3 Marketing Mistakes MSPs Make — And How To Fix Them

By The Business Solutions Network

If you really want to stand out from your competitors, you need to avoid common marketing pitfalls that keep prospects from getting to know your company and the value of your expertise and solutions.

After more than a decade talking to hundreds of channel business owners, I feel confident making this broad-brush statement: MSPs (managed services providers) as a whole struggle with marketing. It’s hard to paint as broad of a picture as to why that is the case, but one of the biggest culprits is that most MSP business owners have engineering and/or technology backgrounds, not marketing. Solving a computer problem requires a much different strategy than solving a branding problem. Some MSPs conclude that the only viable marketing is word of mouth/referral-based marketing. I’m guessing those companies won’t even take the time to read an article like this one that has “marketing” in the title. For those who do see potential value in marketing and have tried or are trying to increase brand awareness, shorten their sales cycles, and attract more leads, this article is for you. I spoke with four channel experts and asked them about the most common marketing mistakes they see MSPs make as well as their advice on how to avoid/correct these mistakes.

Mistake #1: Your Marketing Message Does Not Clearly Convey Business Value
According to Mark Sokol, vice president, product marketing and branding for ConnectWise, “One common marketing mistake we see is messages that fail to convey how a product or solution solves a business need or challenge. Too often, MSPs get wrapped up in the technology and how it works, but they fail to see the big picture, which is the business problems the product is designed to solve. MSPs must articulate how the technology adds business value.”

Derik Belair, VP of marketing and business development at SolarWinds N-able, concurs and adds, “A similar mistake we see MSPs make is emphasizing pricing in their ads, which puts them at a disadvantage right out of the gate. Also, avoid using a lot of technical jargon in your marketing. It will only serve to confuse and alienate your audience.”

To illustrate this point further, let’s say your company custom-builds PCs. Although your spec sheets may focus on the quality, amount, and brand of RAM used in your machines, the overclocked Intel i7 processors, and 1 TB hybrid hard drives, consider a different emphasis for your marketing.

For example, unless your target audience is exclusively IT buyers, have your marketing message emphasize points nontechnical people can relate to such as increased productivity, resistance to malware and cyber threats, and any specific tools or services you include or offer that will help them perform their jobs better. Another angle you can consider is to emphasize the pain points prospects experience without your solutions and expertise. For instance, your marketing could highlight the downfalls of unreliable technology, such as downtime, lost sales, and staff having to work overtime and on weekends to catch up on work.

Mistake #2: You Think Marketing Is A Way To Trick Prospects
Some of the advertisements that stick in our heads are the annoying jingles we hear over and over or loud pushy salespeople telling us we need to buy a certain product. While some can argue that these tactics are effective, good marketing does not have to be annoying or deceitful. “Conversations with partners are often strewn with references to ‘snake oil’ marketers promising superb SEO results or increased number of leads in exchange for retaining their services,” says Jeanne Hopkins, CMO at Continuum. “It’s no wonder why MSPs struggle with creating a marketing plan that makes sense for their business. Oftentimes, partners believe they have to do something substantial in order to begin a marketing program, and it is not the big things that matter but the small things such as response times to calls and Web form requests. If you don’t have a simple tracking mechanism in place to follow up consistently, nothing else really matters.”

Instead of putting so much marketing attention on being clever, Hopkins advises MSPs to focus on consistency. “Consistency in communications is the key — whether you’re implementing email nurturing programs with prospects and clients; blogging on a cadence that is maintainable; and/or micropublishing peers’, vendors’, and clients’ social network streams,” she says. “By utilizing simple tools, any MSP can build a marketing program that gives them increased visibility at a very low price.”

Mistake #3: Your Marketing Lacks An Overarching Plan
Heeding the first two warnings can save MSPs from a myriad of pitfalls and shortcomings, but there is one more big pitfall the experts say keeps their channel partners from seeing acceptable returns on their investments. “We find a number of companies that do various activities — and maybe even do those activities on a regular basis — but they have no plan behind it all,” says Dave Sobel, director of partner community at LogicNow. “Marketing is an executable procedure that you have to do consistently. But, without a long-term plan, it can lead to shortsighted decision making. For instance, some MSPs will send a mailer once, and if it doesn’t get a good response, they’ll assume prospects don’t respond to mailers anymore and immediately try something different.” When your marketing activities are part of a clearly defined plan that includes a specific audience focus, campaign theme, and projected results, it’s easier to react more rationally when one component of the plan doesn’t work. “For example, using the mailer example earlier, the MSP should take a closer look into the audience the message was sent to,” says Sobel. “Where did you get the list? How did you qualify the list? If it wasn’t an audience issue, ask yourself was your message compelling to your audience. Once you’ve addressed the first two criteria, you can then make a more informed decision about any changes that need to be made.”

If you’re like the majority of MSPs, you probably have very limited resources to dedicate to marketing so it’s understandable that you only want to focus on activities that are going to generate the best (and quickest) results. One final takeaway to keep in mind, however, is this: The more focused you can be about your messaging and what you want to accomplish, the more help there will be available to you. Many of your IT vendors and value-added distributors have various marketing resources, services, and oftentimes market development funds available that you may not even be aware of. If those companies see that you have a basic plan in place with specific desired outcomes listed, they are going to be much more receptive to providing you with the funds and other resources needed to help you reach your goals.