Kinetic IT's marketing chief on how MSPs can escape the 'sea of sameness'

Managed services providers are getting lost in a “sea of sameness” by failing to consider how they build their brand.

IT services marketing guru Lana Barnett said MSPs of all sizes are failing to stand out to customers because their brands and messaging is the same as everyone else's – and that's if they're doing anything at all.

With more than a decade of experience in marketing, including being a co-founder of B2B marketing community Generate, Barnett joined Kinetic IT as head of marketing in May, having worked in the channel since 2019.

Building a brand

Her first piece of advice: ease off the lead generation obsession.

“In the MSP world, 'a lot of marketing is thought of as, we need to convert leads to give our sales team, which will be opportunities' - that is absolutely a piece of the puzzle but it's a much bigger conversation," she said.

"Rather than focusing on short term conversion marketing, which, let's face it, we're pretty much addicted to, let's focus on long term growth."

Barnett referenced the 95:5 rule, which states that 95% of potential customers are not ready to buy right now, and said marketing for long term growth is about being the brand they think of when they are ready.

“Marketing is really just the foundations done really, really well over and over again. It's just getting it right every time," she explained.

"Understanding the buying funnel and understanding that our job is to optimise conversion points between the buying funnel so that you know we're top of mind and there’s brand salience when it’s time to buy.”

Barnett acknowledged that the exact definition of 'brand' can be a point of contention, but said it is about more than choosing a logo and a font.

“Your brand is your identity. It's what they think about you when you're not in the room," she said.

"Brand is reputation, it’s look and feel and consistency, and it's what you want people to say about you when you're not telling them what to say."

Marketing and brand building doesn’t have to be about spending big on advertising campaigns, whether online or the physical world, Barnett advised.

The most important thing is identifying the MSP’s unique selling point, building an identity around it and then making sure it is communicated clearly at any given opportunity.

Barnett said this is especially important in the world of IT services, where so many companies offer services that can seem so similar to each other.

“Customers, whether they're looking to buy from a small MSP or a big one, they have a really, really hard job as they have to differentiate between us, so let's make it as easy as possible for them,” she explained.

Avoiding the sea of sameness

Barnett also said many MSPs are failing to stand out.

“When I speak to customers, the majority of my conversations with them reflect the fact that they actually don't see much advertising from managed service providers," she said.

"There is an actual sea of nothingness. Because there's sameness, there's a sea of nothingness. Sameness equates to nothingness."

As a result, if it feels like you’re overdoing it then you might be on the right track.

“In marketing, your job is to explain what your unique selling point is and have an understanding that the customer doesn't know you, they've never heard of you - I always say to my team, the moment that you start to get really sick of your campaign or your brand message because you just heard it 100 times, that might be the moment where your customers may be taking notice of it," Barnett explained.

Once the brand identity is established and a clear mission is set up around that, it all needs to be folded into the company culture and then communicated to employees.

“Each individual in the business should be a brand champion and proud to work where they work … but also understand the value proposition of the company and the brand and what it's offering to the market,” she said.

Find your customers

Barnett said another major step is to figure out who your potential customers actually are.

“If you're going to stand out, you probably need to specialise," she advised.

Kinetic IT has four target markets that the company focuses on: federal government, state government, defence and critical infrastructure.

"Because of that we're able to personalise our marketing messaging," Barnett explained.

"We're able to know where those customers are, the channels that we should talk to them through, what events to go to, and how to evaluate events.”

“If you can say, ‘We specialise in this, this is what we're good at, this is what we do,” that makes the customers’ job easier when they're trying to figure out where you sit amongst everything.”

Do the research

To underpin all of this, from the outset and throughout the process, Barnett advised that it’s vital to be conducting research to inform decisions along the way.

She said getting started with research can be as simple as talking to existing or potential customers about their perception of the company in the broader market.

“My process involves going out and doing competitor research and brand data research," she said.

"In the past I've done brand health studies that have been absolutely invaluable in informing the strategy."

Barnett offered the example of a brand that discovers it is often preferred by those who are aware of it, but that overall awareness is low, meaning the best course of action is focusing on increasing awareness.

She said this is how a marketer develops a strategy and with a unique and strong brand and understanding of the best customer segments to target, they can then lay out a framework that will guide each decision ahead.

“For example, you might have a salesperson come and say, ‘I really want to do this event' - you can say, ‘If I look at the list of customers that are going, they don't match our target markets. It's a reason to say no, we shouldn't do that event,” she explained, adding that it can also be a reason to say yes in other circumstances.