Managed service providers are incredibly important to the current state of everyday business operations. Whether employees are in office or remote, every company needs a secure IT solution that meets their needs and keeps clients safe from potential hackers.
Since reliable MSP services are in higher demand now than ever before, it can be a struggle to get more IT leads and generate more sales because more companies are choosing to stay with their current network provider.
If you’re at a hault with your business growth efforts, B2B MSP marketing may be the solution you’ve been looking for. This IT lead generation strategy is essential for effectively building your sales pipeline and bringing more revenue to your business from decision-makers who are actively looking for a better IT solution.
In this blog, we’ll cover all you need to know about B2B MSP marketing, including the following:
What Is MSP Marketing?
MSP marketing refers to the marketing strategies and activities specifically tailored to managed service providers (MSPs). MSPs are companies that offer IT and technology services to businesses on a subscription or outsourced basis. These services can include network monitoring, cybersecurity, cloud computing, data backup, and more. MSP marketing focuses on promoting these services to potential clients and building a strong client base.
Why Is MSP Marketing Important?
MSP marketing is essential because it helps IT companies connect with potential clients and demonstrate the value of their IT services. MSP marketing helps brand awareness, establish credibility, and highlight expertise, which are vital for attracting new clients.
MSP marketing also keeps existing clients informed about updates and additional services, fostering client retention and upselling opportunities. MSPs rely on these marketing strategies to showcase their ability to ensure seamless IT operations, enhance cybersecurity, and drive efficiency, addressing critical business needs.
MSP Sales vs. MSP Marketing: How Are They Different?
MSP marketing focuses on creating awareness, generating leads, and building a brand’s reputation. It involves activities such as content creation, online presence management, and lead nurturing.
In contrast, MSP sales concentrates on converting those leads into paying clients. It involves direct interactions with potential customers, understanding their specific needs, proposing tailored solutions, and closing deals.
While IT marketing lays the groundwork for attracting prospects, sales takes the lead in forging client relationships and turning prospects into revenue-generating clients. Both are essential for the overall success of an MSP business.
Things to Consider in Your MSP Marketing Plan
Before going forward with your B2B IT marketing plan, there are a few things to consider to ensure you get the greatest impact from your business growth efforts:
What Your Ideal Customer Profile Looks Like
Defining an ideal customer profile (ICP) is critical for IT companies because it ensures strategic alignment between the services offered and the clients served. It enables companies to focus their sales, marketing, and lead generation efforts on prospects most likely to benefit from their solutions, increasing efficiency, and ROI.
Additionally, a well-defined ideal customer profile helps tailor services, communication, and support to meet specific needs, enhancing client satisfaction and loyalty. It also guides product development and innovation, aligning the company’s offerings with the evolving requirements of its target market.
As you consider your MSP ICP, it’s important to find commonalities between your most successful clients to ensure you have the best approach possible. This includes:
- Their industry served
- The main decision-maker and point of contact
- i.e. IT managers, business owners, accounting, HR, etc.
- Number of workstations or full-time employees
- Demographics
- Product or service interests
What Problems Most IT Decision-Makers Are Facing
Understanding the pain points of MSP decision-makers is vital for understanding what and how to pitch to potential business opportunities. While there are a lot of different painpoint IT decision-makers can encounter, it’s important to consider what makes the most sense for your target market. Many painpoints include, but aren’t limited to:
- Concerns with cybersecurity
- Shortages in qualified IT professionals
- Unable to keep up with technology evolutions
- Little to no time to scale up their network
- Challenges with handling remote workers
Your Method to Approaching MSP Marketing Leads
Every IT market is different in how they want to be approached by lead generation and marketing teams. As you consider your MSP marketing plan, it’s important to consider how IT decision-makers want to be approached.
First thing you should ask is what the buyer personas are within your market. Are most of your clients business owners or IT departments looking to outsource some project work? How do they go about making purchasing decisions?
If many of our clients are small to medium-sized commercial business owners, they’re probably more likely to take a phone call to speak one-on-one with a sales development rep (SDR). In this case, outbound lead generation would probably be the best approach. To further your outbound approach, you could even implement a B2B appointment setting strategy to ensure you get high-quality sales meetings.
However, if you’re targeting more tech-savvy business owners or IT/software departments, they’re more likely to actively search online for a solution that fits their needs. This would be an inbound approach to MSP marketing, such as content marketing, search engine marketing, email marketing, and social media marketing.
Your Unique Differenciators From Competitors
You may know how different (and better) your IT services are… but do your prospects? To stand out from the crowd, it’s crucial to highlight your unique differentiators. Clearly articulate what sets your MSP apart from competitors and why clients should choose you over a cheaper option or an MSP that provides more services.
