Marketing can be especially challenging for MSPs due to limited budgets and organizational structure. In this situation, proactive co-marketing with vendors can be a fast and cost-effective solution to drive brand awareness and generate growth.
Typically, when going it alone, a small technical team wears multiple hats by handling sales, services, and operations. As a result, marketing can easily get sidelined in these businesses in favor of operational expenses.
4 Key Strategies for MSP Co-marketing with Vendors
Here are some strategies on how you can get the most from co-marketing with your existing vendors:
1. Choose Vendors with Dedicated Marketing Resources
Not every vendor is a good fit for co-marketing due to limited resources or marketing strategy. Explore how the vendor’s marketing engine is organized and invest in those who have:
- Dedicated marketing teams that support the vendor’s MSP program. This will ensure they market to help meet vendor’s MSP sales revenue goals (thus helping you generate growth) and will deliver actual results within co-marketing (MQLs, opportunities, and brand awareness).
- Dedicated MDF (marketing development funds) or co-marketing budgets. This will allow more high-level co-marketing. Beyond just email campaigns, it can include workshops, webinars, and podcasts. This will ease the burden of sponsoring marketing from you.
2. Assign a SMB for Co-Marketing
Vendors aim to be thought leaders, not just solution providers. Thus, they are interested in collaborating with insider SMBs to gain credibility in the industry. Leverage this interest to the benefit of your business and appoint a team member who will:
- Co-present or moderate the vendor’s webinars and podcast. Even if it is a 10-minute commitment, this is worth as the effort. It creates visibility for your MSP without having to organize these activities on your own.
- Provide commentary and reviews for the vendor’s offerings. This increases your visibility, since vendors tend to publish these commentaries on their websites and in various content and media pieces.
Eleonora Liapina
3. Explore and Leverage Vendor Portals and Resources Hubs
Most vendors have portals with ready-to-use marketing campaign materials and asset libraries. Do not leave these ready-made resources on the table. Build additional momentum for your co-marketing.
- Leverage marketing campaign kits and email templates. Vendors usually have prebuilt campaign packages ready to customize upon request. Just download, explore, and let the vendor know if you need help with launching your own database.
- Take advantage of existing asset libraries. All vendors tend to have resource hubs on their websites and partner portals. Review those hubs regularly to find relevant content. Then, ask the vendor to white-label it for you and your marketing efforts.
4. Be a Proactive Partner to the Vendor
- Bring your own marketing ideas. Do not wait for vendor to drive everything. Vendor’s marketing teams have internal limitations and tend to invest in active partners to streamline their own efforts. Build a true partnership by sharing your ideas and feedback around joint co-marketing.
- Offer insights on what your customers want and need. Vendors often seek guidance from the field to ensure they deliver what is relevant for the market. Provide knowledge to make joint campaigns efficient and generate the expected growth.
Conclusion
The most successful MSP-vendor partnerships are true relationships based on collaboration, shared expertise, and ideas. Be strategic, open, show dedication, and build trust with your vendor to keep the co-marketing engine running. This is the best way to help you generate growth.
Eleonora Liapina is director, global partner marketing & operations at Netwrix Corp. Liapina is an industry-recognized expert for her contributions to the channel. She has developed and executed global partner initiatives and programs for multitype and multitier partner ecosystem (VARs, Distributors, and MSPs).
Featured image: DALL-E
