For the third consecutive week of tracking the Captain Miracles “marketing virus” we’ve seen the threat widen in scope.

In fact, our hotline, 1-888-Captain-Miracles, has been ringing 24/7 and in these conversations we’ve observed a new trend.

“It makes us write ‘cybersecurity’ all over our emails, website and social media profiles. It recommends we dream about security and talk about it with prospects all the time. I think the quota is like 54 mentions a day or something.”

-Unknown MSP

In this article we’ll dive deeper into how to respond to this outrageous demand from the virus.

Cybersecurity is not a differentiator

Of course, it is a good thing that your MSP is obsessed with improving cybersecurity. After all, it minimizes your risk, reduces the likelihood of breaches on existing clients, and it certainly helps whenever a prospect brings up security concerns.

However, have we considered the downsides of transferring this part of our service to the forefront of marketing all the time?

Maybe we ought to observe successful companies from outside the MSP industry and learn from their marketing approach.

For example, when you need to do a home improvement project, what company pops to your mind?

Probably the Home Depot. 

And here’s a rhetorical question about the Home Depot: do all of their commercials talk about one product?

Of course not!

Instead, their marketing centers on their primary customer: people who fix their own homes. The Home Depot aims to convince do-it-yourself people that their store is the one-stop-shop for all things home improvement.

They don’t promote one product category all the time because that might confuse potential buyers. 

Looks like the Home Depot’s marketing department has found that they get better ROI by varying campaigns by the seasonal needs of their clients, such as landscaping and gardening products in the spring and shovels and snowblowers in the winter. 

Perhaps MSPs would stand to gain by applying a similar strategy.

Be a one-stop SMB shop not another Security vendor

Yes, while it is important to celebrate your strength in security services, remember that your potential clients are not IT experts or necessarily hyper-focused on security.

Captain Miracles may want you to believe the only thing SMB leaders are losing sleep over are hackers but we all know there’s more on their minds. 

They stress over flat revenue, low productivity, increasing operating costs, and the good ones know that technology plays a key role in fighting those concerns.

Therefore, when it comes to sales and marketing, be the “Home Depot” for SMBs; look for examples of how you alleviate the other concerns SMBs have and work those stories into your sales and marketing messages.