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video marketing for managed service providers

Why Managed Service Providers Need Video Marketing

Jacob Brain

Author

Video is projected to become one of the most influential mediums for marketing. As a managed service provider, it’s hard to humanize the world of IT and make it interesting and manageable for clients. Video marketing is a great way to put a human face on the world of IT and connect with your clients. Still not convinced video marketing for managed service providers is for you?

Check out these three reasons why managed service providers need video marketing included in their MSP marketing efforts.

Consumer Desire

Your clients love video marketing.

According to HubSpot research, 54% of consumers would rather see videos than email newsletters or social image-based content. They even found that video was listed as more memorable by 43% of study participants as compared to text and images.

The United States ranked second highest in preference for video content, second only to Latin America. On top of that, 61% of surveyed consumers want informative or educational content. This is the exact type of content a managed service provider can create for their clients.

Demographic Targeting

The majority of platforms today use some sort of video. Because of this, you can target any and all audiences through video marketing.

Since YouTube came onto the scene in 2005, video use has soared. Large A-list stars such as Justin Bieber started on YouTube. Millennials have their own YouTube channels and businesses do as well. Besides that, YouTube ranks at number 2 in web traffic both domestically and globally with more than 1 billion users.

While YouTube mainly reaches 18 to 34-year-olds, there are other video marketing platforms to hit other demographics. One such platform is Facebook. Over half of all Americans in every age group say they are on Facebook. Now, video gives you another great way to interact and engage with them.

Connection and Interaction with Your Clients

Use video marketing to humanize the managed service provider company. Video is where you can display an animated and personalized version of who you are as a brand. Because of this, people will develop a more personal connection to you and relate to you more.

For example, Facebook Live offers viewers an in-depth idea of what is happening within your company. It’s a great way to interact with your target demographic in real time. These are your current clients. You can show them a large job you’re working on, what your new office looks like, or even what a normal day is like.

Perhaps the best part of Facebook Live is that it offers your clients the ability to ask questions and post comments in real time. This gives you a chance to respond just as quickly, almost as though you were having a face to face conversation.

During the presentation, optimize every chance you have to connect with your audience. For example, answer any questions that come up and ask running questions of your audience that they can choose to answer in the comments. To start with, make sure you ask questions that won’t lead to an awkward situation if no one answers. For instance, asking the age-old “any questions” can lead to crickets. But if you say, “hit like if you prefer option a or love if you prefer option b” you can interact with your audience without the risk of an awkward pause.

Types of Video Marketing for Managed Service Providers

So video marketing sounds pretty great for managed service providers. But getting started can be a bit tricky. How do you know what type of video to create that will be most effective for your audience and your business?

Check out three different types of videos for marketing below.

Demonstrating a Product

The IT world may be mysterious to many of your customers. Video marketing can help you take the mystery out of IT.

We’ve all had that unfortunate moment when you’re building a piece of furniture, or a similar complex project, and the written directions just aren’t cutting it. IKEA is notorious for this. Your clients may lack an understanding of your product that the written description on your website cannot fix.

Here is where video marketing can explain your services. Host a short video demonstrating the different uses for a piece of software that you’ve recently added to your service list. Make sure you hit all points that may be confusing and don’t use too much jargon—remember, you’re clarifying. Use language that all of your clients can understand.

Event Videos

Hosting an event is a great opportunity for a live video. This way, you can display short snippets to entice more clients to come next year. Make sure you don’t film the whole event. Not everyone has time to sit and watch for several hours and it ruins the incentive to come to the next event.

If you’re hosting a discussion or question and answer session with a local expert, you may want to put some time aside at the end specifically for your Facebook followers. Have your followers message you questions and live stream out the answers. You can even hold a contest for the best three questions. Those winners will get their questions answered on the livestream.

Again, these videos are all about fostering authenticity and connection with your audience. Live streaming short snippets of an event is a great way to showcase your expertise in an interactive and authentic way.

Expert Interviews

A miniseries is a great way to showcase interviews with experts. These short videos can feature one expert per episode. You can pull these experts from inside your own company to show case your expertise or you can pull an expert from one of your vendors. By interviewing a vendor, you’re showcasing the quality of your products.

If you want to put a twist on the expert interview type of video, you can use the same format but interview your clients instead. This is a great way to build up relationships with your current customers and have video reviews to encourage prospective clients to use your services.

Interviewing a client gives your audience a face to put to a review and will help to build trust between the audience and the reviewer. Also, it’s a great way to pay some special and personalized attention to your clients.

New North Can Help

Video marketing may not be a managed service provider’s first thought when it comes to digital marketing, but the video platform has a lot of benefits.

It’s a great way to build up trust and authenticity between your company’s brand and your clients. On top of this, it’s a very active and memorable platform that your clients are interested in seeing.

At the end of the day, video marketing is a great tool for managed service providers, but it can be overwhelming to get started. New North has over ten years of expertise with digital marketing and can help you make your video marketing a success.

If you want to get your video marketing started today, give us a call. We’ll have you connecting and building relationships on the video platform in no time at all. Schedule your free marketing consult today.

 

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