MSP Marketing: Fundamentals of Digital Marketing for MSPs
BY IT GLUE | April 23, 2020
For those who grew up in the age of rotary phones, the digital landscape can seem daunting. I’m here to tell you that it doesn’t have to be. A solid and effective digital marketing strategy can be implemented by knowing these fundamental moving pieces.
Now, that’s not to say that developing a more sophisticated and targeted marketing strategy isn’t complex (because it is), what I mean is that you can broaden your reach and increase your exposure by understanding the fundamentals.
Digital marketing requires digital assets
Sure you can use text-only advertisements, but as the saying goes, a picture says a thousand words, and this is even more true in our image obsessed world. Images with minimal text tend to perform better, as do images with movement. The goal is to catch the viewer’s eye and draw them in like a moth to a flame. Each platform requires unique specifications for digital images and videos, and often allow text that falls within a predefined character limit. The goal is to get your message across, and entice a “click”.
Know your channels
Think of online channels like the channels on a TV network. Each channel broadcasts a specific genre of shows, and appeals to a specific group of viewers. Similarly, each digital channel allows you to reach specific groups of people with defined interests. The biggest online channels right now are Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, though the list goes on. Each of them brings in a very broad range of people, but based on behavior, you can target specific groups of people that you think will be interested in your product. For example, on Google you can re-target individuals who visit websites and use search terms that are relevant to your product or service.
What are your clients’ behavior profiles?
You wouldn’t advertise diet pills at a hot dog eating contest. You need to have a general idea of your target audiences profile in order to target them effectively. Without targeting the right people, you’re throwing money away. Based on the digital channel you’re promoting your services on, you’ll use different characteristics to target your market segment. Think about what the typical age, location, industry, job title, media they consume, and so on.
What’s your “call to action”
Your Call to Action (CTA) is the action that you want the audience of your advertisement to complete or perform. This could be anything such as downloading a piece of content, watching a video, or requesting a demo. Don’t do anything without a clear objective in mind.
Where does it fit into your sales funnel?
If your CTA is to “Buy Now” and the person viewing the digital advertisement hasn’t even heard of your product or service, then there’s a misalignment between your CTA and who you’re targeting. Unless your product or service has high public or industry awareness to begin with, it’s a good idea to draft your messaging so that it appeals to people at the top of the funnel as well as those further down. You don’t want to miss out on a qualified lead.
Measure success
You’ll want to see if your digital marketing efforts are bearing fruit. Are people answering your CTA? How much are you paying per click? Have you seen an uptick in new clients? The metrics you use to measure success will depend on what type of digital marketing strategy you’ve implemented, so make sure you’ve established these from the get-go and are tracking data.
IT Glue isn’t a marketing tool, but it does help you save money by making your techs more efficient. Plow that savings back into your business on the marketing and sales side, and you’ll start scaling in ways you never thought possible – even in a recession.
