If you run an MSP, chances are you’ve tried a variety of marketing techniques. And chances are, you’ve had some failures along the way.
Well, I’m a self-proclaimed marketing expert… and I just had a huge failure.
In this post, I’m going to walk you through exactly what went wrong, share the stats, show you how I’m fixing the problem, and explain the process of elimination I’m using to get to the root cause.
Most importantly, I’m going to share the single biggest lesson you need to know when it comes to marketing your IT business — a lesson that’s taken me 15 years to learn.
What Went Wrong
Last Tuesday, I ran a webinar.
Over 60 people registered — around 50 through my CRM and another handful from LinkedIn and other organic sources. Normally, with webinars, I see about a 25% attendance rate. That means with 60 registrants, I’d expect around 15 people to actually attend.
Instead?
Two people showed up.
One engaged during the webinar, the other stayed silent until the end — no questions, no interaction.
It was disappointing, frustrating, and yes, a little embarrassing — especially because I put budget behind getting those registrations and this was a topic I was excited to deliver: How to Get Into AI Search Answers and Responses.
The Process of Elimination
When something goes wrong in your IT business, you troubleshoot — checking cables, testing power, replacing docks — until you find the issue.
Marketing works the same way.
Here’s my troubleshooting process for this failed campaign:
- Top of the Funnel — The Ads
I ran Facebook Lead Gen ads, paying between $2–$10 per lead. For this campaign, it averaged about $5 per lead.
The ads performed as expected:- 7,000 people reached
- 206 clicks
- 50 leads generated via the form
Click-through rates were normal. Costs were normal. So I ruled the ads out as the problem.
- Lead Capture & Email Automation
Leads were pushed into my CRM. They received a confirmation email with an “Add to Calendar” link.
Here’s where I think the problem lies — I usually have an automation via Zapier and Microsoft Power Automate that sends a direct calendar invite from my inbox to each registrant. For this campaign, that automation wasn’t set up.
Without that instant calendar invite, attendance likely suffered. - Deliverability & Reminders
Email deliverability was fine — 93% delivered, 60% opened, 33% clicked.
I also captured phone numbers and sent SMS reminders 10 minutes before the webinar. Even so, attendance was still poor. This reinforces my theory that the missing calendar invite step was the first real breakdown.
The Fix
I’m now running the exact same campaign again — same ads, same copy, same timing — but with the calendar invite automation back in place.
If attendance improves, I’ll know that was the issue. If not, I’ll move down the funnel and test the next possible failure point, like tweaking email reminders or adjusting incentives.
The key here is only changing one variable at a time so you can pinpoint the real problem.
The Bigger Lesson
After 15 years of marketing, here’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned:
There’s no such thing as failure in marketing — only lessons.
When I first marketed IT Rockstars, I leaned heavily on Facebook Groups. That worked for a while… until Facebook stopped prioritizing groups in the feed.
Before that, in my break/fix business, I relied on SEO. That worked until Google’s algorithm changed and I lost my top rankings overnight.
Both strategies failed eventually — because I was relying on someone else’s algorithm.
Today, I run lead gen ads. I pay for the data, own the leads, and can build a database I control. That’s an asset that grows over time, independent of shifting algorithms.
Why This Matters for Your MSP
If you’re frustrated with your marketing, remember:
- You’re going to have failures.
- Those failures are paid lessons.
- The more you control your funnel, the more predictable your results.
Right now, I’m refining my own funnel. I know I can get leads — the next step is improving my conversion from registrant to attendee, and from attendee to client.
Once the system works consistently, then it’s time to scale.
Because in marketing — just like IT troubleshooting — it’s all about finding the fault, fixing it, and moving forward.
If you want to avoid the pitfalls I’ve just shared and shortcut your own MSP marketing learning curve, keep an eye out for my next post — I’ll share whether the calendar invite fix worked and what’s next in the process.