Are you at the forefront of digital marketing? As a managed service provider (MSP), you should be! Customers need to see you as tech-savvy and ahead of the curve. Digital marketing can help you keep that professional image by delivering excellence to your client base. We understand that digital marketing remains a necessary evil for your MSP. It seems daunting and overwhelming, especially when you have a business to run. However, having some marketing prowess can have a profound impact on your company.
One of the first steps in digital marketing involves understanding the buyer persona. Come up with a fictional person that represents your perfect customer. This will help narrow your marketing efforts toward the people with an actual interest in your services. After you create a few buyer personas, it’s time to set up a game plan for your digital marketing efforts. Here are three MSP digital-marketing strategies that will help your business succeed:
1. Create a user-friendly website
Users take just 0.05 seconds to judge a website That means you need to put your best digital-face forward when it comes to clients. Showcase your business’s culture, services, and unique selling propositions. Strive for a modern and easily navigable design with clear messaging. Give viewers calls to action so they know exactly what to do once they arrive. You also need to focus on search engine optimization (SEO) to compete with other MSPs on the web. As an essential part of any marketing strategy, keep SEO a top priority.
2. Thought leadership
Clients need to see that you know your stuff. Become a thought leader in the MSP industry by creating and distributing engaging blogs, white papers, and articles. Ensure they read well while being relative and useful. Keyword-rich content will also attract web traffic, increasing your SEO efforts at the same time. Learn what answers customers seek, and then provide the answer with a great blog post. Once a potential customer searches for a particular keyword, your article will show up in the search engine results, solidifying your place as an expert in the industry.
3. Email marketing
While not everyone has a social media account, most people have an email address. Unfortunately, they also have a spam folder. Since email marketing remains an effective marketing strategy, you need to make sure your messages count. Try sending out a recurring newsletter that contains promotions, discounts, and IT tips. Have a catchy subject line and get straight to the point if you’re sending promotional offers. You should also have a real person’s name as the sender of all your emails. Put yourself in your customer’s shoes by asking, “Would I open this?”
You can use these marketing strategies to generate leads as an MSP
When it comes to sales and marketing, we know that IT services are difficult for a lot of people to understand—and even harder to explain. As you can see here, managed service provider marketing isn’t always easy, but it is important. Almost every business needs IT services, and you want to make sure you can meet those businesses where they are and when they need your services.
What is lead generation?
First of all, let’s talk about exactly is lead generation is. Essentially, it’s the marketing strategy of connecting with people who are already interested in your product and getting them to opt into communication with you.
Leads are not quite sales—at least not yet. But they’re people you know are interested, and that’s the key. Lead generation is, essentially, gaining more access to people and companies who are interested in your product, and it’s a big step on the way to making a sale.
So, no matter what your MSP marketing plan looks like and what kinds of clients and customers you want to reach out to, it’s going to be crucial to fit MSP lead generation in so you can find people who are already interested in what you do, build relationships with potential clients, and reach out in better and smarter ways. Here’s why managed service provider lead generation is so important for your bottom line:
Part of the sales funnel
Think of lead-generation marketing as part of a funnel. As soon as someone opts into that funnel—by filling out a form on your website, reaching out via email or a phone call, talking to you at an event, etc.—they become a lead, and you can reach out again and again with helpful information and MSP marketing materials that you already know they’ll be interested in. And even though gaining managed IT services leads isn’t the same as selling your IT services to clients yet, it’s an invaluable way to help your sales process along.
Getting to know your leads
Basically, MSP lead generation helps you to build a relationship with your leads and build trust with them. Converting leads may be a longer sales process than cold-calling, but we think it’s better, for a number of ways. It builds mutual respect, and it shows clients that you understand finding an IT service isn’t a choice that should be made lightly. This relationship-building process is also better for your Managed Service Provider marketing. Getting to know your leads helps you learn more about their needs and their industry, and allows you to communicate with them in smarter, better ways based on their needs and preferences. Plus, spending time getting to know your leads and clients leads to better customer satisfaction—and more business for you in the long run.
Not all of your leads are going to be ready to make a decision right away, but since you have their information, it’s easy to keep yourself top of mind, even if you’re not making aggressive sales pitches. You can market to them on digital, shoot them a quick email with some helpful information that can help them with their search, send over some MSP marketing materials, or make a call and set up an appointment to talk.
When a lead is ready to make a decision, they already know who you are and how you can help them. By starting with leads who are already interested in your IT services and have opted in themselves, you can reach out in smarter, more personalized ways to turn that lead into a sale.
Hopefully, these managed service provider marketing ideas can propel your business forward. Remember, digital marketing and the sales funnel aren’t a “set it and forget it” undertaking. By consistently delivering just what your customers need, at the right time, you’ll be at the front of everyone’s minds in no time.
If you have any questions about marketing your business as a managed service provider online, please don’t hesitate to reach out to our team today.
