How much should you expect to pay for managed services marketing or MSP marketing services?

Ulistic meets with thousands of managed IT service companies each year, ranging from the small one-person operation right up to the largest multi-national IT service firms.

They all seem to want to know this vital information, and they ask us almost immediately “How much does your MSP marketing service cost?”

Nearly every company we speak with wants to know how much they should expect to pay for managed IT services marketing from Ulistic or one of the many IT service marketing agencies out there.

Well, the easy answer is “it depends.”

I know this is probably not the desired answer, but pricing out managed services or MSP marketing solutions depends on many variables and services that are available to your organization.

Here’s a short list of services you should expect to receive from your MSP marketing agency:

• Professional Website
• Search Engine Optimization
• Social Media Marketing
• Social Media Prospecting
• Email Marketing
• Email Prospecting
• Content Creation
• Content Management
• Newsletters
• Blogging
• Video Marketing
• Podcasting
• Coaching and Consulting
• Annual Onsite Visits
• Technology Marketing Brochures
• Event Management
• Webinars and Educational Sessions

You can see there’s a long list of services that can go into a managed services marketing solution and what you choose will reflect how much you pay.

Basic MSP Marketing Solution

A basic MSP marketing solution can range anywhere from $97 to $497 each month.  This level of service just gets you started and, for some, especially those with an internal marketing department, this may be all you need.

A basic MSP marketing solution can provide marketing templates, sales scripts, eBooks, video templates and anything else that you can rebrand and use.

Don’t expect much flexibility when shopping for an entry-level MSP marketing solution from any of the major MSP marketing agencies.

Intermediate MSP Marketing Solution

This is where things start to get interesting.  We’ve seen pricing all over the board at this level.  Anywhere from $247 plus a bunch of add-on fees, right on up to a couple of thousand dollars per month.

This is when you really must do your homework and determine exactly what you’re getting and the terms and conditions of the agreement.

The MSP marketing community is littered with “Marketing Managers” yesterday – fired today – consultants tomorrow people.

Make sure you do a thorough background check at this level. There’s a lot of snake oil out there, promising you everything and delivering nothing.

An intermediate managed services marketing program may contain:

• MSP Website (Ask: Is it customized or a template?)
• Content (Ask: Is it customized or a template?)
• Blogs (Ask: Are they syndicated or custom-written for you only?)
• Marketing Templates
• Social Media Services
• Basic Search Engine Optimization
• Newsletters
• And possibly more

This is one of the most popular and densely populated landscapes in the managed services marketing community.

Buyer beware. Do your homework.

High-End Custom MSP Marketing Solution

This is where the choices continue to narrow.  Just like your own managed services business, there are options from a one-man show to a large MSP marketing agency.

When you speak to your prospects about the disadvantages of selecting a one-man show for technology services, the same rings true here.  One-person MSP marketing operations lack the depth to provide all the services you require.

You are better off selecting one of the few “full-service” managed service marketing agencies.

Pricing will range from $2,000 per month right up to 10’s of thousands.

The average price is somewhere around $3,000 per month for a managed services marketing agency to market your MSP business in the online and offline world.

This is important to understand at this price point.  Marketing for your managed services company needs to be a complete solution, not just online or offline.

To get value for your managed services marketing investment make sure the company you are considering offers:

• A detailed 30-, 90- and 365-day marketing strategy.
• A full reporting solution complete with online and offline metrics.
• Quarterly or annual onsite visits.
• Weekly or bi-weekly strategy sessions.
• Plus, everything else mentioned above.

For this kind of investment, you should be looking for an outsourced chief marketing officer and a professional organization that will guide you and heads you in the right direction.

Do your homework and research their clients and their performance.

Read our reviews page on many of the top MSP marketing agencies.