Managed and other IT services providers who want to differentiate themselves from an increasingly crowded field need to find new ways to engage and entice prospective buyers.
For MSPs looking to up their marketing game, Liongard is here to help. We’ve got an amazing team of marketing experts in-house with decades of experience they love sharing with MSPs to help them grow. We’ve put together a special 8-part Marketing Series to help you navigate MSP marketing from soup to nuts. Today’s focus will be on social media marketing with Liongard Social Media Specialist, Alexandria Micek.
Why is social media important for MSPs today?
Social media is important because it helps reach your target audience in whatever city or area you’re in, and it helps potential customers understand and connect with your brand. It’s another way to get your name out there so people can find you outside of work hours, wherever and whenever they have their phone or laptop.
What does social media encompass today?
Social media is really any platform that you’re using to engage or communicating with people. The major ones include Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Instagram, but there’s also Snap Chat, TikTok, Pinterest, Reddit, there’s so many out there! For MSPs specifically, I’d say their major platforms would be Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter and Reddit, as well as industry-specific spaces like Spiceworks or some Slack and Discord channels.
How do MSPs start growing their social audiences?
The one thing you need to understand is: post as consistently as you can. The best way for people to recognize your brand is consistency, so people know they’ll be getting net content from you on a regular basis. As for what you post, that’s up to what you want to focus on as a business. For instance, you can post thought-leadership content if you want to be seen an industry leader, or you can post tips and tricks if you want to project an image of helpfulness. Also, be sure to engage with the people who are engaging with you. So, if you have industry people commenting on your posts, make sure to respond and also comment on their posts so that your brand isn’t only on your social account but is seen on other company feeds as well.
What are some things that companies shouldn’t post about?
I’d say to refrain from anything too political—it isn’t your personal page. Think about it like if you’re at an industry event; what would you be talking about there to those people? What wouldn’t you be talking about? That’s what you should and shouldn’t be posting. But also, don’t be afraid to have fun with it; you can post pictures of employees and company events, just nothing that’s too personal to you.
What are some tips to optimize my social media growth?
Pictures and videos will always perform better than a plain text post. Videos perform the best, so if you can add a video to a blog post it’s going to perform better than just a regular post. Also look at trending content and build your content around relevant hashtags like #cybersecurity so that it’s relevant. Also, if people search for that hashtag, your content will appear in the feed and more people will be able to find you.
What tools can be used to track social media impact, and what should MSPs be tracking?
There are tools in each platform for analytics, so you can always go there and look at how you’re doing, but you’d have to go into each separate account to view your information. For a more centralized view, there are platforms like Hubspot or Sprout Social or Hootsuite that aggregate all of your data into one location. What you want to track are your followers, impressions (how many people your post reached), and your engagements (how many people like, comment and share your posts). And if you’re trying to drive people from your social site to your website or other landing pages, then clicks are another thing you’ll want to track.
How can social media be used to drive leads?
You can turn your follower count into leads. The same way you’ll do cold calls or email a prospect list, you can take the same approach to your social accounts. You can find people on social media that maybe haven’t seen your website or heard of your company and suddenly they’re seeing your content and they become interested in your services and you want to make sure you’re driving them from your social account to your website so they can fill out a demo request or lead form. Don’t think the only way to get business is through events or email or phone calls. You can get the same type of leads through your social media accounts.
Step up your social media marketing with Liongard
All of your social connections need to be turned into deals. Liongard has your back when it comes to pre-sales assessments and upselling with data that can help you close more deals and increase account value. Want to see how we can transform your sales process? Schedule a personalized demo today.