Marketing is not just about promoting and selling a product;
it’s rather a passion that is transferred to the customers. The aim is not only
to sell but also to satisfy the customer’s needs. It is important to make the
customers believe that they matter.
If you a managed service provider who recently stepped into
the business, marketing your business may seem quite overwhelming and you may
already be considering one or all of the following options:
- Direct mail
- Telemarketing
- Print advertising
- Search marketing
- Email marketing
- Radio advertising
But wait!
Just like any other industry, for managed service providers it is important to identify the target market and segment it. In fact a foolproof marketing plan is entirely based on target audience.
After identifying the target market, you should be able to create a compelling message which should be attractive enough to tempt customers to try the MSP’s services. And, then you can choose a channel through which you would transfer the message.
There can be tons of different strategies that you can incorporate for MSP digital marketing, depending on the scope of your business, target audience and most importantly your marketing budget.
This article, will however, guide you through three crucial marketing mediums that can work great for an MSP business and so, these must be the priority part of your marketing plan.
1- Marketing Your Website
Do invest in great responsive website design that focuses on
better user experience, as a top priority. Make sure that your website has all
what your potential customers want to know about your business and the contact
information is clearly provided, so you do not lose a single lead!
But, having a website for your MSP business is not enough,
instead you need targeted and result oriented website
marketing. SEO is one of the most cost-effective website marketing strategy
amongst all that delivers long term results, but do not just rely on it. Harness
the power of social media as well!
2- White Paper Marketing
This is one of the most widely used strategies today. White paper
marketing helps raise the profile of the company and is notorious for
increasing revenues and profitability. Creation of white papers is a little
tricky as the message has to be specific and appealing simultaneously. A white
paper should be created by:
- Identifying the audience
- Choosing a topic
- Writing an interesting
title - Writing an introduction
where the problem is discussed - Giving a solution to the
problem in simple words - Using graphs and other
visual aids to build confidence.
In most cases white papers address a specific issue for
example reducing downtime or reducing IT costs. It is important to keep the
message concise so that only relevant customers are attracted and the business
does not have to bear an additional cost.
3- Vertical Specific Marketing
This form of marketing is based on advertising customer’s
testimonials and past experiences to lure new customers into engaging with the
business. It
involves choosing a particular vertical where the company specializes in
and has already dealt with customers in. This saves the company’s time as the
company would already be familiar with its client’s problems.
However, the company should be very careful while choosing
its verticals as there might only be limited revenue opportunities. This is why
it is important that the company conducts proper research before entering the
market and make sure that there are enough desks to satisfy its revenue
requirements. Also it is important that the customers can pay for its
subscriptions. After the initial research the marketeers have to prepare a
marketing list for segmentation which would also be helpful in identifying the
common problems, the clients usually face.
