Now that the dust is settling after the recent cyber-attack, I wanted to send the next post on the subject of verticalised markets and why MSP’s and VAR’s should be verticalising; in fact the cyber-attack itself is the best example of why both ourselves and our customers target verticalised markets, so let me explain.
Those of you following the posts or my business development blog will be aware as to where I am on our journey of discussing the benefits of targeting vertical markets, and you know that this is not meant to be the next post on this subject. However, it is an example of how events take over sometimes and as a business you have to react, because you only get one opportunity to leverage the gravitas you have built up in certain market sectors and be the first one in through the door with the news, good or bad.
Now I apologise if this sounds like an overly aggressive and/or cynical approach, but we are in a competitive market and our job is to target markets where our customers have a “Value Proposition” then to leverage the gravitas built up on their behalf by our campaigns. But as with all things, we must not be being seen to be taking advantage of events, only portray that we are the experts in the field and have the solutions to the pressing problems and concerns that our target customers have.
Think of our presentation of both ourselves and our customers’ businesses as like presenting you and ourselves to target audiences as a swan. On the surface everything is serene and graceful, not aggressive in any way, this is how we present both your business and ours to target audiences, but underneath the surface, it is a flurry of action to keep things moving. This is us and our role, rolling up our sleeves and doing the hard and dirty work required to get both our business and yours to where it needs to go; please let’s not pretend that this process and the competition we are going to face will be all sweetness and light, because it won’t.
So why am I discussing the cyber-attack? Well imagine you are a customer of ours and that we have built you a “Value Proposition” and identified target markets where your product or services offering has real value. Let’s say for example that we had identified for you that as your product offering is highly secure, protects against the forthcoming onerous GDPR legislation and all the legislation around the protection of data and where it’s stored, we could target markets for you where the reputational and financial penalties for noncompliance will be at their highest.
We would all agree that this would probably be a lot of markets, anything from the Law, Legal Services, Banking, Financial Services, Pharmaceuticals, Healthcare, Independent Schools, Recruitment or the State Schools sectors; so we would have built you a content and direct marketing campaign for some of these sectors.
These campaigns are designed and built by us to target the top tier professionals within these target markets, the decision makers. We will be speaking directly to these decision makers within your target markets, sending them content based messages to build gravitas for your business. We will do this by linking directly the benefits of your product or services offering to the challenges they face, in their business, by speaking their language, not yours.
We do this because we appreciate that your target audience are only concerned about how what you are offering solves the biggest problems, or takes full advantage of the opportunities, that they have. In fact they are no different to you, reading my messages. You will only pick up the phone or send me an email, once I have gained your interest, convinced you that I have the solution to your business development needs and then earned your trust.
This takes time, I have not got you reading my messages overnight; there has been a respectful process built up over time on a “Peer to Peer” basis, because you are the target audience for my business. You are the decision maker in your business as I am in mine; I know I have the solution to your business development requirements, but I didn’t send you messages on that basis straight away, I built engagement over time by discussing issues that were pertinent and in your language, not mine.
Now imagine you were one of our customers for whom we have built gravitas in the markets listed above. Imagine we have portrayed you as the industry expert by speaking knowledgably about the issues affecting their sector and how your product or services offering is the answer to security and data protection concerns. Then imagine the cyber-attack occurs and the panic that it causes in your target markets, genuine concerns because your target audience are experts in what they do, not in what you do.
In finishing, I ask you to think about this, in regard to the above scenario. Imagine that I am a partner at a law firm who has been receiving your content messages regarding the concerns I have and how your product or services offering is the answer to all my problems. Then the cyber-attack hits; who do you think I am going to call?
As builders of bespoke sales, marketing and business development campaigns for VAR’s and MSP’s we have built, delivered and run many highly targeted and effective campaigns for VARs and MSPs in a number of verticals including the Legal, Pharmaceuticals, Recruitment, Independent Schools, Accountancy and Financial Services sectors, to name just a few; as well as identifying and targeting new routes to market for the producers of “Game Changing” software packages.
The last 2 weeks have shown the benefits to our clients of our approach and how they have been able to take advantage of current events. The recent cyber-attack and the fear and uncertainty this has led to with professionals most at risk from such attacks, has left our customers who have product and services offerings that mitigate such threats and the dangers thereof, perfectly placed to take advantage of the gravitas we have built for them in the verticals most at risk.
If you would like to explore how we can build and deliver campaigns in vertical markets for your business, in order to help you to achieve the growth aspirations you have for your business, please do not hesitate to contact me, either at andrewb@virtuosoconsultancy.co.uk or on my mobile; 07769 990719, when it will be a pleasure to hear from you.
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