As businesses rely on technology to drive growth and innovation, they don’t have the time to figure it out themselves. The demand for MSP (Managed Service Providers) services has increased, with more than 59% of the global population being online, which has birthed a competitive landscape where differentiation is essential. The ability to craft and executive effective MSP marketing strategies isn’t just advantageous but essential!
From finding a clear value proposition to leveraging digital channels, MSPs must master multiple marketing approaches to stand out.
In this article, we will touch on effective marketing strategies for MSPs to grow their business and why doing so will change how your ideal clients see you.
Understanding MSP marketing strategies and the competitive landscape
As an MSP, you need help identifying your competitors, especially if they provide the usual generic IT. service to various industries. Not recognising your competitors can make it challenging to differentiate yourself from other providers. Still, there are a few ways to understand the competition and focus on different areas with MSP Marketing Strategies.
Remember that the average business owner knows less about tech than you and is extremely busy, so they’ll probably be quick when hiring an MSP. Here are a few ways you can stand out to your target clients:
- Convenience – As mentioned above, business owners are busy and want MSPs that fit their tight schedules. For example: Are your support hours longer? Can you provide 24/7 support using an outsourced helpdesk? Can you respond faster than other MSPs?
- Keep up with the competition – If your competitors already have a great marketing strategy, you must be even better.
- Deals – Offer deals to your clients, but not to the point where it makes you look cheap. Position yourself at the top using words like ‘complimentary’ rather than ‘free’. Worthwhile deals will show your target clients that you’re adding value rather than discounting your price.
- Tell a story – Show your storytelling skills on your website, LinkedIn, and more. Telling a story will make your most wanted clients feel like they know and can trust you. What does being an MSP mean to you?
- Build a personal brand – People like to buy from people, not brands and businesses. Show off your people and behind-the-scenes content about what working as an MSP is like for them.
- Cause-related marketing – Get behind a local charity and show you’re actively supporting them. People are increasingly looking for ethical businesses that are doing good for the world.
Finding a USP (Unique Selling Point) sets you apart in this competitive market. Several strengths could set you apart from the 11,500 other MSPs in the U.K.
Demonstrate a specialised expertise in a specific industry
If you are an MSP for everyone, standing out against the competition will be a task. For example, if you have deep knowledge and experience in healthcare IT. services industry, you can tailor your services to those industries’ needs and challenges. Doing so will attract clients looking for someone with experience in that industry rather than general IT support.
Stay on to of cutting edge technology
Show off your commitment to the latest and most cutting-edge technology solutions. Are you clued to AI-driven analytics, cloud computing, cybersecurity, or IoT integration? No matter what it might be, showcasing your ability to implement innovative technology will differentiate you from your competitors. Highlight specific testimonials and case studies to prove how your solutions have helped clients stay ahead of the curve.
Work on the basics like excellent customer service
Having excellent customer service might seem like a given. Still, it’s something that only some MSPs practice, making it a powerful USP in an industry where personalised support and fast response times are valued highly. Do you provide proactive monitoring and quick issue resolution? Emphasising these customer service areas will show your clients that hiring you means they’ll receive the highest level of IT support.
Develop tailored solutions to solve specific business problems
You’re already one step ahead if you can showcase your ability to customise solutions to meet your client’s requirements. Instead of offering a one-size-fits-all package, show how you work closely with clients to understand their goals and combat challenges. A personalised approach will make your clients feel confident in your capability to meet their needs rather than producing a cookie-cutter plan.
Shout about your previous successes as an MSP
On your website and social media, highlight your key achievements throughout your business. Case studies, testimonials and any awards you’ve received can help build client trust.
Keep up to speed with MSP service trends
The complexity of IT environments has grown as SMBs (Small and medium-sized businesses) rely more on technology to grow. S.M.B.s face multiple challenges in ensuring their IT systems’ reliability, security, and scalability. The constant difficulties have led to many S.M.B.s sourcing the expertise and support of MSPs.
Digital transformation and AI have become essential for businesses across all industries because of the need to enhance customer experiences and stay competitive in the digital age. Your ideal clients are embracing cloud computing, data analytics, IoT, AI, and other emerging technologies. You play a critical role in getting to this goal.
Develop a clear value proposition into your MSP strategies that resonates with your ideal clients
Do you know why your customers should choose you over competitors and what value they can expect from working together? For example, an effective value proposition for MSP marketing strategies could focus on how you remove the burden of IT management for businesses while allowing them to focus on their core operations. You could also highlight your proactive approach to monitoring and managing IT infrastructure, ensuring excellent performance, reliability, and security. MSPs can only achieve effective marketing strategies to grow their businesses by acknowledging what sets them apart.
A clear value proposition should address specific pain points or challenges your potential clients could face. Budget constraints, compliance requirements, and scalability issues are all examples of this. Working out cost savings can solve these issues, as well as regulatory compliance and scalability. Doing this puts you forward as an MSP, a trusted partner capable of meeting clients’ unique needs. An effective value proposition for an MSP should resonate with your potential clients by clearly communicating the value, expertise and reliability you bring to position yourself as the preferred but only choice for outsourced IT management and support.
Showcase the benefits, not the features.
