Robin Robins vs MSP Marketing Edge [2022]: Which is best for MSPs?

Most MSPs take their marketing way more seriously these days. They can see the link between great marketing, winning more new clients and making more net profit.

This is great, as there are many high quality services available to help MSPs improve their marketing. In this article we'll compare two of the most popular:

• Technology Marketing Toolkit, driven by Robin Robins
• MSP Marketing Edge, driven by Paul Green

Let's look at the service, cost, what MSPs say, and the people behind it.

For transparency, this article has been written by the team behind the MSP Marketing Edge (although we're aiming to be balanced). This review is based on information available on websites, plus research interviews done with members of the MSP Marketing Edge.

Robin Robin's Technology Marketing Toolkit provides a range of different services for MSPs to improve their marketing.

The company has been in the Channel since 2001 and has a good reputation. Its product and service range are mature, starting with courses to help you understand why you have specific marketing problems, and then tackle them.

There are IT marketing campaigns and comprehensive sales resources you can access as part of your membership. Robin Robins also has an impressive MSP-specific 'done for you' service. Her team will do a series of marketing tasks for you, including posting social media, book publishing, list building, newsletters, postcards, and shock and awe boxes. Some of these services may or may not only be open to ongoing subscribers.

There are many different levels of membership at different price points. You can take a Digital Toolkit membership which gives you access to the tools. Or, upgrade to The Accelerators Club, aimed at MSPs turning over $500,000 or more. Perhaps the most popular level is The Producers Club, which is designed to take your MSP to the $10 million turnover level.

Whatever marketing service you're looking to have done for you, it's likely the Technology Marketing Toolkit team can help.

The MSP Marketing Edge was established in 2016 and is arguably simpler to understand as there is one service at one level, at one low monthly price.

You're provided with all the marketing materials you need to get new clients, plus unlimited hand-holding and direct support from Paul Green and his team.

The critical difference with the MSP Marketing Edge is that it's only supplied to one MSP per area. Once you have claimed your area and locked it by becoming a member, none of your competitors can use the service.

Every week you are supplied with one set of easy and ready-to-use marketing materials, including an up-to-date video fronted by a female presenter, a syndicated blog article for your website, social media content and talking points to easily create original LinkedIn content.

There's additional content on a monthly basis, including:

• A guide to educate your prospects about technology, and promotional tools to get that guide out there
• A printed newsletter to mail to prospects
• Educational emails with versions for prospects and clients
• A press release you can send out to local media
• Extra video and social media content you can pick and choose from in case you have time for more marketing in your schedule

The MSP Marketing Edge is an online resource that you get a login for. It also has a library of evergreen marketing tools including lead generation campaigns, a book and IT Services Buyer's Guide that you can brand as your own.

For your website there are smart tools you can add to encourage engagement, such as a password checker, Have I Been Pwned email check, and a pricing/downtime calculator.

You also get more than 100+ technology videos to add to your website (great for credibility).

The MSP Marketing Edge team says you are a member not a client, and they are there every day to help you implement your marketing, through Zoom calls, group webinars, a Knowledge Base of MSP marketing answers and a members-only Facebook group.

There are many levels of membership to the Technology Marketing Toolkit. Some say you can get the best deals by buying at one of Robin Robins' events.

As of 9th September 2022, these were the prices on Robin's website:

• Toolkit Membership: $297 a month for 24 months, or $397 a month for 12 months
• MSP Launch Academy: $997 a month for 24 months
• Accelerators Club including Marketing Automation Platform: $3,990 for the first month, then $1,995 a month
• Producers Club: $1,997 a month. Only by invitation to members of the Accelerators Club

It's a single fixed cost of $199 a month, no contract, cancel any time. You benefit from a free 30 day trial. And it's only sold to one MSP per area.

MSPs in the UK pay £1 for their trial, then £149 + vat a month.

This is a considerably lower price point than Technology Marketing Toolkit, which reflects the huge value offered. You get all the marketing content you need and unlimited support, without having to be tied into events and coaching calls you don't necessarily want.

Both Technology Marketing Toolkit and MSP Marketing Edge have plenty of reviews available on their website and other platforms, such as Google Reviews.

In the summer of 2022, the MSP Marketing Edge did an additional series of research interviews with its members. Some of those were also clients of Robin Robins. These are direct quotes taken from the interviews (part-anonymised as they were research interviews, and slightly-edited for clarity and context).

Ben said: "One of the members of my peer group is a member of Robin Robins and MSP Marketing Edge. He's compared the different marketing packages and was saying the MSP Marketing Edge is the freshest of all and not a hard sell, which is really a good thing. Cause the hard sell scares the crap out of someone to just make them buy something, which is not always the best thing."

Brett said: "Our direct mail campaigns come from Robin Robins. She does a monthly newsletter and tech tip postcards that we use. I use the MSP Marketing Edge newsletters for our prospects. I use Robin's for our clients just to have something different for both categories."

Another MSP said in a written survey: "The client/prospect-facing content provided by the MSP Marketing Edge is more empowering than the content we were getting from Robin Robins. That content is very fear-based and it doesn't fit our vibe."

Monique, a marketing manager whose boss is in Producers Club, said: "I use more MSP Marketing Edge stuff than I use Robin Robins stuff at the moment."

Robin has one of the highest profiles of any marketing expert in the channel. She regularly appears at huge technology events, interviews leaders such as Kaseya's Fred Voccola, and tours the US putting on big MSP gatherings.

Paul is a marketing expert based in the UK and has gained a loyal following in the US with his hugely successful weekly MSP Marketing Podcast, and popular MSP Marketing Facebook group.