Today, every business needs cybersecurity. In some industries, we (and other MSPs) are starting to see more and more decision-makers actually come to us and request it. If you are an MSP and cybersecurity isn’t a part of your service stack, and you aren’t talking about it each and every week on your website, in your QBRs, and in your marketing, then you are going to be left in the dust.
Let’s talk about how you can maintain that balance with some strategic marketing and culture-building.
We recently ran a Lunch and Learn series talking to local businesses about essential cybersecurity protections and laws they needed to uphold. We learned quite a bit throughout this process—thanks in no small part to an obstacle that suddenly required us to make some significant changes in the middle of our series—and wanted to share what we learned here so you could take advantage of the lessons the next time you plan an event… or how we can help you directly.
GDPR was introduced by the European Union, but it applies to businesses all over the world, especially if you could potentially collect personal data from a person residing within the EU. We feel, as a business, it’s important to safeguard personal data of your prospects and customers, and we think the GDPR is a big step in the right direction to provide transparency and understanding to your users. We've also made some updates to this blog post and the corresponding free download to cover California Civil Code Section 1798.83, also known as California's "Shine the Light" or "Your California Privacy Rights" law.
You want your MSP marketing to be persuasive in getting your target audience to do what you want them to do - turning to you for all of their IT needs. Unfortunately words aren’t always enough. Sometimes, you’ll need to use some numbers (specifically, statistics) to get your message across - the Statistics Appeal advertising strategy.
When it comes to business ethics, the internet and the concept of ‘going viral’ is relatively new territory. When a story breaks and begins to go viral, businesses will try and hitch a ride on the wave of attention the story is receiving. For a business, building a marketing campaign around one of these viral stories or events can be a great success, depending on your choice of event.
As you probably know, the most effective phishing attacks tend to push a sense of urgency on the user. Hurry, don’t think, just click!
When it comes to marketing a managed service provider’s assorted benefits, a good brochure is something that you certainly want to have at the ready. However, “good” is an important factor to keep in mind. You need to be sure that the brochures you distribute are able to frame your services and your company in a good light.
Few marketing endeavors are as nerve-wracking as hosting and/or attending a live event. Lunch and learns, webinars, podcasts, and trade shows are four events that have proven to be successful initiatives for managed IT service providers. Each type of event has different attributes that must be considered when deciding on which event is right for your MSP’s marketing goals. Here’s a breakdown of these four events to help you make the best choice.
As a managed service provider, you know that there are tons of people out there who have no clue how to manage their IT. That’s your niche in the business. You manage their technology, but your business also plays another vital role. You’re responsible for educating your clients about the numerous aspects of their IT infrastructure, as well as informing them about how managed services are helping them accomplish their business’s goals.
Much in the same way as more mainstream social media platforms, the blog, or web log, started as a kind of public forum for personal diatribes. Also comparable to other social media platforms, the blog can not only be used to post videos of goats singing along with TV show theme songs, but can also be a potent tool for online marketing; it’s able to accomplish numerous marketing goals in a relatively quick and easy-to-use engine.
Have you ever been set up on blind date or gone on a first date where you didn’t know the person all that well? If so, you understand all the anxiety that it can cause. Figuring out what to wear, what to say and what to do can really stress you out and so can managing your company's social media accounts. What to post, what to like and what to share while still managing your company’s personality and authenticity while striving to become the thought leader in your area, can also cause anxiety for some. How do you minimize that anxiety on a first/blind date? Make it a group date - invite your friends and have them invite theirs. How do you minimize that anxiety when it comes to your social media? Share, retweet or repost other companies’ social media - as long as you have a method to your madness.
Any website you visit online is designed with a certain purpose in mind (whether or not it’s designed well, is a different story). As a managed service provider, your website needs to have just as much forethought and planning as any other - in fact, it should probably have more. Let’s discuss a few requirements that a good MSP website needs to represent.
As many businesses have found out when looking to offer a webinar to clients and/or prospects, selecting the right topic for your webinar is harder than it sounds. It’s important not to lose sight that the purpose of a webinar is to educate and assist your target audience, not pitch the benefits and features of your service offering. For example, you might offer a webinar that looks at business continuity best practices, as opposed to detailing your BDR solution.
You probably have a couple of different services that you wish your company sold more of. Maybe they have a bigger profit margin, or they don’t take a lot of time to manage so it wouldn’t overwhelm your employees if you sold a lot of this service. Whatever the reason, you need a way to promote that specific service so that you can generate more sales from it.
Most MSPs, probably your company included, offer a LOT of different service offerings that you sell. If you want to start selling more of these services, you have to promote them through your marketing.
When it comes to marketing yourself and your business as a managed service provider, your content should be the cornerstone of your strategy, supporting everything else you do. Regardless of what format your content is in, it needs to provide proof of your experience and value to prospective clients. Here are a few topics that your audience is likely to respond to.
Considering it’s one of the most epic movie franchises in history, there’s no doubt that there have been some equally epic marketing strategies behind its success. Unfortunately, the tricks used by Star Wars’ promotions tend to fit a bit better with B2C marketing strategies, as opposed to B2B.
And so, for B2B marketers who are looking to draw wisdom and inspiration from one of the greatest stories ever told, let us look toward the events that took place a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
A webinar can go by many names, webcast, online training, online events, seminars or online classes. Webinars serve as a repository of educational content and provides the opportunity for greater engagement. Webinars encourage the participants to ask questions which is then provided with instant feedback from the presenters. This instantaneous exchange will build your credibility and, over time convert your visitors into prospects and from prospects to clients, overall strengthening all relationships.
Digital marketing has become the primary type of advertising. While there are many different suggestions about digital marketing best practices, one thing that most marketers can see eye-to-eye on is the importance of transparency. Fortune magazine defines transparency as:
“making the practices, policies, algorithms, and even code, operating data, and future plans available to customers, employees, or business partners — runs counter to traditional business practices."
To put it simply, transparency is opening your company’s proverbial door to clients, prospects, vendors, and anyone else who cares to learn about you.
We love tips and ‘how-to’s just as much as the next person. But like many “truths” on the Internet, there are several commonly repeated marketing-related facts that are used out of context, embellished, or just plain made up. Here’s a few of the misconceptions that we run into every day.
