Leveraging Content Marketing to Differentiate Your MSP

What does marketing look like in your MSP (managed service provider) business? Do you have an email list, an active social media presence or do you prefer to network face to face?

Many small business owners, MSPs included, tend to let marketing fall by the wayside. When you’re the person in charge, you’ve got a lot of other things to think about first.

And if you’ve come from a tech background, where previously you were the engineer rather than an expert, you might not feel confident that you’re the best person to market your MSP.

Unfortunately, you are; so you need to give serious thought to how you do it! As the face of the business, your customers, suppliers and potential clients want to hear from you. But don’t be put off – content marketing isn’t as scary as it sounds.

What is Content Marketing?

Many IT companies are still happy to operate as one-man-bands, providing break-fix services. But if you’ve made the decision to become an MSP, you’re already standing out from your peers.

And if your competitors aren’t leveraging content marketing, then now is the ideal time for you to capitalise on it and use it to grow your business. You can reach far more people this way than just about any other marketing tool, so think about adding a content marketing strategy to your existing approach.

Content marketing can also be called digital or online marketing, and in essence it’s a way of communicating with people who might not know you yet. And because it’s online, it gives you a global reach.

“Content” just means the type of communication you create. That could be written, audio, video, graphics and more. You can share your content publicly, on a social media platform, or privately, such as in an email newsletter where only subscribers get to hear from you.

Types of Content Marketing

There are so many different types of content out there that it would be impossible to list them all in one blog post! But there are some basic categories that you can choose from. Don’t try all of them at once!

Written:

Blogs are the most obvious and the easiest type of content to start with. Traditionally published on a company website, many people are now seeing success by sharing posts on sites such as Substack or Medium.

If your peers tend to share company updates on their blog, then explore other ways to share your blogs. You could also think about submitting guest posts to other people’s websites.

Newsletters: These are sent via email to people who’ve asked to hear from you. These can be in any format you like – you can include links, audio clips, images, videos, or a mix of all of these. Some text is expected, though.

Audio

Podcasts: These can be recorded on Zoom or directly onto your computer. You’ll need a way to distribute the episodes, but podcasts are relatively low-cost and can be low tech.

They can be as long or as short as you like, and you can choose to have them going out all the time, or create ‘seasons’ – where you publish one episode a week for a set period, and then have a break. You can hone in on a different topic each season if you like.

You can also choose to do interviews, solo shows or a mixture of the two. There are a few well-known podcasters in the MSP space, but it’s still uncommon enough that having your own show would be a great differentiator.

Audio Clips: You don’t need to have a full podcast show. If you’re a guest on someone else’s show, share snippets from that interview. You can use a tool to create audiograms, which has captions over static or moving images.

Images

Graphics: Include some kind of visual in your blog posts to break up the text, and to highlight a key point. Images also do well on social media, so think about incorporating these into posts, even if they’re the same as on your blog.

Photos: These can be of your office, your team, your lunchtime walk, even your pets. Photos are good to share on the go, and give people a glimpse behind the curtain.

If you’re not comfortable with taking selfies, that’s fine! Share whatever feels good. Posts about biscuits and crisps often do well online!

Infographics: You’ll have seen these: an eye-catching image with facts and figures. They’re handy for sharing large chunks of data in a way that’s easy for your audience to understand. Use a good tool to create these.

Video

Video can be used in a myriad of ways. If you share on social media, also look at embedding the content on your own website, just in case there’s ever a problem with the platform.

YouTube: Set up a YouTube channel and have a show, much like with the podcast. Create how-to videos to walk customers through how to use certain tools, or shoot off-the-cuff shorts at events.

TikTok: A lot of small business owners have seen success on TikTok because their competitors aren’t using it. Plus your videos stay visible for longer than on other platforms.

Instagram/Facebook: These two platforms are connected. You can create short reels, stories and other video updates.

