Ask most MSP owners about YouTube and they’ll tell you two things:
- YouTube is just for kids and gamers.
- We’re already posting on LinkedIn, isn’t that enough?
Here’s the gap: your prospects don’t care what platform you prefer. They care where they already spend their time. And most of them spend a lot more time on YouTube than they do on LinkedIn.
Right now, your ideal clients are watching videos on their phone, on the sofa, at weekends. If, in that moment, they see a clear, simple video that speaks to an IT headache they recognise, you’ve just earned attention in a way no cold email ever will.
On our scaleUP episode with Luke Sherran from Falkon Digital, he broke down how to use YouTube properly as an MSP: plan before you film, create viewer-first content, and let the data tell you what to fix instead of guessing. You do not need a studio. You do not need to be a YouTuber.
This blog will show you simple, repeatable ways to turn videos into warm conversations.
Contents:
FREE Download: Video Content That Makes Your MSP Stand Out
Why YouTube belongs in your MSP’s marketing mix
If you only ever post on LinkedIn, you’re fishing in a very small pond.
YouTube has roughly 4 billion active users. LinkedIn has roughly 400 million. That’s a ten-to-one difference in scale. Your clients may log into LinkedIn during the workday, but outside of work, they live on YouTube.
Luke spends a lot of time explaining this to B2B audiences who think YouTube isn’t for them:
- “Your audience is definitely on YouTube, and your return on investment is always higher on YouTube for lots of reasons.”
Two simple reasons matter most for MSPs:
- Videos last: A good YouTube video can keep working for you for years. Luke has videos over 10 years old that still get daily views. A LinkedIn post is lucky to last two weeks.
- People feel like they’ve already met you: A 10-20 minute video lets prospects see how you talk, how you think, and whether you seem like someone they could trust when their systems go down.
And you do not need millions of views.
If 100 of the right people watch a video, and two or three turn into high-value clients over the next year, that’s a huge win. From the outside, those numbers look small, but it can mean a lot of extra money for your MSP.
YouTube is simply a slow, steady way of ‘being in the room’ when someone finally gets fed up with their current IT provider and starts looking for help.
Now that you know why YouTube deserves a place in your mix, the next step is to change how you think about the content itself.
Think like a viewer, not an engineer
Most MSP content fails before it even starts, because it’s written for other techs.
You’ve seen the pattern:
- Titles full of acronyms and tech jargon
- Thumbnails crammed with logos
- Videos that jump straight into tools and configs
The people you want as clients don’t lie awake thinking about tools or licence codes. They’re thinking about things like:
‘Why does our Wi‑Fi keep cutting out in meetings?’
‘What happens if we lose these files?’
‘Is our IT company really keeping us safe, or just telling us we’re fine?’.
Luke always starts with one question: who are you really making this video for?
- “Are you making videos for yourself or are you making videos for your audience?”
Making videos for your audience means you:
- Start with real problems they would actually type into Google or YouTube
- Use normal, everyday words, like you’d use in the pub or at home
- Talk about what they care about: can we work, are we safe, is this easy?
So, instead of labelling your video as:
Our Advanced Managed Backup & DR Service
Try this:
What To Do If Your Server Dies and You Need Files Back Fast
You’re talking about the same thing. But one sounds like a brochure. The other sounds like a real pain point that you can help them with.
Before you plan any video, write down the problem in one simple sentence, the way a client would say it on a bad day. That sentence is your video idea.
If you wouldn’t click and watch it, they won’t either.
Once you’re thinking like a viewer, the next step is how you present the video so they actually click.
Plan before you film: titles, thumbnails, hooks
Most people treat the title and thumbnail as a last-minute job. They film the video, upload it, then quickly slap on a name and image.
That’s where most MSPs are going wrong.
Luke uses a simple check called TTH:
- Thumbnail
- Title
- Hook
- “I always say, start with the packaging first… if the packaging isn’t good, nobody is gonna watch the video.”
Here is how you can use TTH in your MSP.
Step 1: Write the title
Make it short, clear, and about the viewer’s problem.
