Like all other industries, managed service providers live and die by their lead generation tactics. These brands need a constant influx of clients to generate cash flow and increase their reputation. However, reaching new clients isn’t as easy as you might think.
According to data, 66% of all marketers claim that digital tactics are vital for their lead-generation efforts. Unfortunately, it’s hard to determine which channel and format is best for your brand. Right now, MSP marketing mostly revolves around blog posts, influencer marketing, and social media shopping, so there are lots of ways to “attack the market.”
A managed service provider has to be experienced enough to find the right strategy for their business while also having a certain level of flexibility to change their approach on the fly. In this article, we’ll talk about the best practices for generating inbound leads and how to survive the stormy marketing waters in 2024.
Why Is Lead Generation Important for MSPs?
Back in the day, most brands relied on WOM, or word-of-mouth marketing, for generating qualified leads. In fact, this primitive marketing strategy was 88% more effective than traditional marketing efforts. Prospective customers had much more confidence purchasing from a brand their friends and family recommended.
As the informational landscape changed, people slowly strayed away from this kind of promotion. They started looking for quick solutions to their problems by searching online shops and other providers online. The same rule applies to MSP lead generation, as these businesses pitch their offer to millions of web users.
Due to the nature of the business, managed service providers can’t expect that someone will find their offices by strolling down the street or through personal recommendations. They need to proactively reach out to clients by using search engines, social media accounts, and paid ads.
Given that managed services aren’t dependent on physical location, with providers being able to deliver no matter the clients’ location, MSP lead generation campaigns have a global character. You can pitch prospective customers even if they’re in a different state or country, which has numerous advantages but also some glaring drawbacks.
10 Best MSP Lead Generation Tactics in 2024
MSP lead generation tactics change alongside search engines and social media platforms. As new technology and tools are being introduced, these businesses have to adapt to newly found situations to maximize their online visibility and conversion rates.
In 2024, marketing will revolve around artificial intelligence. Providers, whether we’re talking about MSP companies or other businesses, will have to rely on heavy personalization and well-designed funnels to close prospects. Without further ado, here are 10 main things you’ll need to keep your eyes on in the following period.
1. Customized Funnels
The use of marketing funnels isn’t necessarily a “trend.” The tactic has been around since the early days of digital marketing, allowing brands to streamline their leads from one section of the website to other, more conversion-oriented pages.
The main point of creating a marketing funnel is to slowly introduce prospects to your MSP offer. Given that this service isn’t cheap by any stretch of the imagination, users won’t pay outright. Instead, they would want to learn more about your business, qualifications, and track record before they make any transaction.
In 2024, we can expect more personalized, laser-focused funnels. Top-tier MSP providers will create pipelines tailor-made for specific users, thus maximizing their conversion rates. Managed service providers will pitch potential clients based on their problem and product awareness, from low awareness to full awareness.
2. AI Content Generation
Artificial intelligence carries some interesting but also scary prospects. The technology can completely alter content marketing as we know it, making the process much cheaper for brands. The only good news for writers and video producers is that it will take some time until AI completely replaces them (although this might not be completely true – check out Sora AI).
So, what type of content can MSPs create with these solutions?
- Blog posts
- Emails
- Social media and chat messages
- PPC and other ads
- Video content, etc.
However, AI doesn’t come without its inherent risks. For example, we still don’t know whether using this technology will affect your placement in Google and other search engines. Because of that, many MSPs are still reluctant to implement it at a wider scale.
3. Omni-Channel Marketing
Omni-channel marketing is vital for any service provider that relies on retention for survival. By using numerous advertising and organic platforms, companies can retain 89% of their clients, which is especially vital for MSPs. Here are a few main benefits of using this tactic:
- Besides increased profitability, businesses can also enjoy exponentially higher reach
- Users can easily find answers to their questions, regardless of which platform they use
- All of this leads to increased satisfaction rates and retention
- Marketers will have an easier time creating content as they will be able to repurpose posts for different channels
Of course, this doesn’t mean that marketing can save weak operational processes. In the end, an IT company has to provide excellent service so that the users stay with the brand.
4. Personalized Campaigns
Managed service providers can create all sorts of solutions for client companies. Unfortunately, most businesses are very bad at promoting these services. So, to stay ahead of your competition in 2024, you’ll have to introduce personalized campaigns that would revolve around users’ specific interests.
Here’s what you need to do to get the most out of this promotional method:
- First, you’ll need to segment audiences based on their interests and needs
- Analyze various demographic factors, such as language, location, and income, to learn more about different prospects
- Find the best channels and tactics for specific campaigns. Keep in mind that certain tactics, like PPC, will allow you to better focus on your ideal leads
- Create content according to a specific service. Promote it with influencers that specialize in that particular service
- Create unique funnels according to a service you’re trying to sell. Don’t pitch all prospects with the same offer, as it will dissuade leads who are genuinely interested in certain products
Although personalized campaigns require more time than your usual marketing tactics, they have much higher conversion rates. In fact, by pinpointing the right users and creating customized messages, you can beat the MSP competition that is still trying to use the traditional marketing methodology.
