Marketing Playbook for

Managed Service Providers

Tips to Build a MSP Marketing Plan to

Generate Leads and Grow Revenue

Published by:
Marketing Playbook for Managed Service Providers

Table of Contents
1) Generating Web Traffic & Awareness
2) Creating Offers & Generating Leads
3) Lead Nurturing Best Practices
4) Marketing Analytics
5) MSP Scenario & Case Studies
6) Get Started
Marketing Playbook for Managed Service Providers

Chapter 1:
Generating Web Traffic
& Awareness
GET FOUND: Drive Traffic to Your Website
 SEO, Blogging, & Social Media Benefits
SEO is one of the top lead generation sources, with 25% of marketers
finding it produces a below average cost per lead this year (2013)*

Companies that blog generate 126% more leads than those that don’t**

46% of online consumers count on social media when making a purchase

decision**

What factors does HubSpot attribute to traffic increase?***

30.00%
25.00%
20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
5.00%
0.00%
SEO Blogging Social Media Paid Search ads Other Inbound Email Other
(e.g. LinkedIn, (e.g. PPC, Marketing (e.g. Marketing
Facebook, Google landing pages, Campaign
Twitter) AdWords) CTA's)
Column1

* The Ultimate Resources for 2013 Inbound Marketing, HubSpot, 2013.

**100 Stats, Charts, and Graphs to Get Inbound Marketing Buy-In, HubSpot, 2014.
***Return on Investment from Inbound Marketing Through Implementing HubSpot Software, Sloan Schools of Management, January 2013.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
• Add syndicated content from your vendors to your website
• Implement MSP solution related keywords to optimize your web pages
• Tag your content, start linking to other sites

1. Build a Keyword Strategy 3. Optimize Body Copy

• Find relevant words and terms • Headers & URLs
with tools like: • Links
• Google Adwords’ Keyword Planner • Tags
• Hubspot’s Keyword Research Tool
• Image Text/Alt Text
4. Link Building
2. Add Metadata
• Work with Alliance
• Page Title
Partners to share links
• Meta Description
5. Optimize for Mobile
• Meta Keywords
6. Blogging
Blogging Frequently
Blog, Blog, Blog
• Pick primary solution areas to focus on, develop keyword strategy
• Some MSP’s are actively blogging; review their blogs for ideas
• Pick solution topics with educational value; don’t use as a billboard
• Grow blog subscribers over time
Benefits: Consistent Blogging Boosts
• Improves SEO & Web Traffic Inbound ROI*
• Continuously providing fresh content Marketers who blog consistently report
positive ROI for overall inbound efforts
• Developing a quantity of pages for
Google to rank
100%
• Content Creation: 80%
• Blogging dramatically increases the 60%
amount of searchable content 40%
20%
• Keeps site filled with dynamic 0%
content
• Increases Lead Generation
• Increases Marketing ROI
Blog No Blog

*2013 State of Inbound Marketing Annual Report, HubSpot, 2013.

Social Media
• Join Social Media Channels and Build Followers:
• LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, Google+, YouTube
• Identify social media channels based on buyer personas
• Publish & promote content including blog posts
• Join Communities and Participate in Conversations
• LinkedIn groups and forums around MSP and key solution areas
• MSPmentor
• MSPAlliance
• Managed Services Providers Network
• Establish YouTube Channel
• Online communities of local business organizations
• Complement your in person networking activities

Take advantage of strategic partners’ social media and

digital content in your social media activities.
Pay-Per-Click (PPC)/Digital
Advertising
Depending on your situation, you’ll want to consider supplementing
your inbound efforts with digital advertising to increase web traffic:
• Target a specific solution area
• Google Adwords or Display Network

Assessment Process
• Analyze solutions, keywords, and geography
• Cost Per Click (CPC) Assessment, Ad Placement, Conversion Rates
• Determine Validity of Approach
• Test Concept
• Implement Campaign
Marketing Playbook for Managed Service Providers

Chapter 2:
Creating Offers &
Generating Leads
CONVERT: Turn Traffic into Revenue
Premium Content
Deliver value by educating your prospects through content.

• Create High Quality Offers that interest your prospects and customers:
• Use “Top of the funnel” content
• Educate on new solution offerings
• Leverage analyst reports and market studies to identify
appropriate solution areas
• Examples:
• Video (via YouTube or Brainshark)
• Blogs
• Whitepapers
• eBooks
• Podcasts
 Calls-To-Action (CTA)/Landing Pages
Create quality offers and content to attract your target audience with
solution related offers via CTAs and optimized landing pages on your site.

Conversion Process Steps:

1. Quality Offers
• Target to buyer personas with
educational contact
2. CTA
• Simple, compelling
• Links to Landing Page
3. Landing Page
• Reiterate value
• Collect contact info via form
• Convert visitor to a lead
4. Measure Results
• Segment leads
Marketing Playbook for Managed Service Providers

Chapter 3:
Lead Nurturing Best Practices

Nurture Leads to Sales

Lead Nurturing Tactics
Build valuable relationships and trust with your prospects and clients
through precise, targeted marketing efforts.

