Imagine an Army General that demands reports and data about an enemy invasion. This might sound logical except this general has not commissioned an army to defend his country. If his officers could get him the data it would all be bad! You would probably conclude this General has his priorities backwards since he should first establish a defense and then track its progress. How have some IT companies made the same order of operations mistake with their SEO marketing campaigns? (more…)
When it comes to MSPs marketing online, most know that getting their website top ranked is like riding a slow boat to China. In fact, this knowledge is one of the major reason most IT companies are standing on the sidelines of the digital marketing game. For the patient Tech providers this makes it a little easier to garner all the sales leads since there much less competition.
However, wouldn’t it be great if this slow and painful process could be transformed so that MSPs could start getting leads in about three months instead of waiting around for six months or longer? Our new marketing system can accomplish this with lightening speed; but read more to learn how we discovered these techniques! (more…)
In the hilarious movie Tommy Boy, Tommy Callahan played by Chris Farley tries to sell his companies auto parts against a competitor that has a guarantee on the box. He first attempts to explain why his customers don’t need a guarantee were extremely funny and total failures. However, towards the end of the movie Tommy manages to pull of an amazing pitch and convinces a retailer to by his parts without a guarantee. Some MSP Marketing firms are also using the guarantee on the box to lure IT providers into a trap for their website. Can Tommy’s pitch help clear up the matter about whether MSP’s need a guarantee? (more…)
As an MSP, you have a great opportunity to improve your fortunes by engaging on an effective IT marketing campaign to generate leads and boost sales. However, without a plan, your efforts could go down the drain, wasting your time and money. A strategic marketing plan can be the difference between profitability and loss. It will benefit you to understand what it entails and subsequently know how to capitalize on it to improve your business. (more…)
Remember the days of banner ads and pop-ups? These outdated marketing tactics are dwindling away, while inbound content MSP marketing is taking over. Potential customers can’t get away fast enough when they see invasive advertising. So, how are you supposed to implement an effective marketing strategy for your MSP business? The answer is easier than you think.
Posting educational content on your blog is the most effective and economical marketing technique around. Not just an occasional post, but regularly updating your blog with relevant content will bring the audience to you.
Why is Blogging Effective as a Marketing Tool? (more…)
Today, an MSP business needs all the help it can get to stay competitive. Fortunately, the Internet has availed many avenues that business owners can use to enhance their competitive edge. It is necessary to maintain a vibrant online visibility to capitalize on the opportunities available. One way to do just that is to start and maintain a blog that showcases your products and services. (more…)
Open Sesame!
An MSP business is always looking for a treasure of sales leads, but they can be very difficult to find. Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some vast treasure trove of them like in Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves?
A poor woodcutter, Ali Baba wasn’t the type to dream for riches. But then, he found these 40 thieves near a cave, heard them say some password, and then saw them enter the cave. Later, Baba sneaked into the cave with that password when the thieves were gone. What he found were staggering treasures— more than a poor woodcutter could imagine. (more…)
Many MSP businesses ignore the adage that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. Most IT providers tend to believe that they need to squeeze every minute of work out of their employees because any lost time will cost them money.
However, is it possible that Ferris Bueller can teach an MSP business a lesson about the balance of work and play? Is it possible that giving employees more time off to play might help an IT company make even more money?
Watch the clip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UX_rPkWzlqs (more…)
I believe most of our MSP readers have seen the cult classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. You probably remember that Willy Wonka had become a Hermit as he had closed the Factory to outsiders and never left. This maverick, however, unleashes a brilliant marketing campaign that offers a chance to win his prized factory for only a few lucky candidates that find a golden ticket.
This movie does provide some wonderful entertainment to children and adult audiences and passes on a few moral lessons at the same time, but can the unpredictable Willy Wonka teach IT providers any marketing lessons that can help them expand their business? (more…)
Five Optimization Steps
MSP marketing is complex. In order to properly profit, you’ll need to know the involved variables. You want to figure out which numbers are most important and focus on them. Five areas where you can really obtain actionable numbers include:
• Sales goals
• Review of marketing programs: what works and what doesn’t
• Data pertaining to services that sell and services that don’t
• Finding the low-hanging fruit and harvesting it
• Designing a marketing calendar for the remainder of the year
Sales
What were they? Did you meet them? Were you under or over budget in acquisitions? These are good questions to answer. Get the numbers, and don’t just look at the bookends. Sure, where you were and where you are both represent important indicators. However, you also want to determine where there were peaks and valleys. Sometimes it just takes a little bit of tweaking to curtail thousands in unnecessary spending. A perfect example: don’t have a full staff available during the middle of January if you don’t make big sales at that time. If you do tend to see spikes at that time, ensure you’ve got requisite staff.
Review Marketing Programs: What Works?
MSP marketing isn’t static. Some things will work excellent at one time and then quit working entirely at another. There will be fluctuations. Some things worked well for years, and suddenly they’re useless. Maybe that billboard on 27th isn’t worth funding— after all, there isn’t an industrial district in that part of town anymore.
One thing you’ll likely find is that SEO-based content marketing is very effective in terms of cost and lead generation. Discover where lead generation is facilitated in your marketing endeavors. Put money toward that.
What Sells, What Doesn’t?
Maybe you’re not doing well in terms of security sales. Maybe this portion of your MSP never took off. Abandoning it may not be the best choice, but what does make sense is a critical evaluation of programs that sell and those which don’t. You want to go through the numbers and fix what you can. Look at where low-sellers were able to convert clients, figure out why, and focus on that. But what you definitely must do is curtail unnecessary marketing expenditure on products or services that aren’t successful.
Low-Hanging Fruit
You might upsell existing clients who are already satisfied with what you do. You might look at government contracts. You might send out emails, newsletters, and blogs pertaining to new technology breakthroughs which stand to save clients money. Establish where there is an easy sale and get it. Then make that policy.
Marketing For the Remainder of the Year
Look through your sales goals, ensure the marketing programs you’ve designed are properly aligned, find the low-hanging fruit, and when you’re done with all that, make a calendar. This will help you identify when the most important marketing events should be held. It will help inform staffing, operations— the list goes on.
A Consolidated Approach
Between mapping via calendar, getting all the low-hanging fruit, finding what sells and what doesn’t, reviewing marketing programs, and re-establishing sales goals, you can really maximize the rest of 2017.
About our Contributor
Stephen Monk started Noverus Innovations Inc., an IT Services company serving the entire Sacramento area located in Roseville, California. Stephen started Noverus with a passion for using advanced technology to solve IT support business problems for small and medium companies in the Sacramento area. The company was started nearly six years ago with a focus on bringing state-of-the-art technology like, Backup and Disaster Recovery Solutions, fixed-fee managed services, IT outsourcing and cyber security.
Unlike many other managed IT services providers in the Sacramento area, Noverus take providing amazing customers services extremely seriously to the point of hiring people that understand how important customer service is and then teach their techs the technology skills needed.
Finally, Noverus has made a commitment to never fall behind on the technology curve so that they can always give their customers accurate managed services advice in Sacramento!
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