Marketing a Growing MSP

Is your growing MSP looking for marketing strategies to help take your business to the next level? If so, this guide is for you. A survey found that over 50% of MSPs have challenges when it comes to getting new customers. The main reason? Poor or no marketing strategies in place.

The good news is that there are effective marketing strategies and tactics that MSPs can use to get a jumpstart on their digital marketing while staying within their budget. To that end, we put together this guide to help you understand some common marketing strategies that digital agencies use to market their MSP clients.

Note that the tips provided here are most appropriate for established MSPs who can invest in a robust marketing plan. If you are a new MSP business, check out our guide for MSP Solopreneurer Marketing.

If you have an established MSP business with existing customers and potential for growth, you may want to consider investing in a comprehensive marketing strategy. A comprehensive marketing plan will help you reach more potential customers and increase the likelihood of getting new clients at a pace that you’ll need to grow successfully grow your business.

A 360-degree marketing plan leverages a holistic approach to your strategy and uses multiple marketing channels and tactics in concert with each other.  It should be tailored to reach the right audiences, drive traffic to your website, generate a contact request, and nurture prospects into paying customers.

Here are some of the tactics that should be included in a comprehensive MSP marketing strategy:

Identify Your Customers

It is imperative to identify your target customers and their needs. This is the most important step in creating an effective MSP marketing plan. Knowing your ideal customer will help you create content, campaigns, and other tailored strategies to meet their needs and interests.

Here are 5 questions you must answer when targeting customers:

1. Which verticals or industries do my customers belong to? 

This question will help you know exactly who your target audience is so you can create marketing content and campaigns tailored to their industry needs.

2. What size and type of company do you want to work for?

As you grow your MSP business, you can get picky about who you work with. A good marketing plan will define an Idea Customer Type. When I talk to MSPs that are trying to make the jump to the next level of revenue, it no longer surprises me that they can’t answer the question – who is your perfect client?  Most small businesses have this same issue. Define your perfect client.

In example,  you may say: Our perfect client is a small business with 30-60 endpoints with specific cyber compliance regulations that must be met. Or, Our perfect client is a small doctor’s office with 6-20 end points and no IT staff.

Defining your perfect customer is critical to focusing your marketing efforts and making your business more efficient.

3. Which problems do my customers want to be solved?

The pain points of your potential customers will give you a clear insight into the type of services and products you should offer. Do they need data backup services? Are they in need of maintenance and troubleshooting? Answering this question will help you focus your efforts on providing the right solutions.

4. What channels do my customers use to find products or services like mine? 

Knowing where your potential customers search for information gives you an idea of what channels to focus on when it comes to marketing and promoting your MSP business. It can be anything from search engine optimization (SEO), paid advertising, content marketing, or social media.

5. What is their buying cycle?

The buying cycle of your potential customers will give you a better understanding of the decision-making process and how to market to them. Knowing this helps you create marketing campaigns targeted at the right stage.

It is also wise to first understand your existing customers and the problems you help them solve. This will give you more clarity about the type of customers you should target and how to market your MSP business. It wouldn’t be a good idea to start thinking about the “ideal customers” without understanding who you already help.

Your website needs great content to describe your services and company, that is cost of entry. Then, you need to go a step further and start Content marketing.  Content Marketing is one of the most important parts of any MSP marketing plan. Content helps potential customers learn more about you, your services, and how they can benefit from them. It’s a way to draw customers in when they search to solve a problem.

Here are some of the types of content to consider:

Blog Posts: Write blog posts about topics related to your MSP services, such as common problems in the industry, security tips for businesses, or case studies showcasing how you solved a customer’s problem. If, for instance, you are a networking MSP, creating a blog post about how Linux interfaces with Windows can be a great way to generate leads.

Videos: Videos are an effective way to create content and build relationships with potential customers. You could create educational videos introducing your services, product demonstrations, and interviews with experts in the IT field.

Expert Content: Expert content such as case studies, whitepapers, ebooks, podcasts, and webinars is ideal for potential customers who want to dive deeper into technical topics related to your services. This type of content will position you as an expert in the field and help your potential customer better understand how you can help them overcome their pain points.

