How to turn MSP marketing failure into success, with Acronis’s Jonathan Griffiths

I speak to MSPs every week, and the story is always the same: they’re brilliant at looking after their customers, but that strength can become a weakness when it comes to growth. Many rely heavily on referrals. That’s not a bad thing—it shows customers love and trust them—but it isn’t scalable.

When MSPs do invest in marketing, it’s often reactive: a quick social ad, a webinar, maybe a blog post. When those don’t deliver immediate results, they decide marketing doesn’t work. The reality is that without a clear strategy—understanding the audience, defining objectives, and crafting the right message—tactics alone won’t deliver

It starts with stepping back. Who exactly are you targeting? What do you want to achieve? Are you trying to upsell or cross-sell? Then, once that’s clear, you can build campaigns around storytelling that speak to real business needs.

Too often, MSPs and vendors fall into the trap of focusing on product features. But end users don’t care about features—they care about outcomes. The old marketing school quote still applies: no one wants a quarter-inch drill bit, they want a quarter-inch hole. For a business owner, the “hole” is keeping their e-commerce site live on Valentine’s Day, making sure staff get paid, or keeping supply chains running smoothly. That’s where the story needs to connect.

Because the market is saturated with noise. Everyone is pushing product updates and feature lists. Storytelling cuts through by making technology relevant to the customer’s world.

Take a florist, for example. They don’t care about disaster recovery as a concept. What they care about is making sure orders are fulfilled during peak season, that their online store doesn’t crash, and that their staff have job security. When MSPs tell the story in those terms, customers listen.

We’ve seen a heartbreaking example where a single weak password recently shut down a 158-year-old logistics company, costing 700 jobs. Real stories like that are so much more powerful than a list of features.

MSPs themselves are under attack like never before. We’ve seen high-profile examples around the world where major retailers, airports and airlines have been compromised, often via their IT providers.

That’s why MSPs need to evolve. Cybersecurity is no longer optional—it’s at the heart of what it means to be a trusted advisor. Offering Microsoft licensing and hardware isn’t enough anymore. If you’re not bringing a security-first conversation to customers—coverin

One of the simplest things MSPs can do is make use of threat intelligence. At Acronis, we publish regular Cyber Threats Reports, and they’re a goldmine of data that MSPs can take directly to customers. Ransomware is up 70% year-on-year. AI is driving more sophisticated social engineering attacks. Phishing is exploding.

These aren’t just headlines—they’re talking points MSPs can use to demonstrate the value of their services. Facts cut through any argument. When you show customers the reality of today’s threat landscape, it builds trust and opens the door for conversations about advanced protection. Add storytelling alongside data and you have a powerful combination. [Read the latest report here]

We’ve gone from an explosion of SaaS tools to a moment where businesses want efficiency. MSPs that can consolidate services, simplify the stack, and deliver integrated cybersecurity are in a strong position to grow. Customers want partners who save them time, reduce complexity, and protect them from the risks making headlines every week.

Stop selling products. Start telling stories. Your customers don’t care about your new feature—they care about keeping their business running, their staff secure, and their livelihoods safe. If you can connect your services to those outcomes, you’ll see results.

We’re cutting through the noise. My co-host and I are running a workshop that focuses on strategy before tactics—how MSPs can use storytelling and smart positioning to win new business consistently. This isn’t just theory. We’re bringing MSPs on stage to share how they’ve put these ideas into practice and grown as a result.

The goal is that everyone leaves with advice they can take back to the office and use on Monday morning—whether it’s reframing their customer conversations, sharpening their messaging, or embedding security into their marketing narrative.