Coronavirus MSP Marketing: Getting Clients During the Covid Pandemic

It has now been over a year since the coronavirus kicked off a storm on our planet. Making a 1st appearance nearing the end of 2019, hence the name, Covid 19. Unfortunately, many businesses have struggled and continue to struggle to keep their businesses afloat. However, on the flip side—many brands have managed to strive during the coronavirus pandemic because they were able to implement flawless marketing campaigns.

But how exactly do you go about marketing your Managed Service Provider (MSP) business to a Covid 19 world? We have businesses who are being extra careful with their expenses and those who simply can’t afford the MSP services you are offering.

Has Coronavirus Changed The MSP Marketing Game?

Think about this.

Even before we were hit with the deadly Coronavirus, surviving as a business relied heavily on creative marketing strategies for attracting customers. If you had zero marketing game prior to the pandemic, just like now in 2021, you ran a massive risk of having to permanently shut your business doors.

So let’s disregard any financial setbacks your potential clients may have for a second. Instead, think about the position you are in at the moment. Whether you have been running your MSP business for a while now or if you are only just starting to offer managed services.

How do you plan to reach your MSP clients? Through marketing the heck out of your MSP business, right?

Believe it or not, there is no better time than now, during the Covid pandemic, to invest in marketing for your managed services.

Why?

Because where are your potential MSP clients gathering due to social distancing regulations? Online, right? And who are they going to turn to for assistance with managing their online systems, their tech? You! They don’t know it yet. But you are their future managed service provider.

And today you’re going to learn about marketing your MSP business during the coronavirus pandemic so you can get more clients!

Here are a podcast and video recording that I made back when “it’s corona time” was trending on TikTok. The whole world was still not ready for the devastating effects that the Covid 19 virus was bringing our way.

PODCAST: MSP Marketing and the Coronavirus

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:48 — 4.1MB)

Subscribe: Apple Podcasts | Spotify | RSS

VIDEO: MSP Marketing and the Coronavirus

Transcription of the Podcast and Video

Bryce Whitty here from Technibble.com. At the time of this recording, the Coronavirus COVID-19 pretty much dominates every news source. There is insane momentum behind it and you can take advantage of some of it to market your Managed Services.

So how can we link Managed Services to the Coronavirus?

Well, there is a lot of talk about limiting its spread and having people stay home. In some countries, some people are even forced to stay home under quarantine. So this is the perfect situation to talk about remote working. You could talk about how people can keep their business running if the worst strikes or even if they just want to be cautious and have employees work from home.

I know Nike temporarily closed its European headquarters when an employee was infected with the virus. They also closed their World headquarters in the US to “deep clean the campus” following the first US death in the same state. Apple also closed its stores in China temporarily when the virus first started breaking out there. Those are just some of the big names and there are countless other businesses that are shutting down because of the Coronavirus.

Of course, there are other benefits of remote working. It allows your clients to draw from a greater pool of talent since geography is really not an issue anymore. It allows your employees to be more productive when working offsite, and reduced expenses for the office itself. There is going to be a big uptick in interest in remote working. So you need to strike while the iron is hot.

Because of this, we’ve created a Coronavirus Marketing Pack for our members. It has an article to promote remote working during the coronavirus situation, as well as supporting graphics for social media.

If you are not a member yet, head on over to Technibble.com and join our Marketing Membership

Present Day: MSP Marketing in a Coronavirus World

A great deal has changed since I made those recordings back in March 2020. Many businesses around the world have had to shut their doors to prevent the spread of the Covid virus. Working remotely has become a common practice within many companies. In fact, some companies have even come out and said that even after the pandemic has cleared, they plan to continue having their employees work from home.

It makes sense, right?

Smaller office spaces required and lower overhead costs.

And what has this meant for managed services like yourself?

Increased business opportunities.

Think of all those remote workers who don’t have access to an in-house tech team to managed their systems. And with many businesses moving online, they need remote MSPs to look over their computer systems.

So yes, despite the coronavirus wrecking ball, now is a better time than ever to be marketing your MSP offerings.

Marketing Outside the Box: Coronavirus Brings a New Breed of MSP Clients

It’s true though. Just like many other forms of business out there, MSPs also experienced a downturn when the Coronavirus hit. These MSPs were targeting businesses such as dental practices, small hotels, gyms, and restaurants, which traditionally had a few computers that were important to their operation, so they made great clients.

Unfortunately, most of these small businesses ended up closing. Leaving many MSPs clientless.

I recommend that you always choose a niche to focus your MSP marketing. And once upon a time, the above businesses used to be gold mines.

However, in the post-coronavirus world, you may want to pivot away from these vulnerable industries and look towards marketing your managed services to other low-risk industries.

Remember, you don’t HAVE to stay in the same niche just because you have always been in it.

