Managed and other IT services providers who want to differentiate themselves from an increasingly crowded field need to find new ways to engage and entice prospective buyers. We’ve put together a special Marketing Series to help you navigate MSP marketing from soup to nuts. Today’s focus will be on content marketing across the buyer journey, from prospect to post-sale.Blogs: Blogs are a content marketing staple, and they’re an easy way to share a lot of information to a wide audience. Your blog should be optimized for search engine optimization (SEO) for terms that are relevant for your MSP. Your blog should help solve your prospect’s immediate need and position your company as the solution to their problem. You can even turn your blog into a lead generating machine by adding a subscription form and enrolling subscribers in an email nurture program. Social media: What a lot of people don’t realize is how successful social media marketing can be. The majority of buyers today use social media to help make a purchase decision. Your social posts should feature content that specifically addresses your target audience and how your company meets their needs. Be sure to share relevant industry or thought leadership articles, in addition to your own content, to appear more frequently in feeds and increase your reach. Video: Video is so important in marketing today! HubSpot reported that 93% of brands landed a new customer because of a social media video in 2020. And creating videos doesn’t have to be hard; you can record them on your phone or with your webcam. Your videos should educate and engage your audience while supporting your product and brand messaging. Content like how-to videos, testimonials and industry commentary can all be leveraged on social media, your website, and in email campaigns as a way to personalize your messaging and increase engagement with your buyers. Next up is the Evaluation stage, where buyers have identified their top choices but have yet to make a final decision. Think of this stage like show and tell, and this is a critical stage for taking your buyers from a looker to a buyer, so your content should be focused on providing proof points aligned to specific pain points for your audience. Case studies: Case studies are a great way to demonstrate the value of your MSP and the type of financial or other ROI your buyers can expect. Include a customer quote or testimonial whenever you can, to emphasize your trustworthiness and effectiveness, and be sure to keep your case studies updated with new developments as they become available. White papers and industry reports: When it comes to positioning your MSP as a leader in your field, white papers and other thought-leadership type pieces are a great tool. Your white papers should be anchored with supporting data that showcase your MSP as a strategic partner instead of just another vendor. Nurture emails: A lot of people think email marketing is old fashioned but, dollar for dollar, email will give you some of the best return for your investment. Instead of creating one-off emails for promotions, create full campaigns that lead your prospect through the purchase cycle. Your email nurture campaigns should have a theme—maybe by industry vertical or job title—and each email should reflect the theme while offering people a piece of helpful information, like a link to a blog, case study, or white paper. The last stage, Decision, is focused on sealing the deal. Most buyers today will do some sort of ROI analysis before making a purchase, so demonstrating the value of your services in terms of dollars, budget, or strategic value can help make people feel more confident in their purchase. Customer testimonials: Never underestimate the power of happy customers and word-of-mouth! Your reputation is so important when it comes to converting prospects into buyers. If you don’t have a bank of testimonials, you can create a plan to reach out to current customers and ask if they would be willing to do a short video or answer a few questions via email. You can use these on social media, on your website, and in Sales materials. Consultations and demos: Most of the buying process takes place entirely online these days, and that includes things like consultations, Sales calls and demos. It’s important to have a quality presentation deck, and you should create one that highlights your MSP’s strengths, is backed up with data, shows some customer wins, and provides next steps Post-sale: Surveys and calls provide valuable feedback about how your customers see and engage with your product and brand. They keep customers engaged, allow you to be proactive about any support issues, and encourage brand loyalty. Results can be used to refine your messaging and strategy continually, to ensure content remains relevant. Email communications: Ongoing emails are an easy way to maintain contact with customers, keep them informed and engaged, and deliver new content. Your post-sale emails can include important announcements, regular newsletters, webinar invites, or other resources.
This guest blog is courtesy of Liongard. Read more Liongard guest blogs here. Regularly contributed guest blogs are part of ChannelE2E’s sponsorship program.
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