Bad example: Our Cyber Security Offering Explained
Good example: Three Simple Checks to See if Your Business is Easy to Hack
Step 2: Sketch the thumbnail
This is what people see in the YouTube feed. It should:
- Be easy to read at a glance
- Use one short phrase, like ‘Easy To Hack?’ or ‘Lost Files?’
- Show a real face, ideally yours, not a stock photo
You don’t have to design it perfectly yet. Just decide on the idea.
Step 3: Write the hook
This is the first 5-10 seconds of the video. It should match what you promised.
For example:
If one of your staff clicks a bad link tomorrow, do you know what actually happens next? In this video I’ll show you three quick checks we run with every new client.
If you can’t come up with a strong TTH combo, fix that before you waste time filming.
Once you have TTH, you’re ready to sit down and record. You go in knowing exactly why someone would click, and what you’ll say first to keep them.
- Make videos people can actually sit through
Getting the click is only half the battle. Now you have to hold attention.
You don’t need a Hollywood script. You just need a simple brief. Luke recommends a structure called HIVE:
- Hook: deliver on the promise straight away
- Intro: a short overview of why they should listen to you
- Value: the core content, told in a simple story or steps
- End: one clear next action
The mistake most MSPs make is starting with the intro:
‘Hi, I’m Joe Bloggs from XYZ IT, we’ve been helping businesses for 15 years…’
By that point, half the viewers are gone.
You need to flip it:
Hook: Last week a client nearly lost every file on their main server. Here’s what saved them.
Intro: I’m Joe Bloggs from XYZ IT in London. We look after IT for growing businesses who don’t want this kind of panic.
Value: Walk through what happened, what went wrong, and the simple things you do for clients to prevent it.
End: Point them to another video, or a simple next step.
Luke also uses reverse storytelling a lot, especially for short clips:
- “With short form content we start at the climax and then fill in the backstory… that’s how you end up with these automatic 110-120% average view percentages.”
In practice:
- Start by showing the ‘after’ (the calm, fixed setup)
- Then flash back to the messy before (the chaos you walked into)
- Then explain the steps in between
Because YouTube Shorts auto-loop, people often watch the start again once they understand the backstory, which sends your watch time through the roof.
You don’t need to overcomplicate this. The key is: promise something useful, deliver it quickly, and give them an obvious next thing to watch.
Of course, none of this matters if fear of the camera stops you pressing record in the first place.
Stop being camera shy
Almost every MSP owner says the same thing when video comes up: ‘I’m terrible on camera.’
Luke hears this from CEOs of big companies too:
- “We’ve had CEOs used to high-pressure environments… but when it comes to actually sitting in front of camera and looking into the darker base that is the lens, they just completely fall apart.”
Three ways to make this easier:
1. Make it a conversation
Set up podcast-style chats rather than solo monologues. Put someone opposite you with a list of questions. Most people will happily talk for an hour like this. From two hours of conversation, your team can pull 8-10 strong videos.
2. Talk to one person in your head
When you do talk straight to camera, picture a specific client. Imagine they’re sat just behind the lens and this will stop you from ‘performing’ and helps you talk naturally, as if you’re having a conversation with a real person.
3. Practice privately
Record a few practice videos on your phone. Watch them back, notice the things you dislike, and try again. The goal is not to love seeing yourself. The goal is to sound like a calmer, clearer version of you on a normal day.
And remember, you don’t have to watch every video you make.
If your viewers are engaging and the data looks good, your opinion of your own face and voice is not the one that matters.
Once you’re more comfortable on camera, the question becomes: how do you get the most from the time you spend filming?
Use one recording to feed every channel
You don’t have time to create different content for every platform from scratch.
The trick is to treat YouTube as your master content and then chop it up for your other channels.
Here’s what you should do:
- Film one good 20-30 minute conversation
- Turn that into a full YouTube video
- Cut 3-6 short clips for YouTube Shorts
- Reuse those Shorts on TikTok, Instagram and Facebook
- Pull the transcript into a blog or email with light editing
- “From that one hour of footage… you might be able to get maybe 10 videos out of that.”