LinkedIn: You can also share videos on LinkedIn, and people rarely do. In fact, only 5% of LinkedIn’s 830 million users post regularly (i.e. once a week), so this is an easy differentiator. And remember, you don’t have to be on camera to create a good video!

A Note on Repurposing

You may also come across the term ‘content repurposing.’ This just means taking one piece of content you’ve created and reusing it in different ways to help more people access it.

For example, you might write a blog and publish it on your website. You might include a link to it in your newsletter, and write a post about it on LinkedIn. If there’s stats in the post, an infographic makes for a great way to visually share the key points. You might discuss it in an interview on YouTube or in a podcast.

You don’t always have to create fresh content. Repurposing saves you time, helps you to share your most valuable information further, and shows it to people who might not have seen it the first time round.

Five Quick Tips to Help You Get Started

Want to give content marketing a try? Here are five pointers to help you get started.

1. Take Inspiration from Other Industries

Just because every other MSP you know is writing blogs, doesn’t mean that you have to. And doing something different to everyone else is a great way to stand out. Maybe you follow a chef on Instagram and you like the way they explain recipes, or perhaps you listen to a podcast from a financial adviser.

When it comes to creating content, it’s a good idea to think about what you like to read and see, both in business and in your personal life. What stands out as something that you could try?

2. Answer FAQ

When you’re stuck for ideas for topics to talk about, go back to your most commonly asked questions. This is especially good for tech businesses, because your clients probably aren’t techy themselves and would like to have things clearly explained.

Be careful of using jargon – if you do, make sure you explain it. Don’t assume that your audience understands an acronym or term you’ve used, so don’t make them feel stupid.

And remember, all questions, no matter how basic they seem, are valid. If you can give people helpful information, they get a flavour of what it would be like to work with you. And if you competitors don’t do this, it’s another point of differentiation for you.

3. Consistency is Key, but Don’t Overwhelm Yourself

To see success from your content marketing efforts, then you need to be consistent with it. Of course, that looks different for everybody, but if you can set an expectation for your audience that they’ll hear from you three times a week, then they start to look forward to that.

By being consistent, you’re showing up on the LinkedIn feed, in their inbox or in their podcast player. They get used to seeing your name, and this helps you to stay top of mind when they’re ready to buy. And it’s likely that most MSPs aren’t being as consistent, so this will differentiate you from your competitors.

But don’t get too bogged down in trying to be everywhere all at once. It’s far better to share quality, valuable content once a week than to be on several different social media platforms and getting overwhelmed.

Pick the place where you like to spend time yourself, and focus on posting regularly there. You might prefer to email people instead, so commit to a day and time each week. As you get more comfortable with the practice, you can look at other platforms to use next.

4. Go Low-Tech

The world of digital marketing is a lot like the tech industry. Things change rapidly and regularly, and it can be hard to keep up. But unlike cybersecurity, you don’t have to be on top of the latest trend. And in fact, we’d recommend against that.

TikTok is currently popular, but social media platforms have come and gone since they started, and there’ll be another ‘next big thing’ along any day. Remember Clubhouse?!

When you’re just getting started with content marketing, keep it simple. You don’t need to invest in a flashy camera or expensive editing software. If you want to write a blog, you just need a word-processing tool.

If you want to do videos, your smartphone is fine (although audiences won’t forgive poor-quality audio, so be careful of recording outside, especially given UK weather!) Don’t use tech as your excuse not to create content.

5. Have Fun!

Marketing doesn’t have to be serious all of the time. And if you view it as a chore, you won’t want to do it. Instead, look for ways to make your creation process enjoyable.

Explore your artistic side by creating some branded graphics. Take pictures of the office or your workspace to share a peek behind the scenes. And post things spontaneously – if you see something that catches your eye on your morning commute, pop it onto LinkedIn. People want to see your human side, too!

What do you think about content marketing? Do you use it in your MSP? Have we inspired you to give it a go?