Lead generation is critical for MSPs looking to fill their sales pipeline. Still, it’s often a struggle because many MSPs lack the time and resources to dedicate to sales and marketing efforts. However, without a steady flow of prospective customers entering the sales pipeline, your business will not thrive. That’s why we’ve compiled a list of lead generation tactics you can start using immediately to help grow your business in 2021.
Create a Lead Generation Plan
The purpose of a lead generation plan is to create a list of potential customers that includes their contact information. Plans will vary widely between companies. In the end, the goal of a lead generation plan is for you to have a solid idea of how many potential customers, aka leads, you will need to generate to meet your monthly recurring revenue (MRR) goals. Calculate this number in 3 easy steps:
- First, consider your ratio of leads to closed deals. For example, let’s say, on average, you close one deal for every ten prospects. If you need to add five new customers in Q1, you’ll need a list of 50 leads.
- Next, consider your average deal size. For example, let’s say your typical monthly contract is around $2,000.
- Using this information, calculate the number of leads necessary to meet your MRR goal. Pretty straightforward, right?
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is the practice of using content to attract and engage a target audience to drive sales. This tactic often generates quality leads and involves offering online materials, such as eBooks, webinars, or videos, that require users to fill out a form with their contact information to access them. Email marketing and social media marketing are also critical pieces of the inbound marketing tactic and can be used to direct people to the content you’re creating. Inbound marketing can be an incredibly effective approach for generating solid prospects because it allows you to capture a lead while simultaneously gathering information about them. For inbound marketing to be effective, you need to offer relevant and informative content that builds a meaningful relationship with your audience.
Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing refers to the traditional use of external, paid channels to deliver a business message and content to an audience, rather than making your content available on your properties. Some examples of outbound marketing tactics include email blasts to purchased lead lists, tradeshow sponsorships, radio ads, and television commercials. While inbound marketing is all about luring an audience to you with content customized to said group’s interests and pain points, outbound marketing is all about pushing content/messaging out to a broader audience. Inbound attracts while outbound interrupts.
Optimize Your Website with SEO
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) can be a game-changer for your company. Your company can have the best product, service, and price, but if prospects can’t find you when they’re searching online, they’ll never know about you. SEO uses both technical and creative elements to improve a website’s rankings in search engine results, which drives site traffic and increases brand awareness.
Qualifying Leads
Not all leads are created equal. So, it would be best if you learned more about the lead to determine whether a prospect could become a paying customer. This process is known as “qualifying” leads or determining whether or not it’s worth investing time and effort into selling to a given prospect. If you’re not qualifying your leads, you will waste a lot of time following up on leads that aren’t a good fit for your company.
Yes, lead generation is a challenge, but starting with this variety of time-tested strategies from fellow MSPs should help you along your way. If you are serious about growing your business, you need to dedicate time to lead generation. Visit our website to download our eBook, Lead Generation Made MSPeasy, and learn how you can implement the tactics above to grow your business.
Author Rob Rae is senior vice president of business development, Datto. Read more guest blogs from Datto here.
