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Social Media, the ability to use the internet to share and communicate instantly with others, has been around since 1997. Many new social media platforms are now available. But we can all agree, based on number of users and daily usage, that the most popular ones are: Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Instagram, and Twitter.
People spend many hours interacting with others online, so business owners have had to figure out how to communicate with their audiences through these platforms. By leveraging social media, MSPs can reach potential clients, upsell to their current client base, and make important announcements.
Since social media has been around for a couple of decades, these platforms are very crowded. Your audience is bombarded with many messages every day. The question is: how can MSPs cut through all that noise?
At Cytracom, we are big believers of Inbound Marketing for MSPs: a way to attract clients by delivering the right message, at the right time, in the right channels, so they find you relevant and helpful, rather than interruptive. We believe that if MSPs use social media correctly, prospects and current clients will find them and engage with them positively. That is how you cut through the noise.
Let’s talk about determining the right message, choosing the best times to post, and how each platform is different, shall we?
Before sharing anything on social media, ask yourself this question: Will my audience find this post helpful?
Remember that you are present on those platforms to engage with your audience on their terms, in the spaces they share with their family and friends. Do you think they want to hear all about your MSP, what sets you apart from competitors and what makes you special? No, they want to read and share information they identify with and that will make their lives or job easier.
You should study your audience and get to know them. You could follow a few “perfect clients” on their public social accounts for several weeks to learn what they are interested in, the type of content they like or comment on, and what they are willing to share. Then, try to generate similar content, on the same topics and with the same tone.
You could also ask your current clients what type of content they would enjoy reading or interacting with. Ask them what their pain points were when they found you and write about them. Maybe others will find your content when experiencing the same issues.
Speaking of interactive content, try to generate content that people will engage with like a calculator or a quiz. You can also try sharing videos. They don’t have to be perfectly produced, they can be as simple as a regular camera on a tripod filming you discuss tech tips for your audience.
Think about it: When would people be more likely to spend a chunk of time on social media? Mostly on the weekends, early in the mornings, and in the evenings.
But as part of your study of your “perfect clients,” you could check what days and times they seem to be more active on social media.
If you would like to learn the best times to post across the different channels, you can visit this link.
The most popular social media networks are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
People usually say “You can’t target businesses on Facebook or Instagram”, but the reality is, you won’t be targeting companies, but humans. The humans that run those businesses. So if those humans hang out on Facebook, that’s where you should hang out, too.
Something else we hear a lot is “You have to be all-business on LinkedIn”. Remember that your message should be standard across all channels and that you are there to help your audience with the challenges and pain points they face related to technology. If you remember that, you don’t have to worry about sounding more professional here or there.
We would advise you to try all possible channels to try to reach your audience, discover what works best for your MSP, and do more of it. Maybe your audience hangs out more on Facebook or Twitter. You will know this once the engagement starts to roll in - or not. The study of your “perfect clients” would also inform what channels to focus on.
We use HubSpot to manage all of our marketing initiatives, including social media monitoring, posting and analysis, but there are other tools your MSP could try:
These tools come with analytics that will help you learn what posts are generating more engagement and which ones are not working as well. They also allow you to plan in advance your posts and schedule them for future days.
You can also use the channels’ own posting methods and analytics, as well.
A Word about Social Media Advertising
Social media networks know everything about us: gender, age, location, interests, etc. You can use that information to target the “perfect clients” and show them ads about your business - always remembering that any content you put out there, even the ones you pay for, have to be helpful to your audience and not all about your MSP.
You could promote content assets for lead generation, like a checklist on “How to pick the best IT support team for your business”.
You can also use social media advertising to upsell to current clients, like trying to sell Cytracom’s VoIP phone system to a client that already pays you to manage their network and endpoints. You could do this by promoting a Cost Savings Worksheet (grab ours for free here) for them to compare their current solution to VoIP. By managing ALL of their technology needs your MSP can close the door on competitors.
Final Thoughts on Social Media for MSPs
We know marketing your MSP can be a lot of hard work, but it will help you grow your business, increase trust in your service, and improve overall client satisfaction. In the end, it will all be very much worth it. Please let us know if you have any questions, as we are more than happy to help!
