If you're an IT company or MSP that's tried marketing and felt like you were throwing money into a black hole, you're not alone. The truth is, most IT businesses struggle to get results from marketing - not because marketing doesn't work, but because it's being done wrong.
The problem isn't Facebook ads. It's not your logo. And it's definitely not that "marketing just doesn't work in this industry."
It's that too many IT companies approach marketing without a strategy, a clear audience, or the systems in place to turn attention into revenue.
Let's fix that.
Mistake #1: No Clear Niche or ICP
Most IT businesses try to market to everyone - law firms, manufacturers, dentists, nonprofits. The result? Generic messaging that resonates with no one.
Your marketing will only work when you focus. In fact, 82% of top-performing B2B marketers attribute their success to understanding their audience extremely well through detailed ideal customer profiles.
Solution: Get laser-focused on your Ideal Client Profile (ICP).
Who are they? What industry are they in? What are their pain points? What regulations do they face? What tools do they already use?
The narrower your ICP, the easier it is to:
- Craft content that speaks to them
- Show up where they hang out (online and offline)
- Build a repeatable sales and marketing engine
This focused approach is essential for effective marketing for MSPs, where generic positioning gets lost while niche expertise stands out.
Mistake #2: Treating Marketing Like a One-Off Project
Marketing isn't a website refresh. It's not a one-time email campaign. It's not just "boosting a post" on LinkedIn.
Marketing is a system.
It should run like a well-oiled machine, consistently generating leads and building trust with your ideal prospects.
Solution: Implement a structured, repeatable marketing process:
- Weekly LinkedIn posts targeting your ICP
- Monthly blogs written to educate and build authority
- Cold outreach campaigns that warm up over time
- A CRM that tracks every touchpoint
- Paid retargeting ads to stay top-of-mind
Done right, this creates an ecosystem where your brand is everywhere your buyers are.
Mistake #3: Hiring Agencies That Don't Understand IT
Not all marketing companies are created equal.
You hire a local agency. They do some design work. Maybe they run a few ads. You ask them to write blog posts, but they don't understand your services - so you end up rewriting everything yourself.
Sound familiar? Choosing the right marketing agency for IT companies means finding partners who understand technical buying cycles, not consumer marketing firms trying to pivot.
Solution: Work with a marketing company that understands the IT space.
- Knows what MSPs do
- Understands recurring revenue models
- Speaks the language of compliance, uptime, cybersecurity, cloud
- Can turn technical concepts into content that actually converts
Mistake #4: Ignoring Thought Leadership
Most IT companies don't think of themselves as content creators. That's a mistake.
In B2B, especially for complex services like IT, buyers need education, not entertainment. While 96% of B2B marketers now create thought leadership content, with LinkedIn proving 76% effective as a platform, many IT companies are still sitting on the sidelines.
Solution: Build a thought leadership engine:
- Start posting on LinkedIn every week (even simple insights)
- Answer common questions your prospects ask
- Share your opinions on industry trends
- Turn those ideas into blog posts, newsletters, and social snippets
Buyers trust experts. You don't need to go viral - you just need to show up.
Mistake #5: Not Leveraging LinkedIn as a Growth Channel
Most IT leaders treat LinkedIn like a resume.
But it's the best B2B sales and marketing platform available today - especially for MSPs and IT service providers.
Solution: Use LinkedIn to Stack the Deck.
- Identify your ICP
- Find their actual LinkedIn profiles
- Connect with them weekly
- Share useful content (not just sales pitches)
- Engage with their posts to stay visible
Over time, your feed becomes your pipeline.
You're no longer talking into the void. You're speaking directly to your next client. Strategic LinkedIn prospecting combines consistent content creation with targeted outreach to decision-makers in your defined ICP.
Mistake #6: No Follow-Up Plan
Getting a lead is one thing. Converting it is another.
Too many IT companies collect leads with no system to nurture or follow up. The data proves this is costly: nurtured B2B leads close 47% larger deals than cold prospects, and 77% of buyers prefer follow-ups by email rather than phone calls.
Solution: Automate your follow-up. Use tools that:
- Send timely emails and LinkedIn messages
- Remind you to call or check in
- Share case studies and testimonials
- Keep your brand top of mind
People buy when they're ready - not when you are. Your job is to stay in front of them until that moment comes.
The Howl Way: Marketing That Actually Works for IT Companies
At Howl, we don't sell fluff. We don't do one-off projects. We don't believe in "posting just to post."
We help IT businesses:
- Clarify their offer and niche
- Create content that drives real conversations
- Build a CRM and automation system that tracks and nurtures every lead
- Run paid campaigns that retarget the right people
- Show up everywhere their buyers are
It's not magic. It's just execution - week after week.
Where to Start This Week
- Define your ICP in a single paragraph: industry, company size, role, primary pain point.
- Audit your LinkedIn profile and recent posts against that ICP. Where are you missing the mark?
- Pick one weekly publishing rhythm (LinkedIn post, blog post, or newsletter) and commit to it for 60 days.
- Write down every lead you have in active conversation and the date of last contact.
- Set up a simple follow-up cadence in your CRM so no lead goes more than 14 days without contact.
Why Choose Howl
If your IT firm is doing marketing without a system, the gap is rarely about effort. It is about coordination, consistency, and a clear point of view. At Howl, we work with IT firms and MSPs to install the system, so your marketing produces pipeline instead of feeling like a tax.
If you want to see what that looks like for your firm, book a discovery call, and we will walk through where your marketing currently stands.