Linkedin was where it all began for me when I started my MSP. I literally had no other options.

The networking opportunities in my city were horrible. So I turned to the internet and started out by learning how to use Linkedin to grow my MSP.

I’ve taken the steps I used on my MSP and created a step by step guide on how to grow your MSP using Linkedin.

Linkedin Marketing For MSPs

I started using Linkedin in 2008 for one purpose. I wanted to find leads for my MSP. I knew that my target demographic was on Linkedin more so than anywhere else.

Business professionals, business owners, and C-Level Executives were who I wanted to connect with and get in front of.

I had no idea if it would work when I started using these tactics on Linkedin, but it did, and it was the foundation of all other internet marketing strategies I implemented in the future.

Here’s what I did, and here’s how I did it:

The core of Linkedin marketing is this:

Make friends, or what Linkedin calls “connections.” Then add value to their lives, and hope they want to do business with you. If you remember anything, remember that.

But there’s a major problem with that wholistic approach. At its core, that strategy will work but it doesn’t account for all the noise. It doesn’t account for all the competition or other professionals that are out there trying to be seen on Linkedin as well.

So how do you get noticed and start making relevant connections?

1. Connect With Relevant People, Not Just Anyone

You’re going to get a lot of junk connection requests. Don’t just accept those requests because you want to get your numbers up.

I’d rather have 100 relevant connections than 30,000 junk connections.

On the flip side, don’t become one of those junk request type of people. Don’t just go down the line connecting with any random person in your suggested connections list.

Look for alignment!

Make sure that the people you connect with are relevant to what you’re trying to accomplish so that Linkedin’s algorithm will suggest connections that align with your target audience.

The quality of your connections is going to drive user engagement for the content you post once you’re ready to get started posting content. It’s really important to keep that in mind as you build a Linkedin presence.

2. Interact With The People That You Do Connect With

Don’t just become a passive observer of the Linkedin news feed. That will literally do nothing for you but waste your time and make you a professional consumer of other people’s content.

Linkedin marketing for MSPs is all about interacting with people in your target demographic and community.

Like peoples posts, comment on their posts or other people’s comments, and share other’s posts.

When you show interest in others, they will show interest in you. And chances are, if someone is in the market for changing their IT services provider or outsourcing their IT, then you will be at the top of their mind and list because you have taken interest in them and their company in the past.

3. Get Lots of Comments On Your Shares

Comments are like rocket fuel for the Linkedin engine. The more comments you get, the more Linkedin’s algorithms are going to show your post to others that it thinks it’ll be relevant to. If something is worth commenting on, then Linkedin thinks it will add value to others. If more and more people comment on the post, that is when a post has the potential to go viral.

So how do you get more people to comment on your posts?

• Tag people in your posts:

If you think one of your posts will be relevant to an individual or multiple individuals, then go ahead and tag them in the post. What that will do is send off a notification to that connection that you tagged them in a post.

They will naturally be interested in why you’ve tagged them. That will get them to at a minimum read your post, and it will likely get them to comment on it as well.

• Use hashtags:

Hashtags are just a way to make your posts more searchable for people looking for content on specific topics. It will give your posts more visibility into the topics that you’re talking about when others are out there searching for relevant topics.

• Get your coworkers or close friends and family to comment on your post:

You can really get the ball rolling on your posts just by asking your coworkers, friends, and family to go and like, comment, and share your post. Start with your close network and have them fan the flames of the fire you lit. It’s one of the best things you can do immediately after posting content to Linkedin.

• Ask a question at the end of your post:

If you don’t ask a question, many people will take it for what it is, a statement. But if you ask a question, people are much more likely to give their opinion driving comments and conversation. Every good conversation starts with a good question.

4. Run Linkedin Ads

Running Linkedin Ads for MSPs can be an effective way to get some eyeballs on your content, drive leads, and build connections. But it can also be insanely cost prohibitive. I am yet to find a cost-effective way to advertise on Linkedin.

For whatever reason, their CPC and CPM are so much more expensive than places like Facebook, Twitter, Quora, or Reddit.

It’s hard for me to justify an $8-10 cost per click for sponsored content when I could spend $8-10 per click on a high intent click from Google Ads. Someone scrolling Linkedin isn’t nearly as valuable as someone searching Google for an “IT Service Provider.”

I would always choose Google Ads for MSPs over any other form of CPC or CPM marketing, but if you’re already running Google Ads and doing well with it, Linkedin Ads have the ability to drive some really relevant traffic to read your blog, watch your video, or engage with other pieces of content you might have created.

There are also instances in which there are so few companies searching Google for MSPs in a given geographic region that it makes sense to go all in on more intrusive advertising on Linkedin, Facebook, Twitter, and Reddit.

I will concede however that Linkedin above any other platform, gives you the most comprehensive and granular ability to target specific business professionals directly in their business feed.

5. Use Video If Possible

Almost everyone has a nice camera on their phone and can buy a tripod for $29 bucks from Amazon. If you’re up for it, start creating native videos that you can upload to Linkedin.

Every social platform is craving video content. Video content will gain you much more exposure than text or other content.

The videos you create don’t need to be top quality either. They can be totally organic and low budget. The key is that they add some sort of value. So don’t just get on there and start rambling about irrelevant topics.

6. Never Hard Sell

At the end of it all, don’t use Linkedin to hard sell people. Linkedin is best utilized when you add value to someones life. Give, give, give until others become drawn to you. It will happen. It will most definitely happen.

Don’t connect with someone Linkedin only to setup a canned response and have it auto message them with your pitch or hard sell.

Instead, like their posts, endorse them for skills, write a recommendation for them, or comment on their posts.

It’s kind of like dating. You’d never just meet someone and ask them to marry you right off the bat.

So don’t connect with someone on Linkedin and just go for the sell.

It never works and it blows my mind that people still do it.

What Do You Do?

I’ve been doing the same things with slight variations from the time I started my MSP until now, with great success. But I’m curious to know if you have had any other experiences.

Is there anything that you think I missed or that I could add to this list?