The same question keeps landing in my inbox: Should managed services providers (MSPs) leverage social media? I though we covered this before. But perhaps it’s time to really, really simplify the conversation. If you’re a managed services provider (MSP), here are the four easiest social media moves you should make. Plus, the expected benefit of each move.
1. Launch a blog: No, not a traditional blog. You don’t need to have an opinion about everything. Instead, use a blog engine like WordPress to post your press releases and company news. Do one post per week, three paragraphs per post. The posts can cover topics like:
- New hires or new executive promotions
- New business or customer wins/case studies
- Recent partnership developments
- Special offers/incentives
- Business milestones (growth rates, office openings, revenue achievements)
Reasoning: Many MSPs waste thousands of dollars trying to search engine optimize (SEO) their static old websites. Blog engines like WordPress, meanwhile, have built-in SEO capabilities. And add-on tools (like Kutenda) can help VARs or MSPs launch online marketing campaigns in a very cost-effective manner. So stop building corporate websites from scratch. Stop fretting about SEO. And start using pre-built platforms that have built-in SEO. Customers will discover you far faster without any need for you to spend big-time dollars on the effort.
2. Use Twitter (Responsibly): Twitter can be a huge time sink. A complete waste of time. A distraction. Or, you can use it as a free newswire service that sends out alerts to your key followers. Free automation tools allow you to broadcast your blog headlines across Twitter. Also, you should “follow” key Twitter users who can impact your business — local executives, business associations, trade groups.
Reasoning: Even if you don’t find new customers on Twitter, technology vendors will find you. Got a gripe with a hardware maker? Tweet about it. Frustrated by vendors that refuse to integrate their products? Tweet about it. You’d be amazed how quickly vendors react to tweets to address your business needs…
3. Use LinkedIn and FaceBook (Responsibly): Once again, free automation tools allow you to broadcast your blog headlines across LinkedIn and FaceBook. And once again, follow the folks who matter to you.
Reasoning: LinkedIn and FaceBook are becoming personal search engines of sorts. People change jobs all the time. And customers may forget the exact name of your company or exact URL. But if they remember your name they’ll find you on LinkedIn and Facebook.
4. Figure Out Video. Fast: Video echoes forever. MSPmentor and The VAR Guy readers keep visiting our YouTube destination to view videos dating back to 2008. The long-tail viewership never stops. But be careful: Don’t waste your money on video capture and editing services that don’t understand your business. If you sign up with a video partner make sure they understand how MSPs service customers. Also, dial your vendor to see if they’d like to feature you (and your customer) in a video case study.
Reasoning: Search Google or Bing and you’ll find video results everywhere. Words are nice. But video brings your company to life. And low-cost video tools (Cisco Flip Camera, for example) have allowed video to become ubiquitous. Generally speaking, I trust people more when I “see” them. Look a camera in the eye and tell customers what you’re up to. I suspect you’ll gain more customers. Bonus Reason: Your YouTube videos are easy to embed in your corporate blog. And you can also permit anyone — customers, partners, etc. — to leverage your videos elsewhere.
Suddenly, your brand can go viral.
SEO for Dummies
I realize I’ve greatly simplified the social media debate here. There are scores of tools/technologies that can help you to further enhance your social media presence. But don’t get overwhelmed. At the very least, start with step 1 above for the key reasons I’ve outlined. Or call in a consulting pro that understands the channel. Ulistic comes to mind. But I bet there are additional options in your back yard.
Trust me. Blog engines remain the ultimate way to spread news about your company. Fast.
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Tags: Channel Partner Social Social Media | FaceBook | LinkedIn | Partner Program Social Media | Social Media | Twitter | Ulistic | YouTube
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Using LinkedIn and Facebook are solid suggestions but using a true B2B marketplace such as Partnerpedia.com (which integrates LinkedIn, Facebook, and others) is key for MSPs and the IT channel. Best of all, Partnerpedia’s Open Community is free to join/use. Ulistic knows all about us, in fact, Ulistic is on Partnerpedia.
