Yes, Google Ads still works for MSPs in 2024.
But it’s a much different game than what many MSP owners may remember.
We hear from our MSP friends that they were generating dozens of leads per month back in the 2000s. But now it’s slowed to a trickle, if that.
The difference is the competition for Google Ads is much fiercer now than it was back in the 2000s.
Yes, competition is up, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t work. The simple fact that competition is up proves it does work. What MSP owners – and pretty much all other business owners – need to accept is you can’t just generate any Google Ad and expect to see a bunch of hot leads overnight.
My MSP marketing agency is currently running Google Ads in over 50 markets across North America, so I can tell you one thing for sure: if you want Google Ads to get results like it did in the good old days, you need to work both harder and smarter. In this post, I’m going to explain the table stakes of Google Ads for MSPs. Let’s get into it.
You need to get super targeted and granular with your ad groups
You may provide blanket IT support – per the nature of the MSP business model. But that doesn’t mean that’s what all your prospects are actively searching for.
They might be looking for something specific – like cybersecurity services, cloud storage, cloud migration, etc. Make no mistake, you can sell them on a managed services plan later, but for the sake of discovering your company, your ad groups need to reflect different needs and interests.
Additionally, you may specialize in providing IT support to different industries.
Let’s say you provide cybersecurity services to government agencies. Decision makers in these organizations aren’t searching for general IT security services, they need an MSP who understands their extremely rigorous requirements and challenges – and you’d need a specific Google Ad group to reflect this.
These are just a couple of examples.
But what are the major benefits of getting super granular with ad groups?
First and foremost, you’re going to get better click-through rates (and ideally, conversion rates) if your ads are hyper-targeted to a specific audience.
Second, you’ll be able to allocate your budget more effectively – meaning you can invest more in the ad groups that perform better and reduce (or improve) the ads that don’t get you strong results.
The last one I want to discuss comes back to the competitive landscape of Google Ads these days.
By getting specific with your ad groups, you can demonstrate your understanding of the market and cater to niche segments – something which many other MSPs might overlook.
You need a solid landing page or service page to match your ads
This is one of the first things I tell MSP owners when they want to do Google Ads – or any type of paid advertisement. No ad will get good results if it leads people to a bad landing page.
Funneling prospective customers onto your website from a Google Ad is only a small part of the battle.
It’s up to the landing page on your website to:
- Maintain the visitor’s attention
- Explain your offer
- Empathize with the problem(s) they have
- Showcase why your solution is the best solution
- Book consultations
Successful landing pages are a masterclass in psychology. Building one takes a cohesive effort from professional copywriters, web designers, developers, and conversion rate optimization experts.
High traffic numbers look great on an analytics dashboard, but site visits don’t put money in your account; you need conversions. That’s up to your landing page.
If you’re thinking about running a Google Ads campaign, having a professional look over your landing page is the most important step.
Make sure you’re going after the right keywords
This is the most important one. You need to be running your Google Ads campaign based on the keywords and phrases your customers are actually searching for.
Are you focused on providing co-managed services?
You will likely be better off using “Azure cost optimization” as your main keyword.
Are you a localized IT company that works with small businesses?
Target “help desk company near me”.
Just like setting up your ad groups, keyword targeting in Google Ads needs to be done on a highly strategic level to make sure it works for you in 2024.
At the end of the day, this is one of the major ways you can stand out via Google Ads from the crowded MSP space.
Choosing the right keywords is not as easy as it might sound. You need a deep understanding of your prospective customers, their struggles, and their intent when they turn to the web for solutions. Building your Google Ads with the wrong keywords will kill your results, and overlooking certain keywords may leave money on the table.
If you don’t have experience in search engine optimization or Google Ads, it’s worth speaking with an expert to help you understand where your best keyword opportunities lie.
What’s the next step?
Are you an MSP skeptical of Google Ads?
Don’t be.
There are tons of opportunities out there; it just takes a bigger effort to find them these days.
If Google Ads didn’t work, there wouldn’t be any competition because no one would be using it. The most successful MSPs are taking the right measures to make sure every dollar in their budget goes as far as possible.
Truth be told, the process of building out a successful Google Ads campaign as an MSP looks different from other types of businesses. Think about the articles you read on SmarterMSP. They are helpful because they tailor their content specifically to the IT niche. Specialized MSP marketers follow the same logic.
If you’re hoping to generate solid results, your best option is to work with a team that works solely with MSPs. That’s where we come in. Shoot me a message on LinkedIn to chat further.
Photo: monticello / Shutterstock.com
