Mastering today’s sophisticated IT solutions is a fundamental requirement of every MSP’s job, and many technology professionals relish that challenge. That’s not that surprising; after all, most IT pros will tell you that a long-standing interest in figuring out how things work is what influenced their career choices in the first place. As an MSP, your inquisitive nature and commitment to fact-based analysis is one of your greatest assets.
But there’s another trait that a lot of IT pros share: a general lack of comfort when it comes to the subjective world of marketing. It might be that same dedication to objective inquiry that makes you wrinkle your nose at the inflated claims and hyperbolic tone you see in so much of today’s mainstream marketing. And while marketing “fluff” can be a huge turn-off for both you and your customers, you know better than anyone how crucial promoting your services to prospective and existing clients is for your success.
Happily, your marketing efforts don’t need to go the “fluffy” route. Instead, you can use your technological knowledge and analytical skills to deliver helpful advice on a broad variety of IT challenges that confront today’s SMBs. Endpoint security issues are particularly relevant topics for you to incorporate in your marketing outreach, as the malware landscape is constantly changing and evolving.
Regularly supplying cybersecurity tips and insights to your customers can be a powerful marketing tool for two reasons; first, it reinforces your position as a trusted and knowledgeable advisor to your clients; and second, it offers those clients a welcome, value-added type of communication—rather than a blatant sales pitch—that will raise your company’s profile and keep you top of mind with them.
This last point is key. One of the great ironies of the MSP business model is that the more effective you are, the less visible you become. When your clients’ IT infrastructures are running smoothly, your role in enabling those seamless operations is often overlooked. But should a technical problem arise, your company’s name will be right back on the lips of the disgruntled!
Info-centric marketing efforts can take a variety of forms. For example, you could conduct an informal Lunch N Learn session with your clients’ end users on ways to spot and avoid phishing scams. Supply some pizza and sandwiches and you’re guaranteed an audience that’s receptive to learning tips on how to be more aware of cyberthreats when browsing and emailing. You’ll build credibility with your client, and reduce service calls to remediate infections at their site.
Another educational outreach marketing option might be through your cybersecurity vendor partner. For instance, members of the Webroot Channel Edge MSP Program can leverage a comprehensive Go-To-Market Toolkit, which includes a complete “webinar-in-a-box” that has all the assets (email invite, reminder, follow-up, presentation, instructions, etc.) an MSP needs to host their own cybersecurity webinar covering ransomware. In this case, ransomware is a growing threat that’s increasingly in the news, and addressing it with a webinar will assure your clients that you’re actively engaged in blocking this menace.
You can also take advantage of Webroot’s threat blog to stay up to date on the latest cyberthreat trends, and then use that information to periodically email your clients’ IT departments a brief cybersecurity summary that details recent malware developments that are relevant to them. This gives you another opportunity to maintain regular contact with your clients—and underscore your commitment to protecting them.
Even though you probably have a (completely understandable) aversion to the exaggerations and wild claims that characterize marketing at its worst, there’s no reason your own marketing efforts can’t be truthful, informative, and respectful of your audience. By keeping your clients (as well as prospective customers) informed about endpoint security challenges that can affect their bottom line, you can deliver even more value while strengthening your long-term partnership with those clients.
MSPs know promoting their services is vital, but many are uncomfortable with the overblown nature of traditional marketing. See how periodically delivering cybersecurity tips and insights to customers can be a powerful marketing tool that reinforces your position as a trusted advisor and keeps you top of mind with clients.
