StoryBrand & MSP Marketing Strategies
Managed IT service companies have a tough time when picking a reliable marketing service provider (MSP). MSPs are flocking the industry. These entities often have varied fates as others succeed, while others bow out of the sector in weeks. A managed IT service company needs to partner with the right MSP to ensure continuity of their services.
For many years, Ulistic has established itself as a trusted MSP marketing partner. We have ensured our clients succeed by guiding them to use proven tactics to build a commanding web presence. These managed IT service companies are getting an evangelistic following with our help. Our successful partnerships have seen many of our customers continue our collaboration.
Ulistic is a reliable MPS marketing partner for many reasons. One explanation for our success is following StoryBrand principles. These tenets view customers as protagonists. Ulistic helps them become warriors of their stories by giving them the tools they need to succeed. An MSP needs to follow StoryBrand principles for many reasons.
StoryBrand Principles Help Us Polish the Marketing Message of Clients
Many businesses mistakenly think informing prospects that you are offering excellent IT services is enough. The market has entities providing similar services. Unless you help your customers, they are likely to struggle to distinct your portfolio from that of your competitors. They will choose a business that stands out and resonates with their needs.
The marketing failure of these businesses happens in two ways. Their messages do not focus on the elements of their offer that can help their target market succeed. The suggestions they provide can also be problematic. They do not make the offer simple enough for their prospects to understand quickly. The business loses clients to its rival companies.
StoryBrand principles can help your managed IT service company turn the tables. They enable you to clarify their messages, have quality websites, and have successful email marketing campaigns. As a business, you do not offer quality IT services only. You also need your prospects to understand how your firm can help them prosper. StoryBrand helps with this goal.
StoryBrand Principles Simplify the Flow of Incredible Stories
According to Donald Miller's Building a StoryBrand, every notable story follows a specific framework. Miller says that any character that wants to succeed encounters a problem before attaining their goal. As the challenge takes a toll on them, they need a guide to offer them a plan and call them to act. The action ensures they avoid failure leads them to success.
Successful stories in movies and even marketing campaigns follow a framework comprising seven steps. Messages that deviate from these steps struggle to resonate with their target audience. Following the guide enables the target audience to answer three crucial questions quickly. Knowing the answers to what you offer, its value towards their situation, and why they should purchase motivates them to engage with your brand.
The marketing storytelling that StoryBrand principles advance follows this framework.
StoryBrand Principle 1: The Customer Is the Hero, Not Your Brand
Identify a story gap between a state a prospect is in and where they could be. Understand your customers to ensure the description and proposition resonates with them. Use words they can identify with to plant the story question in their minds. You will arouse the customer's curiosity if you succeed. They will desire to know whether you can get help them get what they want.
Specify the customer's ambition to one focus. Make your solution to this challenge clear and tell the customer how you can help them attain the solution. For example, you can notify them you will help them leverage their social media presence to become a leading brand in their field. The answer should help them feel safer or happier.
StoryBrand Principle 2: Companies Tend to Sell Solutions to External Problems, Customers Buy Solutions to Internal Problems
Talking more about the challenge that your customer is facing helps you connect with them. Sharing more information makes them recognize that you are familiar with the problem. Besides the problem, add details on how the solution you offer will benefit them. Painting a vivid picture of the difficulty captures their imagination. This result motivates them to seek your product to help them overcome the challenge.
You can guide your customers in addressing three types of problems.
- External challenge: a physical, tangible difficulty
- Internal problem: a story of frustration that the challenge causes
- Philosophical difficulty: a story that adds meaning and is bigger than the customer
Solving all these difficulties creates the climactic scene that sets the platform for help and closure to the story.
StoryBrand Principle 3: Customers Are Not Looking for Another Hero; They Are Looking for a Guide.
Excellent brands do not seek to solve the challenge facing the potential client. They only offer the tools, wisdom, and encouragement that the prospects will need to overcome it by themselves. These entities recognize that despite having the most authority, the customer is the hero. Their messages show that success belongs to the customer.
StoryBrand Principle 4: Customers Trust a Guide who has a Plan
Outlining your plan helps customers trust your brand. Once they see you have a pathway of leading them to the intended destination, their feeling of risk reduces. They become more comfortable dealing with your entity. The plan helps customers visualize the path they will follow towards their aim, ensuring they progress with you.
StoryBrand Principle 5: Customers Do Not Take Action Unless They Are Challenged to do so
Just like in other stories, the customer has some doubts. You need to challenge them to take a specific action. Challenging the client pushes them to purchase, which they might not have done. The call to action should be clear, and you repeat it often. It may be direct or transitional — works the customer towards an action indirectly — call to action.
