There’s a scene in the movie Casanova starring Heath Ledger who plays the star role. In the movie, a lovesick young man is endlessly frustrated trying to get the attention of the woman he’s obsessed with. He’s tried dressing up in fine clothes, making sure he’s at the places she frequents. He tries approaching her to strike up a conversation, yet she ignores him. He tries buying her flowers and gifts, but she denies and blocks all of his efforts. After trying everything he can think of, he begs Casanova for help. Casanova’s advice is super simple, but the single most powerful lesson in marketing I can give any MSP: Be the FLAME, not the MOTH.

I think about that scene a lot when I watch MSPs try to market themselves.

Most of them are moths. Frantic, frenetic, flapping toward every hot new shiny thing — a new social media platform, a cold email tool, a LinkedIn automation sequence — convinced that the next tactic is the one that’s finally going to make the phone ring and win the attention of a prize managed services client. Of course, the phone doesn’t ring. Or it rings with the wrong people. Or they get an opportunity only to lose it to a cheaper competitor. They think they’ve “tried it all” and conclude that marketing just doesn’t work — at least not for THEIR business, with THEIR clients in THEIR industry and THEIR town. They’re a unicorn of dysfunction.

The truth? MSP marketing strategies work. But ONLY if you know what you’re doing.

If you’ve ever asked the question “how should MSPs market themselves?” here is the honest, unvarnished answer, built on 25+ years of helping tens of thousands of MSPs go from invisible to inescapable in their markets.

The Problem: Most MSPs Are Doing Vulture Marketing

I coined a term for the way most MSPs market themselves: Vulture Marketing. Here’s how it works: they act like a lone, hungry, desperate vulture sitting on their perch all day long, waiting for something to die in front of them so they can swoop down and fight over the carcass with every other vulture in the area.

That’s exactly what most MSPs do. They sit. They wait. They hope someone’s current IT company screws up badly enough that the business owner goes looking for a replacement. Then they compete on features and price with every other MSP in town who looks, sounds and acts like they do — then they wonder why they can’t grow.

Vulture Marketing isn’t a strategy. It’s the default when you don’t have one. The alternative is to hunt the clients you want instead of waiting for them to lie down in front of you. That requires a system — and a completely different mindset about what marketing is and what it’s supposed to do.

The Four Things That Must Be Right In Any MSP Marketing Campaign

Before you spend a dollar on any marketing tactic — digital, direct mail, social, paid ads, events, any of it — you need to get four things right. I call them the 4 M’s. These are the foundation of every MSP marketing campaign that has ever worked, and the reason behind every one that hasn’t.

1. Market

The most important decision you will ever make in your business is choosing who your customer is. Not “small businesses in my city.” Not “companies with 10 to 200 employees.” A specific, definable, targetable group of people with a common set of problems, a common set of watering holes, and enough money to pay you what you’re worth.

When you try to market to everyone, you connect with no one. The tighter your target, the stronger your message, the lower your marketing cost, and the higher your close rate. A dental practice has different IT concerns than a law firm. A manufacturer has different compliance requirements than a financial advisor. Know who you’re hunting before you pick up the rifle. (My former boyfriend was an obsessive hunter who customized every aspect of the hunt based on the specific animal he was after — different scents, different calls, different timing for deer versus turkey versus fish. You can’t use a fishing rod to catch a deer. Same rule applies in marketing.)

2. Message

Your message is not “we provide reliable, proactive IT support.” Every MSP says that. It means nothing. Your message is what makes you the only logical choice for your specific target market. It answers the question every prospect is silently asking: Why you, and why should I trust you?

The most powerful MSP marketing strategies are built on what I call EDR Marketing — Educational Direct Response. An educated prospect who understands what good IT management looks like, what the real risks of bad IT look like, and what to look for in an MSP is infinitely easier to sell to than an ignorant one. You’re not just marketing — you’re teaching. And whoever teaches best, wins.

3. Media

Media is how you deliver your message to your market. This is where MSPs get into the most trouble — they pick the media first and build the campaign around it. Wrong order. You pick the market first, then figure out where they are and how they prefer to receive information.

For most MSPs targeting small to mid-size business owners, direct mail still works exceptionally well. Email nurture sequences work. Seminars and webinars work. Digital marketing for MSPs — LinkedIn, content, paid retargeting — works when used properly. What doesn’t work is chasing awareness on platforms where your buyer isn’t making purchasing decisions.

4. Math

Every marketing campaign has a math problem attached to it. What does it cost to generate a lead? How many leads become first-time appointments (FTAs)? How many FTAs become proposals? How many proposals close? What’s the average contract value?

