Have You Forgot About These Marketing Fundamentals?

With all of the marketing options available to businesses, it can be easy to lose sight of some basic but effective methods of marketing and sales. These fundamentals are usually simple in their execution and, compared to many marketing campaigns, are time-friendly. Have you and your MSP accidentally abandoned these marketing basics?

Follow-Up: Did you know that the majority of sales/marketing leads don’t make it past a second attempt at contact? According to a recent study by SiriusDecisions, about half of all sales opportunities are only contacted once. While it’s hard to know just how many times you’ll have to contact a lead before you’re able to convert them into a sale, it’s a safe bet that the magic number will be higher than two. Depending on your source, the number of contact ranges from between five and eight, all the way up to twenty-seven.

• Direct Mail Marketing: Printed newsletter and postcards are surprisingly effective. The amount of marketing through the postal service has taken a nosedive. It can be harder to track metrics and ROI. The fact that emails are cheap is also why spammers love to send them, which makes consumers a little more wary of them. An Epsilon study found that 25% of consumers found direct mail offers more trustworthy than email offers. People believe they get more junk in their email inbox than in their actual mailbox. And although direct mail is more expensive at first, it has the potential for a much higher ROI in the end, if done right.
• Create a Case Study: Case studies are meant to showcase a particular client or job that you feel demonstrates your experience and ability, usually on someone that you’d consider an ideal client. Too often, a great case study goes unwritten because after the job is completed, organizing the information that you need to make a good case study can be difficult to compile. As with any type of marketing collateral, your case study needs to speak to the type of prospects and clients you are looking to attract and establish a long term relationship with. It’s important that your audience is able to imagine themselves as the client examined in the case study. A great way to make the creation of a case study simple and time effective is by making sure your techs understand the elements of a case study. Can your team identify your ideal type of client? Are they taking pictures and detailed field notes so your writing team can put together a case study if so desired?
• Posting Pictures to Social Media: When it comes to user engagement, few social media posts will beat out photographs of you, employees, family, pets, IT projects, community activities, or other company events. Pictures serve to humanize your company by adding a face to the name and can help to keep your company at the top of their mind. Images of your team hard at work let’s prospects, clients and everyone else know that you actually are able to perform the tasks that you’re trying to market. Despite the fact that nearly everyone has a digital camera on their phone, very few MSPs remember to regularly post candid images or photos.

As your marketing strategy develops, it’s easy to lose sight of your marketing goals and tracking marketing KPIs. One of the best ways to combat this would be to create a detailed list of marketing goals and calendar of events. Your marketing plan will help to guide your marketing for the entire year, and make sure that you don’t forget the essentials of marketing.