Direct calls to action are explicit, but transitional calls to action come in various forms. They can be in these formats:
- Free trial
- Samples
- Testimonials
- Free information/lead magnet
StoryBrand Principle 6: Every Human Being Is Trying to Avoid a Tragic Ending
Humans seek to avoid failure before pursuing success. Identifying with this concept is critical when you want to connect with the client. Remind them often that you can guide them on a path that does not lead to failure. The reminders should not paint a bleak picture excessively. Have enough of them to make the customer see that inaction is not an option.
StoryBrand Principal 7: Never Assume that People Understand How Your Brand Can Change Their Lives. You Must Tell Them!
According to Stew Friedman at the Wharton School, painting a memorable impression of the future is critical for marketing your IT company. A clear resolution enables the customer to know what to expect. Informing them of the feelings that await them after solving their problem makes them likely to act.
Excellent stories bring a happy ending by helping the customer satisfy their central psychological needs. Marketing places the IT firm in a position to help customers meet their needs. The desires can be in three forms:
- Unification with something or somebody that makes the client whole
- Experience some transcendence or self-realization that makes the client whole
- Win power or status/position
Following these StoryBrand principles, Ulistic enables firms to position themselves as industry leaders. We leverage our knowledge of digital marketing to help firms grow.
StoryBrand Principles Guides Firms on Step to Take to Have Successful Stories
Implementing the StoryBrand framework enables brands to build prosperous websites. Ulistic can help you by pursuing steps that ensure your site meets your goals. We make your messages captivating and clear to your audience. Your employees will have a smooth experience and culture, and visitors to your platform will also have a memorable experience.
Once your business has a website that captures clients, implementing the StoryBrand Marketing Roadmap is the next phase. It comprises five steps that guarantee the success of your marketing efforts.
- Create a rousing one-liner. This line captures the client's attention and makes them realize why they require your services. Communicate the hero, problem, plan, and success of the story. The message should compel the customer.
- Develop a lead generator and gather email addresses. Building an email directory is an asset for a business. Email marketing converts better than most other platforms. Ulistic can get your target clients excited about your services and get them to join your email list. We do this by offering value to them and showing your firm as an industry leader.
- Establish an automated email drip campaign. Once people sign up to your email directory, you need to link up with them. You can reach them via funnels. Funnels enable you to send emails to prospects in various stages of their customer journey. Their automation saves you time, and you can continue earning. The open rate for automated campaigns for IT firms is close to 21 percent. You will still brand to the clients that bounce.
- Collect and narrate stories of transformation. Humans desire to have a changeover, so stories of change capture the target audience's attention. Customer testimonials are an excellent way to share those experiences. The reviews need to be rousing and clear. Seek reviews by asking clients to answer specific questions after getting your services. Ask about their problem, frustrations while seeking solutions, how they realized that your product would work, and their feeling now that you guided them to answers.
- Develop a system that produces referrals. Segment your customers into current and ideal clients, then target them. Leverage a positive referral system by giving your clients reasons to spread the word about your business.
MSP firms need to prepare for marketing success. They can get ready by following these steps.
- Firms need to balance client volume and capacity. MSP firms are among the firms that can grow too fast. Growth in a specific point needs to accompany an increase in size. For example, if there are many clients, the MSP should hire and train more experts. This increase ensures you do not frustrate your clients through delays. Standardize areas that you can across clients. Standardization of items, such as servers and routers, boosts efficiency. You can train new techs quickly. Updates and configurations will also be more comfortable.
- Give your customers a few options. While it is good to offer options, you should not give your clients too many of them. Many alternatives make their decision-making challenging. This difficulty can make them consider other MSPs. Have a marketing plan. A marketing plan goes beyond advertising. It is a formula that the MSP uses to attract new prospects. You will need to perfect the method as it comprises various aspects. Ensuring they complement each other enables you to get the best outcomes for your business. If you are a growing business, try several mixes to find your ground.
- Measure your performance using the relevant tools. Key performance indicators (KPIs) are valuable statistics that inform your decisions. Focusing on aspects such as profit, revenue, and billable hours can show you if you are progressing. Use metrics relevant for each campaign. If you do not meet your targets, look for ways to improve.
Takeaway
There are many managed IT service companies around the globe. These entities are after the same pool of clients as your firm. If you do not take active measures to stand out and offer value to the customers, you will lose them to your rivals.
Ulistic can help your IT firm get leads via digital marketing. Online marketing is full of opportunities that your business needs to exploit to meet its objectives. Partnering with Ulistic will help your firm find the prospects it needs to grow. Speak with Ulistic to learn more about our business development, marketing, and sales services for managed IT service businesses.
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