So we’re agreed that content marketing is important for growing your MSP. And you’ll see success when you’re consistent. But what if you really struggle to come up with content ideas?
How do you know what to talk about and what your readers want from you? Here are five quick tips to get you started.
Find Content Ideas in Your FAQ
This is a piece of advice I give to all my clients. If you’re new to blogging, or refreshing your approach, this is the easiest place to start with finding content ideas readers will actually want.
What do your prospects ask about most often? What is it about your offering or the wider IT space that confuses people? For this bit, remember that there’s no such thing as a stupid question!
Explain in as much detail as you can what your tool or solution does, how it helps and how it’s different to other options on the market. And remember that you’re the expert, not them! It’s fine for them not to know everything.
So the next time someone comes to you with a question, you can simply send them a link to the post, rather than writing a long reply. Plus, it shows that you’re anticipating their needs by having a blog or two ready to answer their queries!
And before you publish your FAQ, do a quick check for acronyms or any terms your audience could be unfamiliar with. You don’t want to make them feel stupid. The IT industry is especially bad for acronyms, and it took me a while to learn them!
Open Up Your Diary
Find significant dates in your company calendar and use those for content ideas. These can be seasonal, such as how to support your staff to take time off, or they could relate to personal milestones.
But be careful with these – share your business birthday, but don’t talk about things like ‘we’ve had our biggest revenue month to date’ unless there’s something for your clients in that. For instance, you might decide to invest in creating training videos for your tool – that’s valuable.
Look at industry awareness days, too. You’ll see we do that a lot here on Tubblog, because it’s a nice way to create content that’s not too tech-heavy. For your MSP clients, highlighting Cybersecurity Awareness Day or National Password Day is a subtle reminder that these things are vital for their business security.
Talk about events you’re attending or you’ve been to and share some nuggets of wisdom you learned while there. Perhaps Microsoft shared a big update that will make a difference to efficiency and productivity for SMBs. So make sure your client know what’s coming.
Keep Up to Date With the Industry
You should be doing this anyway, for your own business and your clients’. But in terms of finding content ideas, industry news and updates is an easy way to find new topics.
As cybersecurity gets more news coverage, your SMB clients will be worried, and looking to you for advice. So if you can explain the threats and how you can keep them safe, it will reassure them. And it has the advantage of showing them that you’re the expert.
Be aware of any legislation changes, too. For instance, we know that the British government is trying to increase awareness of Cyber Essentials training, and it’s not impossible that they make it a requirement in certain sectors.
Let your clients know too about any new tools that might be helpful to them. If you can proactively suggest a solution to resolve a problem you’ve identified, it will really help your customer relationships. If there are significant pricing changes or even companies closing, share that as soon as you can.
One word of caution, though: Make sure you share news that’s relevant to your clients and will add value to their business. The latest industry merger or a new distributor on the scene really won’t interest them!
Case Studies and Product Deep Dives
If part of the reason you create content is to attract new customers, then it’s a good idea to showcase the successes of existing clients. Case studies and testimonials let people explain in their own words why working with you helped the business. And they also boost your credibility and authority.
If you don’t have any case studies already, you really should! Don’t forget that these can also be repurposed as LinkedIn recommendations and shared on other social media platforms.
But if you’re so new you don’t have any clients to ask, you can also use your product as inspiration for content ideas. Does your MSP support clients with Microsoft Office? Then show them how to get the most of the product suite.
Or, if you offer a specialist solution, perhaps for cybersecurity or cloud technology, do a deep dive into the main features. Pick one at a time and explain how it works. Highlight the most helpful aspects that can support their business needs – growth, productivity, better processes.
‘Behind the Scenes’ Content Ideas
Why would you create behind the scenes content? Because we’re all human, and humans are naturally curious. We love to know more about the people we choose to work with, and get a peek into the backstage area.
For our team, Richard and Stephen both create short videos when they’re on the road, and our TubbTalk Travelogue series allows us to talk to people we meet. But if you’re not comfortable with that, share some photos of your team and your workspace.
In content marketing, we say “people by from people”, so show off what makes you unique. I’ve seen business owners talk about how their most popular posts have been about favourite biscuits or what to have for lunch!
Surprising, and a bit frustrating when you work hard on all your other content! But these types of posts are great for engagement and can help prospects decide whether to work with you or a competitor.
Don’t be afraid to have fun with behind the scenes content. In the 21st century, most businesses are a lot less formal than they used to be. People won’t think you’re unprofessional if you share candid (or staged!) footage of the team fighting over the last chocolate digestive! After all, they need the brain fuel to do great work!
Has this helped you to start thinking about your own content? Where do you find ideas and inspiration? Let us know in the comments!
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