How-to Guides: How-to guides are a great way to provide helpful information to your potential customers. You can create step-by-step guides that explain how they can use services or products you offer or how they can protect their data from cyber threats. This will help position you as an expert in the IT field and increase trust with your potential customers.

Bite Size Content: Don’t forget bite-size content, which can include infographics, social media posts short email newsletters.  Bite-sized content lets you stay in front of your prospects and client in a format that they can quickly consume.

Your website must also make it easy for potential customers to reach you. Your pages should prominently display your contact information and link to any social media accounts you have. The last thing you want is for potential customers to leave your website because they couldn’t find the contact information they needed to reach you.

You must decide how you want to promote your MSP business. The type of promotion you choose will depend on the goals and budget of your MSP.

Social Media: Social media is the most effective way to reach potential customers and promote your brand. It also allows you to interact with customers, answer their questions, and build relationships with them. You can use platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram to promote your MSP business.

Advertising: Advertising can be a great way to reach potential customers who are interested in learning more about the services you offer. You can use platforms like Google Ads, Facebook Ads, print or billboard advertising, TV ads, and radio ads.

Email Marketing: After social media, email marketing is the second most effective marketing strategy for MSPs. Email is an excellent way to contact potential customers, inform them about your services, and answer any questions they may have.

Pay-per-click (PPC) Advertising: PPC is a form of advertising in which you pay for clicks instead of impressions. This type of advertising is effective because it allows you to target potential customers who are actively searching for services and products that your MSP offers.

Paid advertising: In addition to paid search (PPC) advertising, you may also consider other forms of paid ads, like display ads, to promote your MSP website.

Influencer marketing: Partnering with key influencers in the IT industry can help promote your MSP website to a larger audience. Influencers may be able to share your content or promote your services on their social media channels, podcasts, or blogs.

Distributing your Content:  Content distribution can be a great way to increase brand awareness and trust with potential customers. You can create content such as blog posts, videos, how-to guides, and white papers that are published on 3rd party websites. This shows potential customers that your MSP is an expert in the IT field. 

It is important to track, measure, and analyze the performance of all of your digital marketing activities. This will allow you to make sure you are getting a good return on investment (ROI) of your time and money.

Tools like Google Analytics and Google Tag Manager (GTM) can help you measure the performance of your marketing campaigns. Using GTM allows you to get detailed tracking information for each campaign.

You don’t want to pump money into marketing channels that are not producing results. Tracking, measuring, and analyzing the performance of your marketing activities will help you focus on the channels that are working for you and those that need improvement.

You require ongoing oversight and coordination to properly and effectively execute your MSP marketing strategy. This can be done in three ways: in-house, outsourcing to a marketing agency, or using a hybrid approach.

In-House: If you have the resources and expertise, you can do your own MSP marketing in-house. This is especially true if you have limited budget constraints. Many MSPs choose to hire an in-house marketing team to manage their campaigns and track their performance.

An in-house marketing team gives you more control over your marketing strategy and allows you to focus on specific areas that need improvement. However, it can be costly to hire an entire team and manage the campaigns yourself.

External Marketing Agencies: Outsourcing your MSP marketing activities to a professional agency can be a great way to get expert advice and help with execution. A good agency will have the experience and resources to help you create an effective marketing strategy and execute it with maximum efficiency.

Outsourcing is also a great way to save time and money, as you don’t have to hire an entire team in-house or manage the campaigns yourself. However, you are going to have less control over the strategy and execution, as it is all handled by an external agency.

Combining the Two: If you have the budget, you can combine in-house and external marketing strategies to get the best of both worlds. With this approach, you get more control over the strategy while also having access to an experienced agency that can help with execution.

No matter what approach you choose, it is important to set measurable goals and track your progress so that you can make necessary adjustments to ensure success. It is also important to constantly review your strategy and adjust it to meet the changing needs of potential customers.

Like any business, you need to work hard to grow a solid customer base for your MSP. Implementing an effective marketing strategy is key to ensuring the long-term success of your business.

It’s important to find the right mix of tactics that work for your business goals and budget. You may want to try combining these strategies for a more holistic approach. Working with a reputable agency like Seota will help you get the most from your marketing budget.