Having a list of the features of your services, emphasising the benefits they bring to your clients, can communicate the value proposition and persuade them to take action.
Ways you can showcase the benefits on your website:
- Homepage – Find an eye-catching headline that addresses a common pain point of your desired clients.
- Testimonials – Feature client success stories/testimonials from satisfied clients to prove that you’ve helped others effectively reach their end goals.
- Service page – Rather than listing each service’s features, emphasise the benefits. For example, mention how your proactive monitoring ensures maximum uptime and performance rather than “24/7 Monitoring and Support.”
- Call To Action (C.T.A.) – “Get started with us today and Experience Stress-Free IT Management”
- Educational Content – Everyone loves freebies. Your ideal clients will likely only work with you if you provide value. You could do this through blog posts, whitepapers, guides or masterclasses that offer valuable insights into your work.
- Visuals – Infographics or charts can help highlight statistics and illustrate the impact of your solutions. People are less likely to turn off with visuals over words.
- F.A.Q.s – Provide clear answers and emphasise the benefits of your services.
Create a strong and recognisable brand identity
Establishing a solid brand identity is more than a marketing strategy. It’s necessary if you want to succeed in all business areas. With a brand identity, you differentiate yourself from others, build credibility and trust, become recognisable and build emotional connections. Achieving consistent branding across multiple channels is essential for creating a solid brand identity and maximising your impact.
- Define brand guidelines, – including logo usage, colour palette, fonts, imagery style, and T.O.V. (Tone of Voice).
- Design an attractive website – Most potential clients will look at your website, so make sure it reflects your brand’s identity, messaging and values.
- Align social media profiles – Have the same profile picture, cover photo and bio across all social media platforms. Use branded graphics and templates to post to keep up visual consistency.
- Align branded marketing – All marketing collateral should stick to your brand guidelines, from newsletters to advertisements.
- Monitor branding – Monitor the consistency across all channels and adjust when needed.
The power of content marketing for MSP marketing strategies
Content marketing is a way of engaging clients through relevant and valuable content. Not only should it keep your readers on your website, but it should also spark their interest in learning more about your services and becoming a client. As you’re the expert in MSP, you must start by either creating the content in-house or using a dedicated MSP marketing agency.
- Create a list of topics and elaborate.
- Know what you’re writing about.
- Know your audience.
- Focus on the customer, but don’t be too salesy.
- Review every day to see what topics are performing well.
Nailing content strategies for MSPs is a surefire way to demonstrate your expertise and authority in the industry. By consistently producing high-quality content, you’re showing your ideal clients that you have the expertise in IT services, technologies and industry trends to help them reach their goals. Thought leadership content can include blog posts, whitepapers, case studies and webinars.
While it’s important to tailor content for each stage of the buyer’s journey, content marketing can attract clients at any stage. Tailored content addresses the needs and interests at different stages of the buyer’s journey, from awareness to consideration to decision-making. On the other hand, educational content attracts top-of-funnel clients, and case studies and testimonials help convince your ideal clients during the consideration and decision stages.
Digital marketing channels
Good MSP marketing strategies are all about using digital marketing channels to increase your visibility, reach, and effectiveness, which is essential in today’s competition.
Get free traffic to your website with SEO optimised content
SEO content can drive traffic to your website through the content that you publish online. Your own blog is a great place to start.
Good content strategies for MSPs should start with a blog and be updated with new content three to four times weekly to be the most effective. If you don’t know much about SEO and how to create SEO content yourself, consider hiring someone who does. Ideally, this should be done by a writer who has an IT background or a dedicated MSP marketing agency like xpandly so they understand a specific topic.
Leverage social media channels to engage and connect with your audience
Social media is generally less formal than SEO content and a lot shorter. To be effective across your social media channels, assess the content in Reddit threads or on Twitter on topics you want to post about. That said, even social media content requires optimisation for SEO.
Include Pay-Per-Click in your MSP marketing strategies
Pay-per-click (PPC) platforms such as Google Ads to bid on keywords relevant to your MSP services or utilise various ad formats on LinkedIn to target specific demographics can be highly effective. To do this, you must thoroughly research relevant keywords your target audience is searching for and create content that they will likely engage with.
Reach new prospects and leads with email marketing
Use email newsletters, product updates, educational content and promotional offers to drive leads, maintain engagement and start conversations. Email marketing is recommended after already having valuable content, as people will only subscribe if they know something is in it for them.
Leveraging these digital marketing channels will help you increase brand visibility, attract the ideal clients and engage with them.
Find your perfect MSP marketing strategies with xpandly
At xpandly, we leverage deep industry knowledge, keen market insights, and a solid grasp of future trends to create innovative and effective go-to-market strategies for our clients.
More than marketing, we’re a trusted growth partner.
We have played a pivotal role in driving success and revenue growth for businesses across the IT sector and have delivered more than £30 million in recurring revenue growth for MSPs.
Founded by technology growth experts, xpandly is a Go-To-Market agency that brings unparalleled expertise and a wealth of experience to help technology-led organisations thrive. With effective content strategies for MSPs and deep industry knowledge, we can help you build a marketing strategy that works.
In 2023, we created more than £75M of opportunities for our clients.
Check out our MSP Marketing Services to see how we can help you stand out and thrive within the IT sector.