If you don’t know these numbers, you don’t have a marketing system. You have a series of random activities that may or may not produce results. Track everything. What gets measured gets managed. What doesn’t get measured gets wasted.

How MSPs Should Position Themselves: The CAT Framework

The MSPs that consistently attract better clients at better fees have one thing in common: they’ve built authority in their market. They’re not just another IT company. They’re THE IT company.

I teach a framework I developed called CAT — Celebrity, Authority, Trust. These are three distinct components that, when built deliberately, transform how prospects perceive you before you ever walk into a sales meeting.

Celebrity is name recognition — the feeling a prospect has of “I’ve heard of these people” before you reach out. It’s built through consistent content, a strong LinkedIn presence, speaking at local events, and showing up in places your ideal clients pay attention. You don’t need to be famous like a Kardashian. You simply need to be slightly famous to the exact prospects you are trying to sell to.

Authority is credibility — proof that you know more than the next MSP. Case studies. Published articles. Documented results. Certifications that matter to your specific target market. HIPAA compliance for medical practices is far more persuasive than a generic IT certification to a practice manager.

Trust is the most powerful of the three and the hardest to shortcut. It’s built through consistent follow-through, through testimonials from people who look like your prospect, and through educational marketing that demonstrates you’re there to help them — not just close a deal.

When all three are working together, prospects come into your sales process already half-sold. The conversation shifts from “convince me why I should hire you” to “how do we get started.”

The Three Core Systems Every MSP Marketing Strategy Needs

Good marketing for an MSP isn’t a campaign. It’s a system — actually, three systems working together simultaneously.

Attract — lead generation. This is every activity designed to bring new, qualified prospects into your world. MSP marketing campaigns, digital advertising, referral systems, speaking at industry events, content marketing. The goal is a steady, predictable flow of first-time appointments with decision-makers who fit your ideal client profile.

Convert — sales process and follow-up. Most MSPs lose sales not because the prospect decided against them, but because the follow-up died. Automated drip marketing to unconverted leads, a defined sales process, a consistent cadence of touches after the first meeting — these are the difference between a 20% close rate and a 60% close rate.

Expand — growing existing client revenue. Your current clients are the easiest sale you’ll ever make. Do they know about every service you offer? Are they on your highest-tier agreement? Are you proactively reviewing their environment and making recommendations? Most MSPs leave enormous money on the table by never going back to clients they’ve already won.

These three systems working together create what I call a Marketing Oil Well — campaigns and processes that consistently produce leads, conversions, and revenue with decreasing amounts of your personal time and attention as they mature.

Frequently Asked Questions: MSP Marketing Strategies

What is the most effective MSP marketing strategy for getting new managed services clients?

The most effective MSP marketing strategy combines a narrowly defined target market, an educational message built around your prospect’s specific problems, and a multi-touch campaign that reaches them consistently through direct mail, email, and digital channels. The MSPs that generate the most managed services clients are running all three core systems — Attract, Convert, and Expand — simultaneously, not waiting for referrals.

How much should an MSP spend on marketing?

Best-in-class MSPs — the most successful and profitable as measured by Service Leadership — invest roughly 11% of their topline revenue on combined sales and marketing costs. For a $2M MSP, that’s approximately $220,000 per year. Most underinvesting MSPs spend less than 2% and then wonder why the phone doesn’t ring.

Does digital marketing for MSPs actually work?

Yes — when it’s part of a complete managed service provider marketing system, not a standalone tactic. Digital marketing for MSPs works best when it supports and reinforces offline campaigns, drives traffic to educational content that builds authority, and nurtures leads through a structured follow-up sequence. Digital alone, without strategy, is just spending money to be ignored.

The Bottom Line On MSP Marketing

How should MSPs market themselves? Stop waiting for the phone to ring. Stop competing on price with every other vulture in your market. Stop chasing tactics before you’ve defined your strategy.

Choose a specific target market. Build a service that delivers REAL value. Tell that story in a message that speaks directly to your chosen market’s specific problems and positions you as the authority. Deploy that message through media channels where your ideal clients actually live. Track the math. Build the systems — Attract, Convert, Expand — and run them consistently.

The MSPs I’ve watched grow from $500K to $5M, from $2M to $20M, from invisible to dominant in their markets, all did the same things: they stopped acting like vultures, started acting like hunters, and built MSP marketing strategies that produced results regardless of whether the owner was paying attention that week.

That is how MSPs should market themselves. Not with tricks. With systems.

Ready to stop guessing and build a real MSP marketing system? Start with Robin Robins’ MSP Marketing Services or book a private one-on-one consulting session: robinrobins.com/msp-marketing-services/