Managed services marketing has increasingly normalized best practices. Following such protocols is key to seeing the results you need for your brand. Brand establishment doesn’t happen incidentally— it requires a specific design. You’ve got to take a concerted approach which considers all angles, maximizes strengths, and phases out weakness.
Steps to Brand Establishment
When establishing your brand, it’s important not to blow any “bubbles.” Pumping a lot of money into a brand, and establishing an image with that capital, may or may not produce results. If you haven’t built the brand around solid products, services, performance, and management, no amount of money will make it viable. You’re basically staving off an implosion. For success, there are basic steps you want to take which will help give you a firm foundation:
Have a Focus Which is Centered on Clients
Managed services marketing needs to be carefully focused around client needs, client wants, client misunderstandings, and establishing future clientele as this becomes viable. A common mistake MSPs make is to emphasize features and tech over client pain points.
If you start submitting on the nature of decentralized computing, prospects tune out. However, show why what you do gives prospective clientele greater operational potential, or reduced costs, and they’re more likely to start listening to what you’ve got to say.
Research clients carefully. Look at your existing clients, and the market you are a part of. Do competitors have clients which would be a good fit for your business? Why? Most likely, they’re doing something in terms of client focus that your MSP isn’t. Figure out what.
Let Truth and Integrity Provide Firm Foundations for Your Brand
Don’t ever oversell services you can’t deliver on. It’s better to undersell and overdeliver than to be less effective in the client’s estimation. The goal isn’t to get a client at all cost, the goal is to acquire clients who actually benefit from what you do.
Integrity, honesty, trustworthiness— these things make existing clients rely on your brand and are apt to initiate their referral of your services organically. That said, encouraging referral through incentive isn’t a bad idea.
Ensure Outreach Consistency Throughout All Channels of Marketing
Mobile devices, desktop devices, mail-outs, direct calls, magazine ads— whatever channels of marketing you employ should reflect brand consistency. You’ve never seen a McDonald’s ad with “I’m lovin’ it” on TV, but “I’m quite enjoying this burger” in a magazine advert. You want to have the same messages connected to the same imagery, and the same core branding conventions.
Giving Brands Legitimate Strength
Managed services marketing should be focused on clients, built around honest integrity, and consistent in all channels of outreach. When brands are configured around such core values, they’re more likely to establish core clientele and retain market sustainability over the long term.
