The Secret to the Fastest Growing Tech Companies in 2022

The Secret to the Fastest Growing Tech Companies in 2022

Sep 6, 2022

Leveraging Peer Groups and Events

Did you know that utilizing networking events and peer groups can help your business? And the good news is they can do a lot more than that. Attending peer groups and events can build your reputation as a knowledgeable industry leader and establish meaningful connections with like-minded people.

Growing tech companies understand how peer groups can give additional insights into the industry. Peer groups can also build lasting relationships that can result in genuine leads and greater business opportunities. Let’s take a deeper look into these topics and how you can properly leverage peer groups to be one of the fastest growing tech companies in your market.

What’s the Purpose of Networking?

The purpose of networking is to cultivate and maintain mutually beneficial relationships with a mix of people with whom you can do business, share ideas or seek assistance. Building connections with the right people could be the key to taking your business to the next level.

Networking can be overwhelming for individuals who are not comfortable talking with people in a large group setting. So, why do people hate networking? Some might not be good at it naturally or perhaps they don’t go to enough events. The reality is that most people have never learned the best practices of how to network effectively. The funny thing is that connecting with people is part of human nature. Let us teach you how to use networking events to get more leads and build business relationships.

What are the Benefits of Networking?

Effective networking can be beneficial for your business, but let’s look at two important takeaways that your business can capitalize on after attending an event.

#1-Better Business Opportunities

Networking provides you with plenty of meaningful connections and can open doors to better business opportunities. Gathering leads is often an important takeaway from attending a networking event, but how do you ensure that they are genuine? Investing your time to truly listen to a prospect’s pain point and asking open-ended questions can make or break your efforts in collecting qualified leads. You never know, a good networking experience could lead to a happy hour or dinner with a prospect. Then you might have an opportunity to convert a quick lead into an appointment that night.

Here’s a few more best practices:

  • Always make sure you follow up with any prospect that you meet within 24 hours.
  • Send them a personalized email that includes specific details about your conversation.
  • Close the message with a personal link to your site and calendar.

Showing an individual that you care about their pain points, having meaningful conversations and following up can turn a lead into a business opportunity.

#2-Building Meaningful, Lasting Relationships

Making new connections can be difficult, especially if socializing is not your strong point. However, we cannot stress enough the value of creating relationships and establishing connections at networking events. When you make a personal connection or relationship with a potential prospect, it could open the door to a meaningful business relationship down the road. Even if this individual might not benefit from the services that your business has to offer, they could know of a potential prospect that might have use for your services.

By enhancing your knowledge, gathering leads to open doors to better business opportunities and making meaningful, lasting relationships with prospects you can transform your business into something bigger by attending networking events.

Why Peer Groups are Important

Peer groups are a little different than networking groups. They are essentially groups of like-minded people—typically those with similar professional status. The premise behind peer groups is for fellow business owners and executives to come together and share advice and bring different perspectives on similar issues or topics. Peer groups are a unique opportunity to discuss everything from sales and recruiting to business strategy with people who speak your language.

Are There Benefits to Hosting Peer Groups?

Peer groups can be essential for creative problem solving and innovation. The right type of peer groups can spark:

  • A community/circle of trust
  • New relationships/partnerships
  • Innovation
  • Creative problem solving

Imagine being part of an environment where you are surrounded by like-minded people who share your same goals and philosophies—who also work in your industry. What do you think will happen when you communicate and gather with these people? You tend to build strong, lasting relationships, which will impact your business in the long run. Peer groups can motivate and inspire you to work towards common goals with business professionals in the same industry. They can also help you overcome challenges, develop new growth strategies and give you a competitive edge in your market.

Make the most of networking by attending events where you can find potential prospects and attend peer groups that are going to benefit your business and industry.

How Can You Capitalize on Peer Groups and Events

Networking and peer groups are essential tasks that can help you gain industry-leading knowledge, make lasting relationships and gain new business opportunities through genuine leads. If networking is your strong suit, or you don’t know how to find peer groups that would be beneficial for your business, let us help you.

Here at Marketopia we offer an exclusive community that can help you accomplish your dreams. Marketopia’s GROW community is dedicated to delivering training opportunities, actionable tools and peer-to-peer engagements to grow your technology business. Get all the tools you need to be successful at networking and connect with like-minded peers who can collaborate and share promising ideas with you.

