There are numerous ways to connect with managed services clients and introduce them to your offer. Besides creating a comprehensive digital campaign, businesses can introduce countless small tricks to increase conversions and boost brand awareness.
In this article, we don’t necessarily want to talk about specific marketing tactics. Instead, we want to share some incredible tricks MiroMind uses when onboarding prospective clients. Keep in mind that, besides MSPs, most of these methods can also be implemented for other industries and verticals.
1. Invest in SEO
No matter what you think about search engine optimization, this method is vital for attracting new clients and retaining existing ones. Even if you never manage to climb to the top of search engine results for specific, relevant keywords, you’ll still enjoy numerous secondary benefits that will affect other marketing campaigns.
For example, SEO will improve the overall usefulness of your business site, making it easier to close prospects arriving from other marketing channels. Veteran marketers can also suggest numerous improvements to your design, ensuring that you squeeze more value from incoming traffic as well as your existing client base.
If you want to target managed services providers specifically, we suggest you find a reputable MSP SEO agency for this project. Companies that are well-acquainted with the IT target market can provide significantly better results in a fraction of the time other countries would.
2. Join Networking Groups
While other business owners are trying to onboard MSP clients without having any previous contact with them, you can join MSP groups and build a reputation there. Becoming a member of networking groups allows you to increase visibility in places where prospective customers gather, ensuring your targeting is always on the spot.
For example, you can join various forums, Facebook groups, and subreddits popular among IT industry specialists. It’s worth mentioning that you shouldn’t try to pitch the users directly, as this might lead to a potential ban. Instead, you should provide guidance and cool tips, making yourself noticed.
You can sometimes talk about how your existing clients have benefited from your services, although try not to be too obvious. People quickly figure out if you’re selling them something and tend to react unfavorably. Instead, be a good sport and wait for MSPs to contact you.
3. Create a Referral Program
Word-of-mouth marketing remains one of the best ways to attract potential clients and improve reputation. However, unlike traditional WoM, where people would vouch for a well-known local brand, things are a bit different for digital entities.
Most of the online business is done between companies located in different cities, states, and countries. On top of that, potential MSP clients know little about marketing agencies that could help them out. Because of that, your WoM strategies should have a global character.
You would have to create a referral program that would spread the good word online. That way, even if your prospects are on a different continent, you can still generate leads through recommendations, as if selling products and services in your neighborhood.
4. Repurpose Content
Back in the day, marketers suggested companies to use a limited number of channels and social media. The general idea was that you would spend too much time building all these channels, so you wouldn’t get significant results from any of them. However, things have changed with advanced marketing tools that make content repurposing and sharing easier.
Nowadays, you can easily repurpose the same post across different social media. Content software can instantly generate, resize, and rewrite various posts, ensuring that you follow a specific format. That way, you can boost the potential of every piece you create while also making it easier to increase followership on several accounts concurrently.
5. Have a Clear, Unique Offer
One of the common reasons why many businesses struggle to convert is because they don’t provide anything unique. For example, they might differ from other agencies in terms of price but not necessarily in terms of the service offer. Because of that, you need to have a unique value proposition to get more MSP clients.
You need to find a way to differentiate yourself from other businesses by focusing on MSP’s pain points. Not only that, but you should also create an action plan that would help you tackle these challenges even before you start an interview.
Businesses have to be clear in what they offer so that clients always know what to expect. If possible, you should also consider writing a generic service contract that you can sign at the moment’s notice, offering clients an extra security blanket.
6. Add Personality
Staying on the topic of uniqueness, you also need to sprinkle some personality into your site and social media. While every MSP business expects a reliable, professional partner, they also want to work with real people. So, don’t be afraid to put your face in the front and center of your platforms.
We also suggest spending some time to find a unique website design that will separate you from the rest. You can use a digital avatar for yourself and your team or find some other graphic solutions that will help you transition from a generic brand to an intriguing service provider. Whatever the case, don’t be afraid of your inner creativeness, as it will make you look distinct.
7. Create Enticing News
Many companies utilize PR as an inseparable part of their promotional activities. Unfortunately, only a handful of businesses gain real traction from this marketing tactic. For most of them, it’s nothing more than a vanity activity where they attempt to be more relevant than they actually are.
If you wish to maximize the value of this promotional activity, we suggest you put some effort into creating unique news. Even if it means you’re not completely honest, you should add grandeur to every event you organize, such as networking lunches or the local Chamber of Commerce meetings.
