How to Write an MSP Marketing Plan to Generate IT Leads

Here's how to create a marketing plan that actually works, plus a free template you can download and edit to create your own achievable plan (updated for 2017).
IT marketing plan

The best MSP marketing plan is one that gets implemented. If you write a long essay, chances are you’ll never look at it again – till maybe next year when you’re writing an update. To generate IT leads, use this

An MSP Marketing Plan That You Will Use

Instead of long write-ups that you won’t read twice, use monthly checklists. That way, you can look at the tasks you should do each month and check them off. It’s much easier to manage and you’ll significantly increase your chances of accomplishing your goals.

Here are the key points to include in your marketing plan:

Buyer persona(s)

  • This is a detailed description of your ideal client. You may have more than one persona. You should learn as much as you can about your target market: Who signs off on hiring IT contractors? Who influences them? How many employees do they have on average? What events do they attend?

How and where you will meet new prospects

  • Once you create a detailed buyer persona, you will have a better sense of where you can go to meet more people just like your ideal client. These will be your most qualified prospects. Another great source is to capture leads from your website. You are probably getting at least some web visitors. Create a compelling reason for them to fill out your contact form by offering a free guide or report. People who download this type of content are usually qualified leads. Set monthly sales targets so you can hold yourself accountable.

Touch points to nurture prospects and clients

  • Not every prospect will be ready to buy your services the moment you meet them. You must create a plan to nurture them and keep your company top-of-mind. The easiest way to do this is through an email newsletter. It is very cost-effective – the Direct Marketing Association reports that email has the highest ROI of all forms of direct response marketing, an average of $38 for every $1 invested.

Marketing collateral

  • To get prospects interested in your services, you will need more than a stock proposal that you tweak. Identify the key pain points of your clients and develop a plan to create or acquire educational material to address those issues. Post this content on your site to attract new leads and make PDFs and printouts of guides. Use contractors or marketing services to generate this material – it will be a lot quicker than finding time to write it yourself.

Deadlines

  • Having a plan is meaningless without accountability. Set deadlines and milestones on a calendar so you can track your progress and make course adjustments along the way. Be sure to revisit your plan at least once a quarter. Otherwise, you’ll have the same marketing conversation a year from now.

To help you get your marketing plan together really fast, get MoreBusiness.com’s sample IT marketing plan template, a month-by-month checklist that you can edit to create your own custom marketing plan:

Download Sample IT Marketing Plan Template →

How to Automate Parts of Your IT Marketing Plan

You can automate parts of your marketing plan, like attracting new leads from your website and consistent outreach to nurture your contacts so they become ready to buy your IT services.

 

Curated Message Structure 6

Many MSPs find that they are short on time and resources to do these parts of marketing, which are essential if you are serious about growing your business.

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