media platform.
On LinkedIn, be sure to participate in groups, answer questions, and post articles – all with the primary purpose of increasing your MSPs company awareness and cementing its position as a thought leader.
The beauty of using LinkedIn for MSP marketing is that you can republish posts on your site and press releases. It is also an excellent platform for making business connections.
And, it is easy to see why this is the case:
There’s a heavy concentration of MSP target clients on the platform.
50 percent of B2B product and services buyers use LinkedIn to help them make a buying decision.
76 percent rely on recommendations from the LinkedIn network to make that decision.
On that note, check out what Harrison Baron has to say about making the most of your LinkedIn connections.
Leverage Organic Social Media – Twitter And Facebook
Social media can be the perfect platform to help take your managed services company to the next level.
Think about it…
More than 60 million businesses have a Facebook page. However, 87 percent of questions asked on those pages never get answered … and that’s an opening right there! You can use this opportunity to answer questions your competitors are ignoring. On top of that, you can give advice and provide value.
Twitter, on the other hand, has a staggering 353 million monthly active users. While you can’t target everyone on Twitter, it makes perfect sense to build a list of followers who may be interested in your services.
Segment them into groups depending on interests or hashtags. Reads some of the tweeted questions and responds. The idea is to nurture relationships, credibility, and relationships. Use direct messages, graphics, and videos to make your Tweets stand out.
What’s more?
Social media is a great place to offer customer support to prospects and current clients. You can also use social media platforms to draw new traffic to your website.
Why You Should Use Organic Social Media To Market Your MSP
It is free
73 percent of the people on Facebook use the platform for professional purposes.
76 percent of users go to their feed to find interesting content as per a HubSpot report.
You can grow your outsourced IT business significantly if you attract the attention of influencers.
Leverage Paid Social Media – Facebook
Facebook ads are remarkable if you want to grow your subscriber’s list, create interest in your MSP brand, or direct users to your landing page.
The conversion rate for Facebook ads is an impressive 9.21 percent, even though it goes down to 2.3 percent for tech companies. Still, that’s better compared to nearly 40 percent of B2B marketers whose landing pages have a conversion rate of less than 1.4 percent.
Be sure to adhere to Facebook’s Advertising Best Practices, especially if you’re a small or medium-sized MSP sharing ideas and advice in groups where your target clients hang out.
Why You Should Use Paid Social Media
Facebook offers better targeting than any other social media platform.
Facebook accounts for 90 percent of social sharing.
Facebook offers rich targeting features such as geographic, etc.
The platform is cheaper compared to Adwords.
Facebook offers several placement options.
Leverage Google Adwords For Retargeting
For starters, retargeting refers to display ads popping up in another website visited by a prospect who’s already on your site.
You can target MSP clients through Google Display Network. Think of it as a way to follow up on a person who’s shown interest in your offer. Even so, it would be best if you were strategic. Who will you target with your display ads? You can go after a person who’s been:
On your home page
Two specific pages
Looking for a particular keyword
On one page but not another
Google has a claim for their Google Adwords that you should earn $2 for every $1 spent. This may not sound like much but the more time you spend crafting the right Google Ads the better that ratio can be.
Why You Should Use Retargeting
Google’s Display Network is super-powerful, reaching up to 90 percent of global internet users.
Retargeted visitors are 70 percent more likely to convert compared to those who aren’t.
A brief overview of MSP Marketing & The Importance of a Successful Campaign.
Marketing is the lifeblood of the company. It can help keep the sales pipeline full and keep fresh sales leads coming in. There is not best strategy there are strategies that work and others that don’t. Inbound marketing when performed internally can have a massive impact on an MSP’s digital presence.
Adding video marketing, blogging and social media marketing are free ways to grow online. The goal is to attract more ideal clients to your MSP. The best part is no one has to be cold calling potential customers.
Does it work? Sure but it’s hard to close the deal and even harder to hire the right people. Instead, it’s important to attract your target customers and position yourself as an industry expert.
By focusing on an inbound strategy focused on search engine marketing it gives you a competitive advantage among other companies. This marketing approach will yield the greatest return and work for years to come.
Content is the one tool that once its created it will work for years to come.
Follow these in order to get more prospects, win more proposals and get more happy customers:
Understand your prospective clients/target customers and why they buy
Define a clear marketing message and marketing team to fulfill this list
Creat marketing activities around this from creation to distribution
Adopt a marketing automation platform such as Hubspot (we are partners)
Develop a sales process that incorporates marketing materials
Follow through with amazing service and deliver on your promises
Ask for customer testimonials and feedback to refine your process and post them publicly (especially the happy customers testimonials)
Get Your MSP Marketing Campaign Going With GrowthGenerators
Sure, developing a solid MSP marketing strategy can be challenging, especially if you’re on a tight marketing budget. It boils down to how you outline your goals. Set realistic expectations and settle on one or two of the outsourced IT marketing plans explained above.
Or, you can schedule a free consultation session with one of our MSP marketing experts to help you create a marketing strategy that can work for your business model.
On top of that, be sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel for tips on how you can grow your MSP business.