MSP Marketing mistake: There are many Managed Service Providers out there that have decided, “we’re not going to bother with social media at all.” We understand where they’re coming from: managing multiple social media channels on top of handling all the day to day business processes can be overwhelming for a small business. Instead of even attempting to, some companies of smaller size won’t even bother setting up accounts for their company across the major platforms.
Successful MSP marketing relies on social media, including Facebook: the social media platform that people love to hate. We’ve come across so many MSPs adamantly against this platform, despite the benefit that it can bring to their business.
Facebook’s countless daily users’ News Feeds are constantly being filled with a ton of updates and content. Wouldn’t it be great if your business’ ads could also feature on Facebook’s users’ feeds?
Social media is not only one of the main drivers of traffic to your site, but it is also a primary tool for the marketing of your business. Social media is particularly valuable to smaller businesses, as it can level the playing field in regards to the ability to communicate with an audience. Unsure of how to find the time to set up, customize and develop an effective social media plan for your business? Now’s the time for The Ultimate Social Media Rig.
In the age of web 2.0, marketing has evolved from customers being told what to buy, to one in which business and customers have a conversation about which product is best suited for their needs. More often than not, this conversation occurs on social media.
So for example, let’s say you have a new service you wish to promote and are using social media to tell your customers about it. For this primer, we will refer to Facebook, but the same concepts apply to all types of social media marketing.
Social media allows MSPs to reach millions of potential customers all over the world. However, most people don't want to be 'marketed' to. Moreover, they have various methods to tune out your message and your business from their Facebook feed. Take a moment to learn how to use social media to create leads without giving the impression you're 'marketing.'
As the owner of an MSP, one of your number one tasks is to grow your business. Simply put, without the revenue new contacts bring in, you’ll likely grow stagnant. While word of mouth is great, there is a limit to how many people you can meet. You have to market, advertise and promote your MSP services to reach a wider audience. In terms of reach, social media can provide access to a nearly unlimited source of leads.
As a business owner having a Facebook Business Page is the first step. The next is posting and actually engaging with your followers.
As long as you have privileges to post on behalf of your Facebook Business Page, you can take advantage of a lot of unique posting options that are sure to make your posts stand out. By using the free posting options you can increase your engagement with your customers, prospects, and followers.
Part 1 of 7 - Why should I Advertise on Facebook? [Series]
You might be a bit, or a lot, skeptical of Facebook, not to mention using it for Advertising purposes. You’ve probably heard horror stories of a people losing money by advertising on Facebook. If so many people are losing money with advertising on facebook then why has it grown by 680% since 2010? It’s because it works! Want to know why it works?
Part 2 of 7 - Terminology [Series]
Even for an experienced marketer Facebook Advertising can be a little daunting without first understanding the basics. The first real step to learning anything new is understanding the terminology. When you’re setting up your first advertisement you’ll hear things like “custom audiences”, “impressions”, and “auto bid” and even in the appropriate context there might still be some confusion. The following is a brief overview of commonly encountered Facebook Advertising terminology to assist you in your Facebook Advertising endeavors.
Part 3 of 7 - Creating an Ad [Series]
Facebook Ads have the ability to transform your company and dramatically increase your leads without destroying your budget. If you want to reach 1.55 billion Facebook users that could potentially turn into your clients, then Facebook Advertising is right for you. The following will tell you the preliminary steps you need to know to create a Facebook Advertisement of your very own!
Part 4 of 7 - Determining Your Facebook Advertising Budget [Series]
In the first part of this series, you may remember us discussing the affordability Facebook offers businesses. In fact, that is one of the many reasons Facebook advertising has become so successful. Any budget can be supported, but how far can your budget take you?
Part 5 of 7 - Measuring the Performance of your Facebook Advertisement [Series]
ROI is always top of mind for business owners. Often it is difficult to calculate an accurate ROI for social media marketing. Luckily, Facebook makes tracking ROI simple with Ads Manager. The following will help you review the success of your Facebook Advertisement using Facebook’s Advertising Metrics (KPI’s - Key Performance Indicators).
Part 6 of 7 - Which Ad Works Best on Facebook? A/B Testing; [Series]
Facebook Advertising is a great way to raise brand awareness and increase your Facebook following. Sometimes your first advertisement might not yield the response you were hoping for. Wait! Don’t get rid of it, rework it with A/B testing.
Part 7 of 7 - Expand your Reach with Lookalike Audiences on Facebook [Series]
Facebook Advertising is an excellent resource for business owners. Everything you need to run a successful advertising campaign is all in one place, including your audience. Did you run a successful advertisement, and aren’t sure where to turn? Re-run that campaign to the same audience, well it’s clone, with Facebook’s Lookalike Audiences!
It would be great if it were true, but unfortunately, not every person who visits your website is going to immediately convert and become a paying customer. They may like what they see, but be ‘stuck’ in their ways and not ready to convert from a break-fix IT model to managed services. Or, they may want to look at what their other options are in your local area.
Facebook! Twitter! LinkedIn! Google+! How do you know if a platform is necessary for your business? How do you even go about setting up an account? What do you post? Below is a pretty basic guide to getting started on social media, why the ‘Big 4’ platforms are important to you, and why posting to those platforms is important for marketing your business.
Since businesses started using Facebook, it has become a valuable interface for them to supplement their ongoing marketing strategies. After Facebook opened their service to the masses in September of 2006, it wasn't difficult for popular local business posts to be front and center on the news feeds of people who had "liked" their business page. Because of this, many marketing professionals started putting together strategies centered around flooding their company pages with information to increase organizational visibility.
You’ve done it! Your latest Facebook post has met with success and received likes, shares, and comments. Facebook’s algorithm now recognizes this higher-than-normal level of engagement and begins to organically display your post to more and more timelines. When you’ve got a hot post like this on your hands, give it a boost!