Joe, thanks for the shout out here. Perfect timing, working on some ideas for the CompTIA event next week. Booth 417 (shameless plug). Social Media must be used responsibly. I for one, have made mistakes and done some stupid things. Thus, helping MSP’s and VARs understand social media and how to use it. I have my thoughts and Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn although important are not where you should be focusing your efforts. Blogs and community sites (Partnerpedia, MSPMentor) bring so much value.
See you at Breakaway
Stuart Crawford
Calgary, AB
MSP Online Marketing Coach – http://www.ulistic.com
Agreed. I always coach clients to understand a blog site is the foundation of their online marketing. Social media as fun as it is, is an extension of their website. Its like a net that brings them in to their website. We don’t know how long they’ll be popular (Facebook over Myspace)
However, as you sort of imply, you do get exposure and I think it’s way better than print!
I use TweetDeck to manage my social media; LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. Recently they added Foursquare! I can post once to all accounts. Whew. Save time and effort.
A great perspective on this would be Chris Brogan’s blog, author of Social Media 101 and Trust Agents. http://www.chrisbrogan.com
- Anthony
Nice article Joe and the key word here is “overwhelmed”. We called in Stuart Crawford from Ulistic who walked us through the whole social media process – I’ve never come across such a patient teacher
. Suddenly we’re making inroads using those very techniques that we thought were reserved for teenagers. Thanks Stu.
Neil Jones
President
Live Virtual Help Desk
This post is a perfect example of what a blog is all about, Joe. Nice job and thanks for pointing out to use Twitter and Facebook with responsibility. Nothing like 23 tweets about lunch, traffic, weather and whatever else is not useful information. And props to the video portion of your post. If you are not posting video, start. Quick tip – You have about 10 – 15 seconds to get a viewer’s attention, don’t save the best for last.
Like Neil, we called in Stuart Crawford at Ulistic for help and a deeper understanding of ways to become more effective within our market. By utilizing a few of the many insights offered, we are getting results and that has an impact on our bottom line. You are the man Stuart!
Very good article JP. Stu Crawford has been a big help to us and is a super nice guy to boot! If you need help with deploying these strategies I strongly suggest Stu and Ulistic!
Here is a joke for you…
What is the difference between a social media user and a social media professional?
About 5 tweets
Stuart
One more point, if Outlook 2010′s social connector catches on, the importance of responsible use of Linked-in and Facebook will accelerate. In the short time I have had 2010 I have already see a larger number of linked-in accounts than I had previously since it automatically looks up the e-mail address on incoming mail connected services.
Here’s a blog entry about the connector;
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/outlook/archive/2009/11/18/announcing-the-outlook-social-connector.aspx)
Ernest, great point and something that Microsoft must continue to focus on. I believe they were a bit premature with the social media connector as it misses the mark on some of the services that are tied to it. But in true Microsoft fashion, set the bar low, achieve it and then keep raising it.
Cheers
Stuart Crawford
Calgary, AB
http://stuart.calgarybloggers.ca
Stuart: I agree that MSFT often is premature with solutions. But I disagree that they initially set the bar low. One of their greatest errors over the years has been to set the bar too high with initial delivery date goals and promised features — only to miss ship dates and abandon features in order to get a product or service out the door.
-jp
Great post Joe. One of the biggest challenges I see is that people are afraid to say the wrong thing the wrong way. Don’t misunderstand me, the words are important, but this is where social media differs strongly with traditional marketing. Voice. I tell people all the time, use YOUR normal conversational voice. The more familiar the language the more likely you will connect with people.
Brendan Cosgrove
Kaseya
@cozthegrov
Brendan: Voice = authentic communications. Similar to your thoughts, my favorite blogs and twitter feeds have personality.
Very helpful post for MSPs. I beg to differ on one aspect though. Social media is about people connecting to people and often these “mundane” things – are what give a personality to your company vs being a one-way broadcasting service. It’s about balance. It’s great to post news about your company but even better if you can find a way to be helpful to your followers – post links to good industry articles, post your thoughts on topics that are in the news, reply to other people’s Tweets, and yes, on occasion, talk about the lighter side of business.
Amrita: You raise a great point. Yes, social media is about people connecting with people. Those relationships can help to put a “face” on a company or a service. But MSPs also need to strike a balance. Depend too much on one person to be the voice of your social media efforts, and your brand could suffer if/when that person leaves for a new opportunity.