How to Successfully Market Your MSP

The dream: attract customers without breaking the bank. Reality: Exactly that. 

We know your first hire isn’t going to be a marketer, but there comes a point where every MSP needs to actively engage in marketing and sales to expand the business. Think about it: if you churn 5% of your customers each year, you need to gain 5% just to break even. If you want to grow, you need 10%, 15% growth in new business. Where do those extra new customers come from? Marketing.

Now, you might be thinking: Where do I begin? How do I market effectively? How can I do this without spending thousands? The answer: an inbound strategy. Traditional advertising can get expensive, but inbound marketing pulls people in with content consumers value. In this first post of our five-part series, Marketing for MSPs, we’ll discuss how you can kickstart your marketing campaign quickly, easily, and on a budget.

So, let’s make your MSP a marketing magnet

1. Understand buyer personas

A “buyer persona” is a fictional character that represents your ideal customer(s). Defining a persona is useful because you can direct marketing efforts specifically towards your target market, rather than a broad audience. Check out our previous blog post about creating buyer personas.

2. Target pain points

After outlining your buyer persona(s), how does your service specifically solve their challenges? Incorporate these benefits into your value proposition and branding to resonate with key consumers. People are more likely to want in on how you can make their life easier.

3. Build a brand

A solid marketing plan starts with a strong brand. The goal is to develop a unique identity for your business that consumers will remember. By using these five branding design tips for MSPs, you can create a distinctive image that is professional, memorable, and visually appealing

4. Produce thought leadership content

This is where you really reel those personas in. Nine out of ten B2B companies use content marketingto generate leads. This is because thought leadership content pulls consumers further towards the buying process by piquing their interest. Share useful tips, reveal insider info, or explain step-by-step how to’s. Produce content that your buyer personas would find interesting or wouldn’t find anywhere else.

5. Use social media

You’ve created interesting content, now promote it! Social media is free and a great way to increase your reach and market your brand. Stay tuned. We’ll be discussing how to implement an effective social media strategy for MSPs in a few weeks.

There you have it. Marketing doesn’t have to be an outrageous expense, it just requires a little bit of planning and attention. Our marketing for MSPs series will continue next week with more great tips for building out your marketing operation.

IT Glue™ is a documentation platform for MSPs, designed to eliminate waste, improve productivity and help you hit your SLAs better.  Document your sales processes and customer personas in IT Glue, and integrate it with your PSA to enhance your marketing and sales functions.