Have your MSP sales plateaued? Are you finding it hard to get the new customers you need to keep your business up and running? If so, perhaps you need to adjust how you handle your managed services marketing. Here are three reasons why every single managed service provider needs to become a media company first.
It’s the Best Way to Reach Your Target Audience
Are you finding it hard to get people to come to your website? On the other hand, are you wondering why you have plenty of website visitors but few conversions? The answer to both problems is likely that you aren’t putting a priority on media production.
There are many forms of media that are ideal for MSP marketing. Video marketing is effective as many people enjoy viewing and sharing video content. Infographics are useful ways to convey what could be viewed as dull, boring information in an engaging format. Blog posts, eBooks, in-depth articles and even press release articles are also good media options.
There is really no one type of media that works best when marketing an IT company. Most companies experiment to see which media options work best for them personally. Others use different types of media to reach different target audiences. For instance, a healthcare IT company that wants to reach rural doctors may use one type of media to reach this target audience while using a different form of media to target hospitals and clinics in large metropolitan areas.
Why is media far more effective in reaching your target audience than simply setting up a high-quality website? The answer is that the media keeps people coming back to your website. It also shows that you are an industry leader who knows what you are talking about. Furthermore, media creates brand awareness. People who have already heard of you are likely to turn to you to meet their MSP needs. On the other hand, those who haven’t heard of your services may be hesitant to do business with your company.
It’s Cost Efficient
Are you spending a lot of money on managed services marketing without seeing a good return on your investment? Many MSP companies are still using outdated forms of marketing such as telemarketing and Google AdWords and then wonder why they aren’t getting many clients. The answer is simple: these forms of advertising aren’t nearly as effective as they used to be. Most people who use Google automatically skip the advertisements in favor of organic results. Telemarketing results are even worse than Google AdWords results as your target audience likely consists of busy people who don’t appreciate being interrupted by phone calls they weren’t expecting in the first place.
Thankfully, media promotion is not only effective but also relatively cheap compared to outdated forms of advertising. Once you produce great content, you can promote it for free via your social media pages and/or through email marketing. What’s even better is that others will also share your content, thus helping you promote it at no cost to you personally. This process generates trust in your business as potential clients who hear positive information about you from their friends or colleagues will trust you more than if they have only heard of you from your website or some other marketing campaign. If you do want to invest in advertising, Facebook is an ideal option as you can tailor your campaign to only reach people who are likely to be interested in your specific tools and services.
Are you tired of throwing money at advertising methods that don’t seem to be working all that well? Media marketing may take time but statistics prove that it’s the most effective and cost-efficient form of MSP marketing available today.
It Provides You with Invaluable Customer Feedback
Do you want to find out how to grow your MSP business? Are you interested in discovering the best ways of marketing an IT company? Are you creating a new product or service and want to ensure it’s just right for your potential customers? If so, media marketing will help you reach these goals.
Media marketing isn’t just about you speaking your piece and enticing your target audience into wanting to do business with you. It’s also about engaging with your target audience, finding out what they want and how you can give it to them. As you create various forms of content, you will most likely get a wide range of reactions from people who are interested in you and what you have to offer. Some of these reactions will inevitably contain suggestions for new forms of content or even new products and services.
It’s important to always respond to people who take the time to leave comments on your blog, website or social media channels. Acknowledge compliments, respond to criticism in a professional, friendly manner and listen to any suggestions that are being made. If a number of people are making the same suggestion, chances are that a good portion of your target audience feels the same way. Don’t just rely on media comments but do use them as a springboard to grow your business. Feedback is invaluable if you want to stay on the cutting edge and continue providing MSP services to your target audience.
You can also proactively use media marketing to communicate directly with potential customers. At the end of your video, article, blog post or other media post, ask users to leave their opinion in the comments section. Alternatively, you can use social media outlets or even your own blog to put up surveys asking potential customers for their insight and advice.
Do you want to increase your reach, get new customers and grow your company? If so, your MSP company needs to become a media company first and foremost. It may seem counterproductive to invest a lot of time creating media when your main job is providing managed services; statistics clearly show that the results are more than worth it. People expect industry leaders to provide a steady stream of media content and the companies that do so are rewarded with free advertising in the form of likes and shares. What is more, media advertising is the most effective way of reaching the people who are most likely to be interested in what you have to offer. If you haven’t put a priority on media advertising in the past, take some time to consider your many media advertising options and choose the ones that work best for your company and its audience.