Want to be one of the fastest growing tech companies in 2022? Reach out to us to schedule a free growth assessment so we can help you achieve your goals.

5 Growth Opportunities for Vendors at GROWCON

5 Growth Opportunities for Vendors at GROWCON

Aug 22, 2022

 

What’s the one factor that connects business dreams to business achievements? GROWTH. Through growth, you hone your company’s capabilities, vision and network until one day, you’ve accomplished everything you’ve wanted — and more.

Marketopia’s GROWCON Conference is all about growth, providing attendees with the right tools, skills and partnership-making opportunities to excel in the IT industry. However, what truly sets GROWCON apart from other conferences in the industry is this: vendors have the same exact access to the conference’s offerings as all other attendees.

That’s right — as a vendor, the benefits of sponsoring go far beyond getting your company’s name out there. You can even up your sales game.

Let’s explore the top five growth opportunities for vendors at this technology event.

First Things First: What is GROWCON?

GROWCON 2022, taking place in sunny Clearwater, Florida, is a three-day GROWTH conference where MSPs, vendors, VARs, CSPs and other technology companies come and grow together. They do this through training sessions, workshops and panels.

At the same time, GROWCON also allows for technology vendor growth, as vendors who sponsor the event can connect with tech companies throughout its duration. Vendors can attend all events, whether it’s a training workshop on generating leads or an evening cocktail connect.

Are you excited to GROW yet? Here are some other benefits to getting on board this technology vendor event.

1. Enjoy Plenty of Perks

Let’s get to the perks. As a sponsor of the tech event, you get:

  • Attendee passes
  • Event expo signage
  • Speaking opportunities
  • Social media promos
  • …and more

As you can see, GROWCON is not just about putting up a couple of banners and dishing out merch. Vendors are immersed throughout the entirety of the program at every level. It’s something rarely found at other, similar conferences but at the forefront here.

2. Put Your Products in Front of MSPs

85% of attendees at GROWCON are interested in developing new vendor partnerships. After all, MSPs, VARs and CSPs are excited about growth opportunities in all facets of their business — and that includes the implementation of new products and services.

As a sponsor, you have the opportunity to sell to and through the fastest-growing tech companies in the world. Through networking, you can get to learn about these companies, including their current pain points, and see if you can provide them with solutions to help them better operate their businesses.

3. Grow Your Channel Educationally

GROWCONThe GROWCON workshops, panels and training are filled with information and advice on how to improve sales and marketing. This info is not just MSP-focused. The knowledge imparted to attendees can aid any type of company grow in these departments.

As a result, you can grow your channel educationally and at the same level as other tech companies throughout the nation. You’ll also get a better understanding of the latest industry trends and ideas.

4. Increase Your Brand Awareness

Of course, a big benefit to sponsoring any event is increased brand awareness. GROWCON is the perfect place to do so, whether it’s through the in-person networking you do or through social media shoutouts you receive.

With stronger brand exposure, you gain plenty of advantages. You can engage with more prospects and start to generate qualified leads for your business. You’ll foster a positive association with your brand and cement your place as a go-to, authoritative source in your field.

5. Network, Network, Network

Networking is a huge stepping stone for growth. The other attendees you meet at GROWCON are just as enthusiastic about the IT industry as you, making it easy to foster relationships and even develop partnerships.

It’s also a great chance for some IT give and take. Not only can you learn more about MSPs and their content strategies and goals, but you can share yours as well. The entire experience allows for learning growth across the board.

And there you have it — the top five reasons to get involved with GROWCON 2022 as a sponsor. As a vendor, you have five different sponsorship level options, or you can go a la carte and pick from a few different sponsor opportunities. To get the full 411 on GROWCON sponsorship, check out our website.

4 Reasons Why MSPs Should Attend GROWCON 2022

4 Reasons Why MSPs Should Attend GROWCON 2022

Aug 22, 2022

 

Marketopia’s GROWCON Conference isn’t your ordinary technology event. First, GROWCON is a growth conference, and the three-day event is designed to enable MSPs, vendors, and other tech-related attendees to grow their businesses. The beachside event teaches you what you need to know about sales, marketing and business strategy to successfully scale your business.