6 Steps to Effective Lead Nurturing: • Traditional Tactics:

1. Define overall campaign goals • Host Local Events:
2. Develop high quality content • Sporting Events
3. Define intelligent nurturing paths • Lunch & Learns
according to levels of prospect • Highly Personalized Direct Mail
engagement • Tele-nurturing
4. Segment your email list
5. Integrate social media
• Digital Tactics:
6. Continuously improve based on
• Webinars
measured results and feedback
• Email
• Social Media

In the end, the key is to understand your target market, and your respective
buyer personas, so you’re able to reach your target effectively.
Lead Segmentation & Email Marketing
Lead Nurturing: Use Email Marketing to reach targeted email lists based on
their solution area of interest and funnel progression.

• Email Marketing Benefits:

• Email will be naturally engaging
to a segmented audience
• Provides valuable, targeted
offers to segmented audiences
• Massive reach to audiences
• Higher ROI
• Deliverability & visibility
• Scalability
• Easy to track and measure
results
• Lead Segmentation Benefits:
• Personalization!
• Improve email reputation
• Increases click-through rates Why List Segmentation Matters in Email Marketing, HubSpot, 2012.
• Increases conversion rates
• Improves deliverability
• Generates more revenue
Marketing Playbook for Managed Service Providers

Chapter 4:
Marketing Analytics
ANALYZE: Measure Your Results
Marketing Analytics Enable
Marketing Actions
• Measurements • Actions
• Traffic • Tailor keyword plan & SEO
• Sources • Optimize PPC campaigns
• New vs. Repeat • Social Media engagement
• PPC data and responses
• Keywords • Create better blog content
• Conversions • Improve offers and CTA’s
• By offer • Personalized Lead Nurturing
• By CTA/Landing page
• A/B testing
• By source
• Leads
• Sources
• Close rates
• Revenue
• ROI
Marketing Automation/Analytics
Digital Marketing provides a set of market automation and analytics tools
that enable you to establish highly structured processes and management
systems around your marketing efforts.

Recommended Vendors to Consider:

Benefits:
• Integration with CRM systems
• Increase marketing productivity
• Extends reach and exposure to
prospects and clients
• Increases customer acquisition
• Runs a structured approach to
your marketing strategy
• Measures specific marketing goals and
provides real-time results and feedback
• Builds a predictable funnel for
your sales team
• Assimilates well with social media
networks encouraging audience
interaction
Marketing Playbook for Managed Service Providers

Chapter 5:
MSP Scenario & Case Studies
MSP Marketing Scenario: Disaster Recovery
• Blog Weekly! Sample Disaster Recovery Blog Titles:
• Do You Really Trust Your Disaster Recovery Plan?
• 5 Little-Known Factors That Could Affect Your Disaster Recovery Plan
• Be Prepared: 7 Things Your Disaster Recovery Plan Should Include
• Social Media: Engage & Promote
• Engage conversationally in social media where your prospects are likely to participate
• Promote blog posts in social media forums that are relevant to client’s looking for Disaster
Recovery Plan (e.g. regional IT groups)
• Digital Advertising
• Keep it local. Competition from larger corporations will be too big to overcome.
• Be solution specific, run tests and evaluate cost per click data and conversion data
• Sample Offers for MSP’s
• Top of the Funnel: Solution Brief, Essential Guide or SlideShare presentation on Disaster
Recovery
• Middle of the Funnel: Events or Webinars with keynote speakers who specialize in Disaster
Recovery issues (e.g. a strategic alliance partner)
• Bottom of the Funnel: Disaster Recovery Assessment/Proposal/Step-by-Step Detailed Plan
Template
• Lead Nurturing: Monthly Emails
• Leverage Middle and Bottom of the funnel with monthly emails containing customer case
studies (video or PDF) on successful Disaster Recovery plans
MSP Marketing – HubSpot*
Customer Case Studies
Vivonet Cogentys
• Vivonet provides point-of-sale • Cogentys is a learning and
and data insights to management solutions
thousands of restaurants company providing software to
across North America by using implement learning
cloud-based, mobile and management systems and
social technologies. Benefits: custom courses. Benefits:
• 1000% increase in Landing • 716% increase in leads
Page conversion with
A/B testing • 300% increase in organic
web traffic
• 100% increase in
online leads • 100% decrease in PPC spend
• http://www.hubspot.com/ • http://www.hubspot.com/c
customers/vivonet ustomers/cogentys

*These customer case studies are both examples of software companies leveraging HubSpot
to facilitate an Inbound Marketing process.
Marketing Playbook for Managed Service Providers

Chapter 6:
Get Started
 Get Started
• Request MSP Marketing Assessment
• http://www.pereion.com/request-an-inbound-
marketing-assessment--

• Build & Commit to an MSP Marketing Plan

• Preparation:
• Do you have the right tools?
• Do you have the right marketing resources?

Contact Pereion Solutions to answer questions about this Playbook or to

get started with an MSP Marketing Assessment: slperry@pereion.com
Marketing Playbook for Managed Service Providers

Start Generating More Leads

and Grow your Revenue

Request a MSP
Marketing Assessment!

Steve Perry
Pereion Solutions
slperry@pereion.com
www.pereion.com