With increasing competition in the managed services provider (MSP) industry, you must have a strong marketing strategy to compete effectively. If done successfully, marketing can be the piece that sets you apart from your competitors, especially in a market valued at $267.3 billion. While a good marketing strategy involves many facets, content marketing is one crucial element.
Content marketing involves creating and distributing valuable content to attract and engage target audiences. Content marketing can take several forms, including blogs, articles, videos, podcasts, and other types of content and media. When done correctly, the result should be new leads and business. Seventy-seven percent of marketers report that content marketing generates demand and new leads, up 8 percent from last year. It’s no wonder that 82 percent of marketers today say they're actively investing in content marketing.
Further reading Content Marketing Tips from Thomas Lawrence
There are some important steps to building an effective content marketing strategy. No matter the type of content, it's first and foremost important for you to gain a deep understanding of your target audiences. This involves researching and taking the time to understand your customers' pain points, goals, and interests. For example, if you're targeting dental offices, spend the day at one to learn how it operates and better assess its needs. You may even want to attend a dental conference to understand your customers' challenges. You can then use this information to create content that provides solutions to your customers' problems and addresses their interests.
Once you understand what your customers want and need, you can create several types of content around those areas. Educational content, for instance, is a type of content that can help establish you as a thought leader and expert in the industry. For example, you can create blog posts, white papers, and e-books that provide information on cybersecurity best practices, cloud migration, and network optimization.
Another content marketing strategy for you is to create case studies that showcase your success stories. Case studies can demonstrate how you have helped your customers solve complex IT challenges and achieve their business goals. This type of content can be a powerful tool for prospective clients, as it shows the value and expertise you provide in action.
Check out these marketing templates that we created to help MSPs sell backup services, including a promo email, customer presentation and a leaflet:
Other types of content can include infographics, blog posts on industry insights, videos to provide information or showcase products, and other items. In short, the world of content marketing is only limited by your imagination and what you think will appeal best to current and prospective customers.
Across each of these types of content, you must maintain consistency in the cadence and quality of the content you create. Additionally, you should also make sure to avoid technical jargon in your content and use simple language that is easy for your target audience to understand. Finally, you should also consider what powerful visuals can accompany this content, including infographics, images, and videos, to make it more engaging and memorable.
Content marketing can be a powerful tool to attract and engage your target audience. By creating valuable content that addresses your target audience's pain points and interests, you can establish yourself as an expert in the industry, generate leads, and grow your business. In doing so, you can create effective content marketing campaigns that drive results.
In this package, you will get five guides helping to create marketing strategies and tips on:
- Dealing with on-site SEO
- Creating web advertising properly
- Email chains for MSPs
- Content marketing for an MSP blog
- Social media marketing