This blog will cover four reasons why you should visit Marketopia’s GROWCON Conference on Clearwater Beach from December 12th to December 14th, 2022. If you’re looking for industry insight, knowledge and real-world advice from successful, experienced MSPs in the industry, then stop dreaming and start achieving this December.

1. Have We Mentioned the Amazing GROWTH Opportunities?

With over one hundred MSPs in attendance, many may think that Marketopia’s GROWCON Conference is a technology event or a lead generation conference for IT companies. We have news for you – it’s not. GROWCON is all about vendor and MSP growth and provides registered guests with the key strategies, actionable tools, training opportunities and peer-to-peer engagements required to grow in the tech space. GROWCON accomplishes this by delivering real-world insight, advice and mentoring from some of the most trusted and respected experts in the IT industry. Let’s dive deeper into this concept with our next benefit.

2. GROWCON is Jam-Packed with Sessions That Enable You to Grow

GROWCON is a three-day event jam-packed with two full days of training sessions, workshops, panels and networking opportunities crafted to help technology service providers meet and exceed their business goals. The primary purpose of GROWCON is to show attendees how to get more leads, close more sales and earn more profit, so the conference is loaded with valuable lessons on sales, marketing and business growth training.

Want to know a little more about each? Here’s how the GROWTH conference breaks down:

Workshops: GROWCON features interactive workshops that include 100s of successful MSPs. These workshops are designed to teach you how to grow your business, overcome challenges and work alongside your peers to achieve your goals. You can collaborate with experienced MSP business owners who have been in your shoes before. You can discuss everything from your challenges as a business owner to new opportunities in your marketplace. Workshop leaders will provide advice on how you can successfully scale your business and reach your goals.

Expert-Led Panels & Sessions: GROWCON also features expert-led panels and training courses focusing on best sales practices, lead generation techniques and educational material on how you can earn more profit for your business.

Here is a breakdown of each of these areas:

GROWCON Sales Enablement: Panel experts walk you through best sales practices to close more deals. Past sales topics teach you how to:

  • Develop a reliable sales process
  • Heat up cold leads
  • Empower your sales team to close
  • Successfully upsell/cross-sell your clientele

Marketing: Marketing and lead generation is a key to any successful enterprise. GROWCON features training sessions and panel discussions that teach you how to:

  • Leverage your brand to drive profitable growth
  • Generate more leads through social media
  • Understand the pros and cons of outsourced lead generation
  • Utilize digital marketing services to increase your engagement

Business Growth: Marketopia is focused on delivering growth sessions led by industry experts that have built some of the most successful MSP franchises in the world. Listen to presentations that teach you how to:

  • Successfully scale your business or enter a new market
  • Transform your reseller business into a modern MSP
  • Offer a valuable, recurring service to clients that increases your RMR
  • Learn the ins and outs of mergers and acquisitions

3. Network with the Best and Brightest in Tech

Along with a lot of great insight, GROWCON is also your chance to get face-to-face with extremely successful MSPs, VARs and other technology companies from around the world. You’ll be there for this dynamic, three-day event with the best and brightest in the technology industry. As you are there to gather the knowledge and tools to achieve success, you also can network, connect and potentially partner with other growth-minded, successful IT service providers and vendors.

Many past attendees of Marketopia events have built lifelong friendships and helped each other out over the years. For example, maybe there’s a referral opportunity in your community another MSP can share with you. Or you can collaborate with a vendor that can offer your business a new service offering, or you may be able to receive technical support for a specific project in your area from another trusted business owner.

The point is that GROWCON puts hundreds of successful technology business owners in one room together, so you can connect with peers to gain more business insight or even potentially find new partners through networking opportunities.

4. Did We Mention the Beach?

Lastly, GROWCON takes place at an amazing beachfront hotel on Clearwater Beach from December 12th through December 14th. Wherever you live, there are few places in the world as beautiful as a sunny Florida beach in December. Marketopia’s GROWCON Conference features cocktail connects overlooking the Gulf, boat cruises and water taxis that allow you to take in all the scenery and fine dining and events in and around Tampa Bay that provide nonstop entertainment.

We say GROWCON is more than a technology conference because it is! Whether it’s the real-world insight you take home with you, the sales and marketing training, the networking opportunities or the sandy beaches, there’s something for everyone at GROWCON 2022.

Interested in learning more? Visit our website and see everything GROWCON has to offer.

