Marketing is the core component for any business, this is what gets the word out. It’s not selling, it’s a form of announcing to your target audience that you are here to solve their problem. The prospective customer and an MSP connects with each other because of an effective marketing strategy. The basic principles of marketing usually don’t hold true for an MSP. MSP marketing is a blend of traditional and internet marketing strategies.
Word-of-mouth is a great way to popularize any brand. Referrals from the real-life clients can definitely help leads trust the MSP. As a Managed Service Provider, the goal is to constantly spread the word. A marketing plan when it comes to Managed Services, is very important. To know the strategy and decide what is right and what would work and what wouldn’t for the MSP, here are some questions.
- Who is my ideal client?
- In terms of their IT, what are the big issues they face?
- What are the solutions I have that align with those issues?
- What channels should I use to reach them?
- What makes my MSP extraordinarily qualified?
When an MSP business begins, it is fairly typical for that company to survive on referrals and word-of-mouth business alone for a period of time. Actually, this way, many MSPs can hit as much as $1-2 million in sales. Selling by referrals and personal networks, however, this strategy will only take any company so far; sales can inevitably stagnate with a lack of fresh leads, and when their customers start to churn, companies will be exposed to risk.
With a powerful marketing campaign, growing referral sales is how MSPs can keep a steady lead flow in the pipeline. It takes effort, but a marketing strategy is known to yield high ROI, it’s time well spent. MSPs will achieve a better Google ranking with a concentrated, concerted effort in digital inbound marketing, drive increased and deeper interest in your services and increase overall traffic to your website, all of which will generate new leads and, eventually, new customers.
The aim of any MSP marketing campaign should be to define the consumer groups that you want to target first and then outline the channels of marketing communication that you will use to reach them. Buyer personas, a profile of the pain points, consumer interest, business needs and objections of a target customer position, can be used to understand the appropriate audience for your approach when determining which businesses to reach.
You’ll want to list the messages and deals that you want to relay to your target audience, set clear and measurable targets, and align them through the channels that they’re sending through. To maximize their impact through the appropriate medium, each message should be optimized.
For instance, an email marketing campaign should provide a solution to a problem that the reader is suffering from, along with a link to follow to get more data (or more content), a social campaign should provide shorter messages and links to more information, while an eBook would present in-depth points and suggestions designed to address any concerns that a customer may have in the sales process.
Single Point of Contact, is a reliable Managed Service Provider that delivers a white label platform for the IT service industry. We offer a White Label 24-7 NOC and SOC for IT firms that have the demand, but lack the internal resources to deliver. We also provide guidance on how to generate new business. If your IT firms struggles with marketing and generating opportunities every week, contact us today. We can help and offer guidance to help you implement a mechanism that generates opportunities on a consistent basis.
