Plan Out Your MSP's Marketing for 2024

2023 is already coming to an end and it’s a crucial time to lock in your plans and objectives for the coming year. The last few years have been a whirlwind for MSPs, and for many, that has been a good thing. With more and more businesses wanting to take compliance seriously thanks to insurance companies starting to ask them questions, to the sudden popularity of AI tools, MSPs have a lot more to add to their toolkit. On top of that, there’s still business communication like VoIP, physical security and access control, and a whole slew of remote/conferencing tools to help the modern business out with. An active, forward-thinking MSP can look like an amazing opportunity to a business owner who values technology and automation.

Let’s talk about how your MSP can capitalize on this and plan out your marketing for 2024.

Before we get too far in, I want to introduce new readers to a series of blogs we put together that still applies today:

Obviously, you don’t have to go it alone. JoomConnect is a marketing agency for MSPs and we can help you build out a marketing plan and fulfill it, and we offer a wide range of products and services to help you get started. Even so, there are other marketing agencies out there too, and while we definitely suggest giving us a try, you can use this guide to choose the right marketing agency for your MSP.

One more link before we get started—the first thing most MSPs think about when it comes to their marketing is SEO, so it’s worth sharing this guide: 20 Must-Have MSP “Magic” Keywords.

The title is a little bit misleading—while we do mention the top 20 MSP marketing keywords, we explain how keywords aren’t that important anymore and what you should be doing if you are concerned with your rankings.

Establish Your 2024 Marketing Goals

There are tons of ways to sit down and reflect on your business to establish some basic goals. We’re not going to list out every possible way to put that together here, but you should definitely look at how much you’d like to grow, and come up with a goal that you can achieve.

The easiest way to look at it is how many clients do you want to onboard in 2024. Is it one every quarter? Three per month? What can your current staff handle? Are you prepared to hire more techs if you reach a certain threshold, and how quickly can you do that, etc.

You want growth, so be sure to set a minimum, and then set yourself an ideal goal. The minimum might be a new client every two months, but you’d really like to get 1 to 2 each month, and at that rate, you’d be onboarding a new technician by the end of Q2 and a new service manager by the end of the year, etc. 

You can always adjust your goals later—if something is extremely successful, you might need to rethink your strategy to account for that. If your first campaign misses the mark or you fail to convert the appointments in one month, then use it as a learning opportunity and keep trying.

Know Your Target Audience

This might seem a little obvious, but you should have a pretty good idea of who your best potential clients might be. For example, if you have historically had a great working relationship with manufacturers or healthcare, and they tend to be your best clients, prioritize them. If your services never seem to be a fit for law offices, or certain industries seem to be the most tasking to work for, prioritize them less. 

You can adjust your services to suit them, but when it comes to your marketing, focus first on the most valuable (to you) targets.

Take some time to research and understand your target audience - their needs, pain points, and preferences. This will help you tailor your marketing efforts to resonate with them and stand out from your competitors. Your techs are in the trenches every day, so it’s a good practice to ask them for some of this information.

Create a Comprehensive Marketing Plan

If you just tell yourself “This year will be different. This year, I’m going to do more marketing. I’m going to use social media, I’m going to send emails, and I’m going to leverage some relationships to run an event or two!” you probably won’t do those things very consistently.

Why?

Business gets in the way. You’ll have other high-priority things to work on, and your vague plan to do more marketing will fall by the wayside. That’s why you need a solid plan.

Map it out. Give yourself monthly, weekly, and even daily tasks. For instance, if you want to utilize social media (which you should), then you need to build out posts consistently, schedule them out, and interact with social networks. That means fleshing out a little time each day to do that.

If you want to send out regular emails, they need to be completed, proofed, and scheduled to go out. That takes your time, and that time needs to be blocked off.

If you want to run a campaign, that’s a whole series of parts that should be built ahead of time. All of this stuff can be a huge investment of your time, and if you don’t plan to put the time in, you simply aren’t going to make it happen. You’ll feel like you’ve been struggling with marketing, when really you’ve been fighting your own calendar.

To effectively market your MSP, you need to have a well-thought-out and comprehensive marketing plan. This should include your target audience, marketing goals, strategies, and budget. It's important to regularly review and adjust your plan as needed to ensure it aligns with your business goals and stays relevant in the ever-changing market.

This is something we can help with. We build huge, comprehensive, detailed marketing plans for MSPs all throughout the year, and establish a 12-month plan that fits within your budget.

Learn about our MSP Marketing Plans

Stay Up-to-Date with Industry Trends

The technology industry is constantly evolving, and it's important for MSPs to stay on top of the latest trends and developments. This not only helps you stay competitive, but it also allows you to offer cutting-edge solutions to your clients. Stay informed by attending industry events, networking with other professionals, and regularly reading industry publications.

At the same time, understand how trends change with your clients and prospects. We’re seeing an amazing shift for a lot of businesses—for basically the first time ever, small businesses are coming to MSPs asking about cybersecurity and compliance. Thanks to business insurance providers asking questions about security, decision-makers who didn’t already need to comply with industry regulatory standards are beginning to become more concerned about their cybersecurity. This is a huge thing to capitalize on if your MSP can support it.

Then there’s generative AI. This is a huge buzzword that many business owners are pretty excited about, but other than asking ChatGPT some questions, they don’t really know how to apply AI and business intelligence effectively. Adding that sort of thing to your service stack could make you an incredibly valuable asset to potential clients. There’s also no reason an MSP can’t handle things like access control, security cameras, and other physical security solutions as part of their initial hardware/project sales. It might not be a big recurring revenue generator, but it is a strong foot in the door to talk to any client about managed IT.

Leverage Referral Marketing

Word-of-mouth marketing is still one of the most effective ways to attract new clients. Encourage your satisfied clients to refer you to their network by offering incentives or rewards for successful referrals. You can also ask for testimonials and showcase them on your website and social media to build trust and credibility with potential clients.

Utilize Social Media

Although some days it might seem like it, social media isn’t dead. The biggest problem with social media marketing for MSPs is that it isn’t an instant revenue generator. You aren’t likely to post something to social media that immediately converts a prospect. Instead, it’s about getting your followers to remember that you exist. Social media is a great way to touch your prospects and stay top of mind.

Social media is a powerful tool for marketing your MSP. It allows you to connect with potential clients, showcase your services, and establish your brand. Make sure to have a presence on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter/X, and Facebook, and regularly post relevant content and engage with your audience. You can also use social media to run targeted ads and reach a wider audience, but again, curb your expectations; it’s 

Invest in Lead Generation

Lead generation is crucial for any business, and MSPs are no exception. In order to attract new clients, you need to have a steady stream of leads coming in. Consider investing in lead generation tools and strategies, such as email marketing, content marketing, and SEO, to help drive traffic to your website and convert leads into clients.

Get Out There!

We call it sneaker marketing, and if you are going to do one thing other than the very basics (website, blogging, newsletters), then you should do this. Get out there and mingle with your community. Go to chamber mixers and peer groups, sponsor events, host golf tournaments, and sponsor a little league team. Just get your name out there, shake hands, and kiss babies. Yes, this takes a lot of effort outside of work, but getting involved in your community can be rewarding.

Let’s Help Meet Your MSP’s Marketing Goals for 2024

We can help you create a strong marketing plan for your MSP that will help you stand out and attract new clients in 2024 and beyond. Contact us to get started!