Best Practices to Secure More Inbound IT Leads
If you want to consistently grow your IT company, you must build an inbound MSP marketing strategy that yields growth. Here are some best practices to help you start (and continue) generating more inbound IT leads.
Create a High-Quality, User-Friendly MSP Website
As an IT company, having a professionally designed website is essential for encouraging decision-makers to trust your business since there are many people out there who believe IT is responsible for creating websites. Therefore, having a good functioning and optimized website can help provide a “proof of concept” to your prospects before you even meet.
If designed and executed professionally, your website should be capable of generating leads all on its own. When people visit your website, they’ll learn about managed IT services, get to know your brand, and determine whether your company’s offerings are a good fit for their business.
If you can do this, your website can serve as a central hub of your online marketing operations. You can drive visitors from a multitude of different channels, including social media, email, and search engines, directly to your website so they can convert.
The key is to create an IT website that is helpful, informative, and easy to use. Skilled design, copywriting, and technical optimization can all help you do this, but it’s also important to make sure your website is easy to navigate for users to find what they’re looking for.
For more insight on how you can generate more IT leads through your website, read our blog here.
Align Your Content Marketing and SEO Strategy
MSPs can align their content marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies by creating valuable, informative content that caters to their target audience’s needs and aligns with relevant keywords and search intent.
To do this, start by researching and identifying high-impact keywords related to the IT services you offer. This can also include topics related to the IT industry and the types of services you specialize in, giving readers the full user experience and showcasing that you’re specialized in the subject matter.
Another way to approach your IT content marketing strategy is to write about solving common IT problems you are helping your current client base with. Chances are someone else is trying to solve the same problem. If you can provide that solution for them, it bodes well for any remarketing to that reader.
Then, produce content such as blog posts, whitepapers, or videos that incorporate these keywords naturally, providing the reader with unique insights. While this approach to generating IT leads is impactful within itself, you must also regularly update content to reflect industry trends and changes in search algorithms.
And last but not least, promote your IT content marketing materials on social media and through email marketing to broaden its reach and overall SEO impact. This synergy between content creation and SEO optimization ensures that MSPs attract and engage their ideal audience while improving their online visibility and rankings.
Use Various MSP Marketing Methods to Engage Decision-Makers
Taking advantage of multiple methods of MSP marketing is crucial for because it diversifies your inbound lead generation approach, reducing dependence on a single source. Implementing various MSP marketing methods broadens the reach to a wider audience, catering to various preferences and platforms where potential clients may be present.
Additionally, different inbound strategies, such as content marketing, social media engagement, email campaigns, and search engine marketing, complement each other, creating a more comprehensive and effective marketing approach. This multifaceted approach enhances brand visibility, establishes credibility, and increases the likelihood of capturing leads from different stages of the buyer’s journey, ultimately driving sustainable business growth.
Invest in Paid Search (for Search Engines and Social Platforms)
Investing in paid search, including search engine advertising (like Google Ads) and social media platforms (such as Facebook Ads), is an excellent strategy to generate inbound IT leads.
Paid search allows MSPs to target specific keywords, demographics, and interests, reaching a highly relevant audience. It offers precise ad placement, ensuring visibility to potential clients actively seeking IT services.
Additionally, paid ads can be easily tracked and optimized for performance, providing a clear ROI. By combining the reach of search engines and social platforms, MSPs can attract a diverse pool of leads, boosting their inbound lead generation efforts.
However, it is important to note that MSP paid search efforts can be very hit-or-miss. That being said, we highly recommend fleshing out other portions of your digital strategy before getting into paid search.
Ask for Online Reviews From Satisfied Customers
And last but not least, ask your clients to leave reviews of your managed IT services. Reviews serve several goals simultaneously, increasing the visibility and reputation of your brand while assisting you in your local optimization campaign. Most people don’t go out of their way to leave reviews, even if they’re very satisfied with your services, so make the ask.
Key Takeaways
IT is a complex industry with a lot of competition. In order to get more decision-makers to trust your business, you must create and implement an MSP marketing strategy that provides valuable insights not only to your business, but the current state of the industry as well.
However, many growing IT companies often struggle with building a marketing strategy that yields results. When they don’t have the resources to handle it internally, they often look into hiring and outsourced sales and marketing firm. And that’s when Abstrakt comes into play.
At Abstrakt Marketing Group, we acquire a team of B2B lead generation experts that are specialized in IT lead generation, including MSP marketing. When you’re ready to implement an MSP lead generation strategy that yields a positive ROI, contact the sales development and marketing experts at Abstrakt!
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