There is more to a comprehensive lead generation strategy than just cold outreach.  Having a holistic approach to building a pipeline should include an element of long term lead management and a diverse content strategy to ensure you are doing more than asking strangers for their money via email. 

Managing your audience over time

Email marketing for MSPs is not just about identifying opportunities to sell services, it's also about audience building.

We like to say - It’s not just about shaking the tree, but also about planting seeds.

Asking a new contact to consider switching IT providers can seem like a big ask. An audience building mindset requires that you have the ability to treat different audiences and leads in a way that specifically addresses their behavior and level of interest. At the very least you will have potential customers that fall into the following categories:

Leads that do not respond -  Until a potential customer says ‘No.’ you can treat communicating with them as an audience building exercise.  Do not be afraid to follow up consistently over the long term.

Uninterested leads - These leads can still be followed up with periodically, although less frequently as their needs, budget etc. may change. 

Interested but timing is wrong - Continue to follow up semi annually or even quarterly to ensure that if the opporq presents itself that you are top of mind. 

Interested but are not a good fit for your company - A lead that is too small, or does not have aligned pricing expectations may evolve into a better fit in the future and should be communicated with semi annually at minimum. 

Interested and qualified - Quickly move to meet the potential client’s needs. Cease non personalized follow ups. 

Different follow up content will resonate with each different lead type.  While not incredibly complex, there are enough moving parts in planning a productive email marketing strategy to require some MSPs to seek help to maximize their results.

Content themes

Below are a few suggested content themes to use in follow up email campaigns:

Recent client successes – Share news of your client’s success, and details as to how you helped.

Relevant industry news – Send short, personal updates about activity in the industry.  Make sure the information is not overly technical, and is digestible to a non expert audience.

Company updates – New hires, recent successes, awards, newsletters, blog updates etc.

Calls to action – Free needs assessments, meeting offers, tech audits etc. 

We recommend having these lead response types well defined before starting a comprehensive email marketing campaign.

If you are interested in developing an outbound email marketing strategy for your MSP, we can help! For more information on our service and pricing click here.

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