You've created a killer website, developed customer-focused messaging, and perfected your brand image – now what?
If you're stuck on where to go next with your MSP marketing, you’ll need to figure out what's going right – and what's way off base – in your marketing efforts. Your competitors are out there attracting right-fit clients and closing deals while you may still be trying to get a handle on:
- Segmenting your target audience so you can customize your messaging
- Managing your analytics and email marketing on your own
- Determining which types of content perform best with your audience
- Investing in advertising – without wasting your time or money
It’s time to tackle some of these key MSP marketing challenges. Read on for six steps to help you take your growth game to the next level.
Step 1: Perform a Competition Analysis
Do you have a firm grasp on the strengths and weaknesses of the other MSPs trying to capture the same share of your market? Once you know what your competitors are doing – and how you stack up against them – you can develop a strategy to improve.
Start by identifying your competitors based on three tiers:
- Who are you currently beating? You'll use this list to determine what you're doing right.
- Who are your contemporaries? These are your benchmark MSPs (and with the right marketing in place, you might start beating them, too).
- Who can you grow into competing against? They're ahead of you…but not for long.
After identifying your competitors, you can use a tool like SEMrush to examine their content and SEO, paid advertising, and social strategies. Look at what they're doing right so you can better understand your target audience and what they respond to.
Step 2: Target and Segment Your Audience
Before you plan your lead generation efforts, you need to know your target audience. Start by defining your buyer personas so you can hone in on the specific pain points of the decision makers you're selling to – and more effectively address their challenges in your marketing.
Once you know what makes your buyer personas tick, you can easily segment your prospect lists to create highly-targeted, effective marketing campaigns for each persona.
Step 3: Leverage Website & Marketing Automation
An automation platform is a must for any modern MSP looking to make the most of their marketing. There are a ton of tools available that handle everything from analytics to email marketing, each with different features and methodologies. Finding the best platform for your needs will be key here.
Mojenta prefers HubSpot because it has functionality across the entire marketing and sales ecosystem – centralized in one user-friendly tool. We use it to help many of our own clients reach their marketing goals, so we know first-hand how easy it is to maximize your MSP marketing efforts with HubSpot.
Of course, budget will be a factor when choosing an automation platform, so consider multiple options if you’re not ready to invest in a full automation suite. Active Campaign, Constant Contact, and Mailchimp are all other popular platforms with less-robust features.
Step 4: Create Content
Consistently developing and sharing relevant content helps you cut through the noise of all the other MSPs trying to grab your target audience’s attention. Use your buyer personas to determine the types of content that will keep your customers and prospects engaged with your brand, such as:
- Blogs
- Ebooks
- White papers
- Interactive checklists
- Infographics
- Videos
- Webinars
Keep in mind that not all content is created equal or has the same impact. Get more value out of your content marketing by researching which types of content work best for where your customers are in the sales funnel. For example:
- White papers are great for customers who have gone beyond the introductory phase of the funnel and are now in the middle.
- Blogs are especially useful for top-of-funnel prospects as an introduction to your MSP and what you have to offer.
Step 5: Be Smart About Your Ads
Don’t waste money by creating one-size-fits-all messaging for your next Google Ads campaign. Reports show that an estimated 72% of consumers prefer to engage with personalized marketing,1 and 42% actually get annoyed when content isn’t tailored for them.2
Targeted advertising allows you to leverage your buyer personas to minimize wasted advertising dollars. Make the biggest impact by creating ads specifically targeted to the decision-makers you're trying to reach.
Step 6: Explore Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
Conversion rate optimization, or CRO, is the process of improving your MSP marketing efforts to generate more qualified leads, increase revenue, and lower acquisition costs. There are two approaches you can take to optimize your conversion rates:
- A/B Testing - Particular words and phrases can elicit an emotional response that affects decision-making. A/B testing helps you better understand the impact of small changes like an email subject line.
- Multivariate Testing - Multivariate testing is similar to A/B testing but takes into account a higher number of variables (e.g., both a design and copy change) – allowing you to test the effectiveness of entire design combinations.
Onward to MSP Marketing Success
These steps give you a solid foundation for marketing success, but it’s important to remember the iterative nature of marketing. Our final pieces of advice for MSPs:
- Try different tactics. Some approaches will work better for your MSP than others – you might have to think outside the box to figure out what’s best.
- Measure everything you do. It might sound like a lot of work, but you can’t determine an initiative's success without setting goals and measuring the results.
- Implement data-driven decisions. Base all of your marketing decisions on data. Your gut instincts may be good – but make sure you can back them up with proven results.
Feeling a little overwhelmed? Mojenta has helped hundreds of MSPs transform their marketing for over a decade, so we have the experience and expertise to help you reach (and exceed!) your marketing goals. Schedule a free MSP marketing consultation with us today to get started.
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