MSPs can face objections when selling cloud-based file sharing and other cloud services. IT departments have historically been reserved about relying on the cloud and organizations as a whole tend to be slow to adopt new things. Dramatic changes such as transitioning to a new platform, or incorporating new ways of getting things done is always a hard pill to swallow for most organizations, so convincing them to move to cloud services is not going to be easy.

July 16, 2015

3 Min Read
MSPs, Focus on Marketing Departments in the Cloud

By Michael Brown 1

MSPs face a lot of barriers when selling cloud-based file sharing and other cloud services. IT departments have historically been reserved about relying too much on the cloud and organizations as a whole tend to be slow to adopt new things. Dramatic changes such as transitioning to a new platform, or incorporating new ways of getting things done is always a hard pill to swallow for most organizations, so convincing them to move to cloud services is not going to be easy.

All is not lost however. Motivating your clients to adopt more cloud services is easier when you can identify the early adopters and cloud champions at each organization. According to a new study by 451 Research, that could be the marketing department. Within the next two years, 47 percent of marketing departments are expected to have 60 percent or more of their applications on a cloud platform.

Savvy marketers lead the way

This prediction isn’t really surprising. As consumers are becoming increasingly well connected through the internet, non-traditional channels such as search engines, social media, blogs, and email have become an important part of the sales process and marketers are using more and more cloud technology to manage these channels. In fact, according to Chief Martec, the number of marketing technology solutions doubled in the past year to over 1,800.

As businesses are confronted with the task of reaching out to consumers on multiple channels, they are looking to spend on technologies that can simplify their marketing processes. Other findings from 451 Research show the number one expectation of enterprises adopting the cloud is improved technology quality on platforms and applications with 22 percent of respondents agreeing. After that, the next most common expectations are helping to grow their business (18 percent) and improved availability and better business service (13 percent).

Simplifying business through cloud

All of this has motivated marketers to lead the charge for cloud adoption. Within two years, 35 percent of marketing departments plan to have 75 percent of their applications or resources in the cloud. For organization as a whole, only 17 percent plan to reach the 75 percent mark in the same time period.

MSPs offering cloud-based file sharing and computing services can leverage this opportunity. By targeting marketers directly and highlighting the specific benefits they can gain from cloud services, you can more easily start a relationship with a new company or ramp up the adoption of an existing client. To help, be sure to highlight the specific services you offer that are valuable to marketers, or if necessary, add new services. A digital marketing cloud should at least offer:

  • Multi-channel automation to help marketers publish content across different channels

  • Content management tools for creating and managing all content

  • Social media tools for analyzing trends, listen to conversations and respond to them

  • Analytics to analyze data and create customer profiles

The underlying sentiment that can be gauged from these findings is that enterprises are looking to reduce management complexities, while increasing productivity across all channels. Cloud services offer the simplicity, speed, cost effectiveness and security needed to meet these goals – but only if you can get your foot in the door. Targeting the most motivated and fast adopting department could be just the opening you need.

Read more about:

AgentsMSPsVARs/SIs
Free Newsletters for the Channel
Register for Your Free Newsletter Now

You May Also Like