On the surface, managed service provider (MSP) marketing may sound like a big, complex process.
We work with a lot of MSPs who believe they need an exhaustive marketing plan with dozens of pages, graphs, charts, and everything else. In nearly all growing MSPs, a marketing plan can be done comprehensively on a single page.
Enter the Lean Canvas.
At Tech Pro Marketing, my MSP marketing company, the Lean Canvas is a primary tool we use to get the ball rolling on marketing efforts for our clients.
In this piece, I want to dive into what the Lean Canvas is, why it’s so powerful for MSP marketing, and how MSPs can start filling it out. Let’s get into it.
What is the “Lean Canvas”?
The Lean Canvas——is a one-page template designed to break down a business model, products, or services. Its purpose is to help business owners and stakeholders quickly visualize what the company does and the value it provides.
For MSPs, more is not necessarily better for marketing. The Lean Canvas is a great way to cut through the noise and focus on what matters most. This typically includes:
- Client problems
- Solutions
- The MSP’s unique value proposition
- Ways to meet prospects where they are
- Costs
- Revenue streams
- Key metrics to track
If built properly, the Lean Canvas can act as a North Star in mapping out your MSP’s marketing strategy and reaching your ideal clients.
Why should MSPs opt for the Lean Canvas?
The Lean Canvas is a streamlined document that outlines what your MSP does well, who it serves, and, most importantly, how you solve your target clients’ most pressing issues. I’ve narrowed down the four biggest reasons MSPs should ditch the million+ slide decks and go with the Lean Canvas.
1. Simplify the problem-solution fit
A big issue I see in many MSP marketing strategies is that they get too granular when talking about the solutions they provide. I’ll see slide after slide about the technical aspects of network infrastructure planning, IT security, and everything else the company provides.
Don’t get me wrong, this information is super valuable. But it might not be ideal at this stage of the game. Getting into the technical details of your IT services in a marketing campaign will likely go over many of your prospects’ heads.
The Lean Canvas is an opportunity to crack open the technical details of your services and get down to how they really solve issues for clients.
For example:
Problem: Clients are living in constant fear of data breaches.
Solution: 24/7/365 security monitoring to spot vulnerabilities and fix them before breaches can occur.
By zeroing in on the broader pain points that lead businesses to MSPs, IT companies can create value that resonates with everyday business owners. All those technical details can be explained at a later point in the sales process.
2. Understand the target customer segment on a deeper level
Many MSPs these days focus on serving a handful of different industry segments – rather than any and all businesses. The sentiment is that it’s better to serve one or two industries extremely well, rather than be a jack-of-all-trades and master of none.
This is why Tech Pro Marketing only serves MSPs; we can focus all our efforts on learning the industry’s ins and outs to provide the best results.
On the Lean Canvas, MSPs can clearly spell out their client segments to define their unique challenges, needs, and opportunities within the marketing strategy.
For example, say your primary client segments are school districts, non-profits, and government agencies. By listing these on the Lean Canvas, you can focus on finding the common threads, which generally involve budget constraints, legacy systems, strict data security, etc.
3. Define a clear and unique selling proposition
The Unique Selling Proposition (USP) takes center stage in the Lean Canvas. This is what all your marketing efforts will revolve around. In other words, it’s how you will position your MSP in the market and stand out from the crowd.
When you visit SmarterMSP.com, it’s clear that their USP is providing valuable, non-biased advice to MSP owners without trying to sell anything.
We see a lot of different USPs in MSP marketing.
This could include:
- Under 2 min response times
- 24/7/365 security monitoring (peace of mind)
- Proactive maintenance
- Direct-to-technician phone line
- Exhaustive compliance assistance (avoid fines)
- Clear, predictable pricing
Regardless of how you differentiate yourself with USPs, these need to be the focal points of your marketing campaign – or the things that you do that clients cannot get from other MSPs in the area.
4. Marketing strategy and validation
One key feature of the Lean Canvas structure is that it allows for fast experimentation and adaptation of marketing strategies. MSPs can test out marketing assumptions on a smaller scale before full rollout.
For example, you may have listed LinkedIn, email, or Pay-Per-Click marketing as your primary marketing channels. Guided by your USPs, customer pain points, and client segments, you can develop key metrics to track – and goals to determine their validity.
Let’s say your goal for each channel is to capture 3-5 leads per month.
The Lean Canvas allows you to test these strategies against your message (related to the problem-solution). If one or more channels fail to meet your goals, you may need to tweak your USP – or how you communicate it. Or use a different channel.
This low-risk approach helps you test your assumptions early on – with the goal of minimizing large investments in ineffective marketing strategies.
What should be included in an MSP’s Lean Canvas?
The Lean Canvas has many benefits for MSPs – especially the ones working with tight marketing budgets. The beauty of this approach – compared to a massive marketing plan – is it’s easy to change course if necessary. You can make bold assumptions and dip your toes into the water to validate them, rather than diving headfirst.
Are you curious as to what should be in your Lean Canvas?
At Tech Pro Marketing, we help MSPs find, test, and refine answers to this question. Schedule a strategy call with our team, and let’s get the ball rolling on your Lean Canvas.
Photo: Dilok Klaisatapo / Shutterstock
