MSPmentor

Over the weekend several MSPmentor readers asked me to focus increasingly on marketing tips for managed service providers. Your requests came through loud and clear. You’ll see multiple marketing-related blog entries in the days ahead, including this one. Let’s start with the basics: Marketing spend vs. marketing speak.

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It started about a year ago. Each time I attended a managed service provider conference, I saw executives and attendees shooting quick marketing video using the Flip camera. This week at the Cisco Partner Summit in Boston, everyone — more than 1,500 attendees — is armed with a Flip video camera (care of Cisco). But do MSPs really have time for video capture and video marketing — especially when many MSPs are still struggling with basic marketing tools like a blog?

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TARP — the U.S. government’s Troubled Asset Relief Program — continues to make headlines. But Anexio, a managed service provider in Sarasota, Fla., is putting its own spin on TARP in an attempt to stimulate small business IT spending.

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In part 1, I described how you can line up vendor money to pay for your branding efforts. Here in part 2, I explore a specific case study: In late 2007, Trailhead Technologies Inc. was a managed services provider without a clear brand — and without Web site.

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I’m hearing a familiar theme from multiple managed service providers: MSPs want to strengthen their branding and marketing efforts, yet local advertising firms and marketing consultants don’t understand the IT industry. As a result, local consultants who specialize in marketing aren’t very good at shaping an MSP’s brand.

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Sometimes, I get distracted by Web 2.0 marketing strategies. I’m always telling managed service providers how they can leverage blogs, Web video, etc., to improve their search engine optimization (SEO) and attract new customers.

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