You don’t need to invent new topics for every channel. You need one clear idea, expressed well once, then repackaged.
On LinkedIn, Luke has seen a useful pattern:
- Post the original content at 9am for your local market
- Repost it later in the day so the US or other time zones see it
You’re not spamming the same people. Reposts tend to hit fresh eyes.
To make smart use of all that content, you now need to stop guessing and start looking at the numbers…
Let the numbers tell you what to fix
At the moment, you might be judging your marketing on gut feel.
YouTube lets you be more honest.
Don’t just look at your view counts, you should be looking at:
- Click-through rate: are people choosing your video when they see it?
- Average view duration and percentage: do they stay?
- Where people drop off: what made them bail?
- “Almost every decision we make has some kind of data backed origin.”
A simple way to implement this is to open YouTube Studio once per month and sort videos by watch time (not just views). Then, take a look at your top 3-5 performers and ask:
What do these titles have in common?
What do these thumbnails have in common?
Are the hooks more direct? Shorter? More concrete?
Look at one or two that underperformed and check: Low click-through? The packaging is weak. Big drop-off in first 15 seconds? The intro is killing you.
If a video has low clicks and low watch time, it probably won’t ‘wake up’ later. Treat it as a lesson.
If a video has a strong click-through and people watch almost all of it, but the total views are still low, keep it. Link to it from newer videos. Mention it again in your emails. It may only need more chances to be seen.
Also, remember your numbers don’t look like a consumer channel.
You might have a short video that only gets 200 views, but one of those viewers becomes a client worth £20,000.
For a full‑time YouTuber, 200 views is nothing. For an MSP, landing a £20k job from one small video is a big win.
Use the platform’s metrics to improve your content. Use your own pipeline numbers to judge success.
Keep showing up (even when you’re busy)
The easiest time to stop making content is when delivery is on fire.
That’s also the most expensive time to stop. Because 6-12 months from now, you will still need leads.
Luke can see when a business is busy just by looking at their channel:
- Weeks or months with no uploads
- Sudden bursts of activity, then silence
That start-stop pattern kills momentum. Every time you start again, you’re asking the platform and your audience to remember you from zero.
You don’t need a crazy posting schedule. You need a realistic one you stick to:
- One recording morning every 4-6 weeks
- One main YouTube video a month
- One or two Shorts most weeks, cut from the long form
- Light reposting and conversation on LinkedIn
To make that happen, do what you already do for client work: put it in the calendar and treat it like a ticket with a due date.
You can also make life much easier by focusing on evergreen topics (things that are true this year and next) instead of reacting to weekly news. That gives you room to build a catalogue of content, so a busy month doesn’t mean a dead channel.
And remember, when your marketing works, you’ll hit another good problem: more leads than you can handle.
Luke has clients who have ended up with waitlists because their video funnels worked too well. That’s a much better headache to have than ‘no one is calling.’
FREE Download: Video Content That Makes Your MSP Stand Out
-
Turn Random Posts Into a Simple Video Plan
Get a clear, step‑by‑step framework (TTH + HIVE) so every video has a purpose, a structure, and a reason for prospects to click and stay to the end. -
Make Prospects Feel Like They Already Know You
Use easy, camera‑friendly formats and plain‑English scripts so buyers see your face, hear your voice, and feel safe choosing your MSP before the first call. -
Get More From Every Recording, Not More Work
Learn how to turn one recording into multiple clips, posts and emails, and build a light rhythm that keeps leads coming in without taking over your week.
scaleUP Podcast: Listen to the Full Episode
We’ve only covered a slice of what Luke shared. In the full scaleUP episode, he goes deeper into:
- How to spot when a quiet video is secretly performing well
- Why posting on LinkedIn once a week is not enough
- The exact metrics he watches when deciding whether to change a format
- Real examples of B2B videos that took off months or years after upload
If you’re serious about turning YouTube into a steady lead source for your MSP, the episode is worth an hour.
Listen to the full scaleUP conversation with Luke Sherran to see how the best YouTube channels are built for business – one simple, well‑planned video at a time.
