Nowadays, more and more businesses rely on managed service providers to streamline their IT needs. Through these partnerships, client companies avoid the creation of internal IT departments and can fully focus on their daily operations. Furthermore, according to research from 2022, clients increase their MSP spending by 55% on a year-by-year basis.
The fast growth of the MSP sector has persuaded many IT experts to leave their companies and start a private business. Unfortunately, as many professionals will quickly learn, promoting a managed service brand online is much harder than it might seem. Not only do you need a hefty marketing budget, but you also need some basic knowledge about SEO, PPC, and similar promotional tactics.
To make matters worse, clients don’t make decisions straight away. On average, it takes businesses seven interactions with an MSP before they sign a contract. Small marketing and sales mistakes can cost you lucrative deals, which is why you need to have the entire onboarding process under control.
1. Create a Website
“No matter what you do online, the website will be your calling card,” according to MiroMind, a veteran SEO company. In most cases, it’s the first point of contact between a brand and prospect, making it an invaluable tool for customer journey and conversion.
You need to build the platform in accordance with the best SEO practices. Create logical architecture that allows easy browsing, improves page loading speed, and ensures that the site opens properly on all devices. Pay attention to the quality of different elements while also ensuring there aren’t any link errors.
2. Include Testimonials
Most importantly, the site should provide some insights about your past endeavors. Most MSPs include testimonials on the homepage as well as scores from the biggest aggregate sites. It’s vital that you build confidence and authority in visitors, as you have limited time to make a good impression.
3. Create Social Accounts
Truth be told, MSPs don’t get that much traffic from social media. Most companies use it as a secondary channel of communication, as it’s much easier to get in touch with people via Facebook and LinkedIn than through email. In that regard, these platforms can be a critical part of buyers’ journey.
If you do manage to ramp up the number of followers, you can use the account to share vital company information. For example, you can use it to promote discounts and new services. Some people also like reading about the latest innovations within the field, although these guys might not be your target audience.
4. Create Google My Business
Whether you’re a software provider, a restaurant, or a handyman, you can benefit from a Google My Business profile. By listing your business on this platform, you’ll be shown in the local results, and potential clients can find you on the map.
Having a Google My Business account also allows you to rank in the 3-Pack. This is a type of snippet that appears at the top of the search engines and is reserved for best-performing businesses in the area. The best thing about it is that you can rank rather easily by collecting positive feedback from your past clients.
5. Join Online Directories
Similar to testimonials, online directories can provide valuable information about your past dealings. Yelp, TrustPilot, and TrustRadius are just a few platforms where prospects can learn about your company. Depending on how you handle clients, these platforms can be one of the best conversion tools in your arsenal.
On top of that, confirming your data within the popular directories will also help you rank in local results. Having a presence on numerous sites will instill confidence in potential clients, who are otherwise reluctant to give change to unknown MSP brands.
6. Write Guest Posts
Guest posting was long used as a vehicle for boosting SEO efforts. With this tactic, you can gain valuable backlinks to your site from other platforms as well as some direct traffic. In return, all you need to do is create engaging articles according to website owners’ instructions. The tactic is obviously effective as 60% of all sites produce from 1 to 5 guest posts each month.
Keep in mind that guest posting isn’t always free. Many sites charge for this service as they understand you’re only doing this for links. Still, the bump in traffic and boost of authority can go a long way in developing your MSP platform as one of the best in its respective field.
7. Create a Wikipedia Page
Although having a Wikipedia page is more common for large brands, there’s no reason medium- and small-sized MPS shouldn’t do it. Being featured on this site shows potential clients that you’re a reputable source of information and can do wonders for your conversion rates.
You must remember that Wikipedia pages shouldn’t be promotional. You need to focus on valuable information, such as the company’s history, services, and interesting tidbits. Most importantly, you shouldn’t avoid any potentially incriminating information. People researching your company will find them anyway, so you can at least you’ll come off as an honest business.
8. Find the Best Marketing Tactics
The majority of MSP businesses love using SEO (search engine optimization) as their main promotional tactic. However, you can also gain a lot of value by implementing SMM, PPC, and email marketing. Each one of these tactics has its pros and cons, so you need to choose wisely which one is the best for your enterprise.
As companies grow, it isn’t unusual that they start using all these tactics concurrently. With SEO, you can dominate the top spots in Google, while paid ads will provide additional search traffic. SMM can help you connect with users and share your corporate updates, and emails are fantastic for closing sales.
Last Thoughts
There are various things you can do to promote your MSP. The best course of action is to put everything on paper and take your time creating a winning marketing strategy. That way, you can optimize the entire process, getting best-possible results with minimal investment.