The Impact of Branding on Your Technology Marketing Company

The Impact of Branding on Your Technology Marketing Company

Jul 14, 2022

The Impact of Branding on Your Technology Marketing Company

To an outsider, your brand might just be colors and logos, but in reality, your brand defines who you are as a business. Your brand makes up your entire identity and gives your business personality. Branding has, and will always be, a vital part of your business. How you shape and deliver your brand message is vital in today’s world due to the amount of exposure social media brings to brands. This can be great for customers who are provided with plenty of options, but difficult for businesses trying to get their products and services out there.

Consider this, according to Forbes, you have seven seconds to make a first impression, so your brand needs to be well-designed and convey a clear message from the moment that any prospect views your company for the first time. As an MSP or vendor, how do you differentiate yourself from your competition with such a small window? Let’s be honest: there’s a lot of brands in the tech space, so businesses need to take the extra step to stand out.

Let’s take a deeper look into brand and how an MSP marketing company can help generate more leads and earn more long-term clients by helping you create a great brand strategy.

What’s the DNA of Your Business Brand?

What is a brand? A brand is a promise to provide a service and or product that is better than the competition out there. If you are getting IT services, the promise is that you’re going to be protected. If you are getting lead generation, the promise is that you’re going to get leads and grow your business. Now, if you haven’t built out a brand yet and determined what that promise is going to be, you can go one of two ways:

  1. You can either create it, construct it or narrate your brand message to put out awareness in the community.
  2. You can entrust a technology marketing company to help you create and develop your brand.

Remember, your goal is to curate what you want that brand promise to look like and then deliver on that promise you create.

When it comes to brands, there are a lot of big companies who do branding well like Apple or McDonalds. There shouldn’t be a day where you say to yourself, “I’ve done enough marketing for today.” No matter how big you get, you still need to be creating awareness because your competition can swoop in and take that business away from you. In the end, your goal is to tell clients who you are, what you have to offer, how you are different from the rest and what you stand for. It’s consistency and once you understand your brand story or DNA, then you can start putting it everywhere.

Personal Brand vs. Business Brand

So, you know what a brand is, but what’s the difference between your business brand and personal brand? Personal brand can’t really exist if you don’t have your business brand intact. Every single person inside your business is part of your brand story. The individuals who work for you are a mirror image of what your brand represents, so you’ll want to ensure that they represent you well. Everyone has a personal brand. It’s nothing more than who you are and what you’re passionate about.

So, what goes into making sure that your personal brand and business brand can start to help your bottom line of your company? It starts with relationships and building trust, because once you build trust, you create respect.

Get Active on Social Media

Once you begin to build relationships, you’ll need to get your brand out there. You’ve created this presence and you’re going to want to nurture it into something bigger. By creating a digital presence and becoming active on social media platforms, you’re going to reach people that you need to reach. As an MSP or vendor, your clients are spending more time scrolling through different social platforms, because the average internet user spends a few hours each day on social media. You need to be where they are, and you need to be building your brand where they can see it.

Social media provides this digital sphere of influence and connections that can translate into real currency. You’re building up your digital network and your digital relationships that can connect you to the right people. Maybe your connections don’t need your services, but they might know someone else that might find value connecting with you.

How Can Marketopia Help?

The goal of every business brand is to create a brand that customers are going to recognize and trust. You want to create a brand that customers are going to want to come back to, because building relationships is the heart of establishing a good brand.

We can help you create a brand that stands out from the competition. We want to help you to establish a presence as an MSP or vendor in your community. We are here to manage your marketing needs, whether that’s lead generation, sales support, or boosting your brand. Contact us today for your free Growth Assessment to see where you stand!

The Beginners Guide to Technology Branding: Simple Steps to Grow Your Brand

The Beginners Guide to Technology Branding: Simple Steps to Grow Your Brand

Feb 17, 2022

Your brand is the single most important investment you can make in your business. —Steve Forbes

From Google to Apple to Amazon, technology branding is everywhere you look. Your company’s brand is its identity. It’s how you establish your purpose along with the products or services you sell. Branding is your personality.

