For many Managed Service Providers, content marketing is another buzzword or a ‘nice-to-have’. In reality, it’s essential for surviving and thriving in an overcrowded market.
Is it possible you know who you are, but it’s not coming though on your website? Perhaps you’ve built your business over the years, but your brand is stuck in the past, without a clear identity or voice. Perhaps you’ve leveraged generic content that doesn’t truly resonate with your ideal clients, or showcase what makes you different. Or maybe, you’re relying on conventional, post-and-hope campaigns that generate little results.
If so, you’re not alone. And it’s not too late to change.
The incredible advantage of content marketing for MSPs is that, done right, it has a compounding effect. It has the power to generate real returns by educating, engaging and inspiring your ideal clients and keeping you top of mind.
With this in mind, let’s cover some typical challenges for MSPs, what may be missing in your content strategy, and the best ways to stand out with content marketing.
Struggling to Be Seen in the MSP Wilderness?
Running an MSP comes with a unique set of challenges. Do any of these sound familiar?
Carving Out an Identity in a Saturated Market
These days, great service delivery isn’t enough to stand out. With so many MSPs offering similar solutions, it’s easy to get lost in the crowd. In a busy market, it’s crucial to have a clear, distinct identity, differentiate yourself from competitors, and showcase the value you bring to the table.
Attracting and Connecting with Your Ideal Clients
Throwing out generic and most often, overly technical language in the hopes of attracting and connecting with your ideal clients is like fishing with a tangled net. Speaking their language, using messaging that resonates and clearly articulating how you understand their needs, challenges and goals is a fantastic way to better position yourself as a great fit for their business.
Building Trust and Credibility
For MSP clients, trust is everything. Managing sensitive data, critical systems, compliance support – the list goes on. These are the elements that require not just technical expertise, but strong relationships built on reliability and trust. Consistently delivering valuable content can help build this credibility and foster deeper, long-term relationships.
Educating Clients
Clients often don’t know what they don’t know. As an MSP, you have the knowledge to change that. Well-crafted content can help you develop their awareness, articulate the value of services, simplify complex topics, and guide clients and prospects in their decision-making process.
Staying Relevant
The industry is constantly evolving, and so are the needs of your clients. Great content marketing for MSPs enables you to stay ahead of the curve, showcase your knowledge about the latest developments, keep your messaging up to date, and educate your audience about tech matters that may impact their business.
Retaining Clients
Like many businesses across industries, client retention may be one of your key priorities. By providing valuable insights, updates, tips and success stories, a strong content marketing strategy can support ongoing client engagement and retention, keep you top of mind, and reinforce the value you deliver.
What’s Holding Your Content Marketing Back?
Many MSPs may be unintentionally holding themselves back with these silent killers of engagement…
Generic Content
Does your content feel like it’s falling flat? Like it lacks personality, relevance, or was written by ChatGPT to describe any old MSP?
Your content needs to grab people’s attention quickly, make a lasting impression and differentiate yourself from the pack.
Too Much Tech-Talk
On the other end of the spectrum is overly technical language. Jargon is common in the MSP space, but it often misses the mark with clients. Don’t risk losing their attention before they get to the good stuff! Use content to build better connections, minus the word salad.
Lacking A Clear Voice
If you’ve worked on content marketing here and there, without a clear strategy, your ‘voice’ may feel inconsistent across channels. Having a strong consistent voice humanises your brand, turning it into something people can trust and relate to, and even create an emotional connection with.
Syndicated Content
This one’s a biggie! Syndicated content may seem like an easy solution to bulk up your blog or website, but it’s a massive missed opportunity. Incorporating generic content that’s been shared a hundred times won’t resonate with your audience or set you apart. Instead of taking the easy route, invest in original content that reflects your expertise and speaks directly to customer pain points. Quality, tailored content will always outperform cookie-cutter material.
How MSPs Can Break Out of the Content Fog
Use these tips to set your MSP apart with impactful content marketing.
1. Find Your Voice and Own It
Your brand voice should be as recognisable as your logo. Define how you want to sound. Authoritative, innovative, pragmatic, relatable? Whatever the mix, promote it well across your website, blogs, newsletters, social media posts, and other key channels.
2. Create Value, Not Just Noise
Overcome issues like marketing fatigue by ensuring each content piece: solves a problem, answers a question, or provides insight. Think beyond the sales pitch. Useful, engaging, well-planned content keeps clients coming back.
3. Make It Human
Clients connect with real experiences. So why not share real stories? Showcase customer success stories, team insights, and behind-the-scenes moments to build trust and relatability.
4. Showcase Your Expertise, Your Way
Ditch the syndicated content and highlight your unique knowledge. Whether through blogs, guides, or videos, create content that positions you as a trusted expert.
5. Commit to a Strategy (and Stick to It!)
A great strategy is only useful if you follow through and are consistent. Plan ahead, share content regularly, and ensure it supports your business goals.
6. Get the Right Support
We get it. When you’re focused on customer service, delivery and other business strategy, content marketing can be tough to stay on top of. If it’s something that keeps getting pushed to the bottom of your to-do list, consider getting support from a marketing agency with MSP expertise.
All in all, great content marketing isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a gamechanger. Ensure it works as hard as you do! Use a strong content strategy to help your MSP stand out, build trust and drive real results.
Ready to cut through the noise? Get in touch with our team to get support with your content marketing strategy and discover a brand voice that truly sets your MSP apart.