Writing enticing news will also help during link-building campaigns. With this strategy, you can pitch journalists through HARO to get some top-tier backlinks for your site. This will not only boost your SEO but will provide a massive influx of direct traffic to your pages.
8. Streamline Content Marketing
Out of all these promotional activities, content marketing takes the biggest chunk of your productive time. Articles take several hours to write, after which you also need to spend time creating relevant images.
Content marketing is especially arduous when tackling B2B MSP clients. A common marketing campaign will include all the interactions via email and social media, during which you need to create personalized messages for every IT team. Not only will you need a lot of time to write all these messages, but you’ll also need to research every contact beforehand.
Luckily, streamlining content creation has never been easier. Companies can use all sorts of AI tools to extract contact information, generate articles and social media posts, and publish them across different channels. If you’re also repurposing posts, the entire process becomes that much faster.
9. Improve Your Onboarding
Most companies gamble their organization’s future on marketing that they completely forget other pieces of the puzzle. If you wish to dominate the MSP market and close as many managed services providers as possible, you also need an excellent sales pitch and onboarding process.
As soon as MSP shows interest in your brand, you need to put them into the funnel. You need to streamline your pipelines, micromanaging every interaction between your sales team and potential clients. Although most of these conversations happen organically, you need a script to rebuttal any complaint they might have.
Once you set up a meeting, you need to have an actionable plan that will encompass all eventualities. Most businesses make a mistake at this point by trying to sell too hard. Instead, we suggest you focus on the client’s needs and how your services can address any challenges their MSP brand might be facing.
10. Get Better Tools
Another great trick for improving conversion rates is getting a better software kit. MSPs use heavily data-driven processes, and their teams generally love anything tech-related. That being said, you should flaunt your programs during the interview while explaining your workflow.
Having all these advanced tools will have a great impression on prospects, increasing the likelihood of contract signing. Furthermore, you can accomplish a lot by sharing your neat Excel tables with all this data (this might sound absurd, but it actually works!)
Of course, you’ll benefit from this software beyond interview posturing. Great tools will be crucial for your campaigns, as they will help you get better results in a shorter amount of time. They’re also vital for collecting prospects’ information and finding the perfect targets for your marketing and sales teams.
11. Advertise Locally
While most MSPs are used to doing business with international brands, they still prefer conducting business locally. Focusing on your own market provides numerous benefits for both parties, ensuring tighter cooperation between the two organizations.
Because of that, we suggest you reroute a good portion of your marketing money on various networking events, local business catalogs, and PPC campaigns that target your city’s or state’s market. Having this mindset is much more cost-effective, as it improves your visibility among ideal customer persona.
12. Use Interactive Elements
Having a plan website will no longer cut it. Companies need to introduce various interactive elements and visual aids that would entice users to stay on their platform for a while longer. These props are also vital for your MSP clients and conversion process as they can help you acquire relevant information about your service.
For example, you can use interactive elements to learn more about different aspects of your marketing and sales process. You can also ask past clients about their experience with the brand and if they would change something. By combining quizzes, polls, and surveys, you can make a more customized journey for users while increasing their retention and conversions.
13. Create Funnels
Funnels are a vital part of your marketing and sales equation. With a well-designed method of streamlining prospects, you can increase the conversion rates while ensuring that MSP leads don’t slip through the cracks.
Funnels are especially fantastic for data gathering. They help you analyze various processes and determine where you lost most of your clients. That way, you can improve each part of the pipeline for maximum conversions. More importantly, funnels can tell you if some of your employees are slacking off or simply aren’t proficient enough.
14. Use Videos
Video marketing has been booming in the last few years. Even if you’re working in a dull industry, you still need visual aids to leave an impression on your website visitors and to boost your social media presence.
Although video format isn’t ideal for B2B service providers looking to close MSPs, it still serves specific purposes. For example, you can embed videos in your blog posts, increasing their retention and performance. Videos are also fantastic for your homepage, making it significantly more interactive.
15. Build LinkedIn Presence
Out of all the social networks, LinkedIn stands out as the best site for closing MSP clients. The platform is mostly used by financial, legal, and IT experts who love to share news and trends from their respective industries.
By building followership on the platform, you might get some inquiries in your inbox. Ideally, you should join groups that allow user-generated content where you can showcase your expertise.
Conclusion
Closing MSP clients can be much easier if you have a viable plan of attack. We always recommend our readers combine several marketing tactics and channels, trying to harness as many leads from as many sources as possible. While doing all of that, we also suggest you focus on SEO as the best-converting method for getting new MSP partners.