Consumer buying behavior is driven by how your brand connects with the public. In a recent Gartner study, 65% of marketers said that brand is a critical driver of buying behavior with existing customers and 58% said the same with prospects. 37% percent of CMOs cited brand strategy as crucial to a successful marketing strategy.

technology branding

Build Your Brand

Branding is your business’ promise to the public. But consumers are inundated with so many brands every day, it’s easy to get drowned out. You run the risk of being pushed aside in favor of your competitors if you neglect a solid brand-building strategy.

Things to consider when building your brand include what your values are and how you want to communicate them. Ask yourself what you want to achieve. Who are you, and what is your position is in the industry?

Here are six simple steps to explore when building your brand:

1. Define Your Brand

You might know the Oscar Wilde quote, “Be yourself; everyone else is taken.” Great advice! With your business brand, you can create your own narrative, just like you would with your personal brand. Here is a good place to differentiate. While your personal brand is a combination of your core beliefs, unique strengths and your character, your business brand is your business name, what makes you different, your objective and your reputation. Both can work in tandem to improve and strengthen the other.

2. Build Awareness

Awareness through consistent brand presentation across all platforms increases revenue by 23%, according to Forbes. Before your reputation is earned, you have to let people know you exist and that you’re worth knowing. And your brand needs to stand out from the crowd.

Brand identity is how you want to be perceived, and you control the message. Take into consideration the following: 1) What are some differentiators to your product and services, 2) what is your unique story, and 3) how will others perceive you?

3. Get Active on Social Media

Almost 75% of small businesses invest in social media marketing as part of their brand strategy, according to the business news website, The Manifest. Caution: 90% of consumers prefer an authentic and honest brand personality on social networks, according to HubSpot.

With more than half of the world’s population active on social media, according to Hootsuite, it’s a smart move to leverage social media to boost your brand. Stay ahead of your competitors with these best practices.

  • Stay away from religion and politics
  • Provide value
  • Be genuine
  • Be friendly
  • Stop and think — if you’re not sure, don’t post it.

Here are some general guidelines to follow for the various social media channels:

Facebook – Join and create FB groups, and optimize for SEO with your posts and profile content. Post and reshare watercooler content, using hashtags, and check out your friends’ connections to see if they’re viable connections for you and your business.

YouTube – Create a page and SEO while creating the title and description of your content, post and share thought leadership and product information, and share this content on other platforms.

LinkedIn – It’s the Google of business — use it. Use filters to prospect and connect. Use hashtags and tags, follow and engage with prospects and clients to form digital relationships, and do not sell. The point is to build relationships.

4. Share Engaging Content

Through blogs, social media, emails and newsletters, use content that tells a story. Content should create awareness, interest, desire, action — and loyalty. 82% percent of customers feel more positive about a brand after reading customized content, according to Demand Metric.

5. Mind Your Colors

Be selective of the colors you choose in your logo and on your website. Do you want to convey optimism with warm colors? Do you want to seem peaceful with green tones? Maybe you want to be perceived as creative with purple hues? Color improves brand recognition by up to 80%, meaning customers are 80% more likely to identify you if you use the same colors consistently on your branding material, according to Forbes.

6. Stay Consistent

When you think about brands, the Apple logo or Starbucks’ indelible double-tailed mermaid logo may come to mind. One thing you might notice is that these companies never change their logos or colors. They’re consistent, which helps people trust the brand. 59% of shoppers prefer to buy new products from brands they trust, according to Invesp. Branding with attractive logos, colors and other visual elements helps your business get recognized.

To remain trusted — and top of mind — you need to get in front of people and stay there. It takes five to seven impressions before someone remembers your brand, according to smallbizgenius. And that’s if you’re consistent. If you’re changing your colors or tone of your content or your logo, you might as well start from scratch. Fewer than 10% of B2B companies say their branding is very consistent, according to “A Demand Metric Benchmark Report,” giving you an edge to remain consistent and top of mind.

How Marketopia Can Help

Maintaining a cohesive branding strategy helps build customer loyalty, fuels connections with consumers and lays the groundwork for future marketing by establishing an audience and your brand positioning. Establishing your brand is a triumph for your company.

The steps above are designed to help you build your brand and create awareness. We hope these tips help you get more leads.

The team at Marketopia is ready to manage all your marketing needs. Whether it’s lead generation, sales support and boosting your technology brand, our mission is to deliver lead generation for your business to help you thrive. Contact us today for your free Growth Assessment to get started!

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