5. Video Marketing
Almost all marketers (88% of them, to be exact) use videos as an integral part of their marketing strategy. For the most part, MSPs use the format to educate the audience and increase brand awareness, although they might serve other purposes as well.
Marketers can use videos in all sorts of ways. They’re the perfect conversion tool for your homepage, explaining to visitors how your brand differs from other companies. Video can also showcase your service offer in a visually appealing manner.
Based on everything we know, the video trend is here to stay. More and more users access the internet via their phones, a device that is much more suitable for visual than textual formats. The rise of video popularity also has to do with the young generation coming of age, most of whom are not used to reading articles.
Another good thing about videos is that you can repurpose them for various platforms. Even if you still want to create articles, you can embed videos into them, offering users two noticeably different formats for consuming the content.
6. Google SGE
Google SGE, or Search Generative Experience, is a brand-new concept. The technology was rolled out in the US several months back, but the rest of the world is still waiting to experience this revolutionary update.
The new algorithm can generate search results without relying on other websites. It creates snippet-like answers that you can only read without guiding you to specific pages. For now, the technology mostly works for question-based queries, such as “How-To’s,” as well as commercial queries.
Like most other industries, Google SGE will likely have a major impact on MSPs. Similar to current snippets, generative results show at the very top of a search page, occupying a significant space. After users scroll down through this large block of text, they will see ads and, after that, organic results.
However, this doesn’t mean that SGE will completely destroy your PPC and SEO campaigns. The algorithm also shows some organic results on the right-hand side of the generative snippet in the form of a carousel. So, if you’re good enough at marketing, you’ll still have an opportunity to acquire traffic although in a somewhat roundabout way.
7. Influencer Marketing
Influencer marketing has become increasingly vital for companies’ marketing efforts. Younger generations, in particular, gravitate to popular YouTube and Instagram personalities and are more likely to purchase from them. According to data taken from Influencer Marketing, the industry is expected to grow to $24 billion by the end of 2024.
Although influencer marketing is a bit tricky for MSPs, as there’s a limited number of people who are suitable for promoting your brand, it still remains a viable marketing solution. By having the right web personality in your corner, you can generate numerous sales opportunities and significantly increase brand awareness.
8. Software Reliance
Based on everything we’ve mentioned so far, it isn’t surprising that MSP will have to invest even more money into marketing tools this year. It’s hard to imagine a lead generation process without several SaaS for SEO, PPC, SMM, email marketing, and other popular tactics. On top of that, companies should also use free resources such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics.
Some of the best software you can check out includes:
- Website software (Google Analytics, Google Search Console)
- Competitive research software (Ahrefs, SEMRush, Google Trends)
- Content software (Grammarly, SurferSEO, Market Muse)
- Online advertising software (HubSpot, Scoro, AdScale)
- Social media software (Hootsuite, Socialbee, Sprout Social)
- Email marketing software (Mailchimp, Omnisend, Tailwind)
The great thing about modern SaaS solutions is that they’re perfect for international teams. Given that most MSPs have employees in other countries, this would allow them to communicate and share data without any limits. Furthermore, they use real-time data from the web, allowing marketers to make quick, data-driven decisions.
9. Interactive Content
If you’re looking to increase engagement and generate leads, you should definitely consider using interactive content. Nowadays, top-tier MSPs use content such as quizzes, surveys, polls, and other interactive elements to make an impact on their website visitors.
While not all of these users are potential customers, interactive content will still have a major impact on your marketing. By forcing website visitors to stick to your pages for a while, you’re boosting various SEO metrics. Google and other search engines take note of the long time spent on a page propelling your post to the top of the search.
Furthermore, this type of content is more likely to be shared via social media. As people love feeling engaged, they’re likely to repost your pages with interactive content in other places.
10. Chatbots
Whether you’re looking to generate leads or retain current customers, chatbots are optimal for achieving this particular goal. The technology can be embedded on both your website and social media, ensuring that your target audience has all the answers to their burning questions.
Besides MSP lead generation, chatbots also make life easier for your customer support team. AI can tackle simple requests, regardless of the time zone and other availability factors. Meanwhile, your customer support experts can process complex tickets that require human attention.
Last Thoughts
MSP lead generation will be very different in 2024 compared to years prior. Specifically, the emergence of artificial intelligence will have a major impact on how we create content, extrapolate data, and interact with search engines. Besides changing your day-to-day marketing processes, this technology might also affect your organizational structure.