It’s no fun losing clients in hard-hit industries. But if you look around, you’ll notice that the pandemic has actually resulted in some industries doing better than ever before.

While many consumers are cutting back their discretionary spending, most are just spending differently.

So what industries are going all out during the coronavirus pandemic that you can start marketing your MSP services to?

3 Industries That Have Grown During Coronavirus to Target Your MSP Marketing

Here are just 3 industries that have been experiencing tremendous growth during the pandemic. There are certainly many more industries that have been surfing the waves of success. But the ones below are industries that I believe have the potential to grow even further and make it through the hard times.

#1 eCommerce

While it’s easy to think of eCommerce businesses as being entirely digital, many online businesses have offices complete with staff and physical warehouses.

And what does that mean?

More computer systems will need the help of MSPs to monitor, update and keep them secure from potential cyber threats.

We often have an image of eCommerce sites being slick Silicon Valley startups with trendy offices. However, a huge number of them are simple units on your local industrial estate.

Thanks to simple eCommerce solutions such as Shopify, a huge number of these “blue-collar” businesses are now selling online. But as they become more digital, their technology needs are also growing.

So seek out the eCommerce businesses that have come about because of coronavirus and start marketing your MSP packages to them.

Still not come to grips with marketing your MSP business?

THEN TRY OUT OUR TECHNIBBLE MARKETING MEMBERSHIP

#2 Local Logistics/Delivery

Since the coronavirus has forced many people to isolate themselves, they have started getting everyday items delivered to their homes. There has also been a huge increase in non-essential purchases. Sometimes boredom leads to online shopping just to pass the time, or they finally have time to work on their project and are gathering parts.

Someone needs to get these online purchases to the customer’s front door, so logistics and delivery companies are booming.

As an MSP in a coronavirus world, you don’t really want to waste your time marketing your services to big logistics companies such as Toll or FedEx. They are most likely going to turn their backs on you because chances are they have their own in-house teams.

However, there are much smaller, local courier companies with only a handful of vehicles that have above-average technical needs. I have personally had a small courier company as a client, and they had four on-site servers, plus about 20 workstations, which is a good size for a smaller MSP.

#3 Cleaning

Another winner in the pandemic where you can focus your MSP marketing efforts is anything to do with cleaning.

Hospitals have ramped up their cleaning, as you would expect, but many professional cleaning businesses have picked up more offices and even homes as clients.

Many modern cleaning companies make use of industry-specific CRMs, smart devices, and services such as Microsoft 365 for communication and scheduling.

Like I said earlier, these are just a few of the industries that are booming during the pandemic. But also think about who serves these industries. When their clients are booming, they are likely to be booming too.

Remember, it is OK to pivot. Just because you were the “Dental MSP” or the “Gym MSP” doesn’t mean you always have to be. You can keep serving your previous clients until they get through the coronavirus storm, while also marketing towards these booming industries so you can grow your MSP business.

To wrap things up, here’s another video I made in the early days of coronavirus. It was back in June 2020.

VIDEO: MSP Marketing During COVID 19

Transcription for MSP Marketing During COVID

Bryce Whitty here from Technibble.com. So the coronavirus has pretty much affected everyone in some way. About two months ago, we saw entire countries shutting down. Thousands of companies went out of business and millions of people have lost their jobs. For MSPs, we had a big rush to get our clients working remotely.

And last month we talked about cash flow and securing those remote setups. This month, some businesses are talking about returning to work, while others intend to remain working from home. And mostly as the global economy continues to plunge into a recession businesses with no preparation are sort of going into a craze.

And it just makes you think.

When will all this be over?

Thankfully for some countries, there are signs of recovery With many countries starting to relax their social distancing rules in the last few weeks. But the problem still is many MSPs aren’t really actively marketing themselves, and that basically means they’re missing out BIG time on potential customers.

In fact, many are simply cutting their marketing budgets, reducing costs, and hoping it will blow over. Which is completely the OPPOSITE thing you want to do. On what businesses should be doing right now. I’ve mentioned this in a previous video, but it’s times like these I’m reminded of the quote by Henry Ford:

“A man who stops advertising to save money is like a man who stops a clock to save time”

They say it can take 7 to 10 touches before a lead turns into a customer. So if businesses aren’t creating ways to attract new customers, then it’s basically there is ZERO chance of them buying anything. Never mind surviving the recession. But of course, that is all easier said than done.

I know actually how hard and time-consuming it is to create marketing collateral to get in front of customers. So my team and I have done the hard work for you.

Our Technibble Marketing Membership basically gives you INSTANT access to a huge amount of valuable content that can be used RIGHT NOW to engage customers and generate leads.

In there you will find things like content for Social Media and email campaigns. Blog post content, Ebook guides, Professional educational videos, a Marketing roadmap with tutorial videos, and more.