1.The Challenge

Kriston Technology is an IT managed service provider (MSP), founded in 1998 and based in Oxfordshire. For most of its history, the business has grown through reputation and referrals, without sustained or structured investment in marketing.

Like many SMEs, Kriston was not chasing rapid scale. The objective was pragmatic:

• Win 2 to 4 high-quality new clients per year

• Retain and grow existing clients

• Reduce reliance on word-of-mouth

• Rebuild website visibility after dropping out of Google search results

Marketing activity had been limited, inconsistent and largely reactive. The website was no longer supporting growth, and lead flow had slowed.

Kriston needed marketing to become a reliable contributor to sales, not a distraction.

2.The Delivery

The engagement began with marketing foundations.

This phase focused on putting structure around what had previously been informal:

• A discovery process and marketing audit

• Definition of an ideal client profile, initially focused on life sciences

• Clear, credible messaging aligned to the ideal client profile

• A documented marketing plan with prioritised campaigns and realistic activity levels

• Internal communication to align the wider team

Once these foundations were in place, focus shifted decisively into delivery.

Over the following three months:

• Website content and structure was improved to support visibility and enquiries

• Case studies were written and published

• A strategic decision was made to introduce a cyber security campaign, resulting in a defined cyber client profile, content and a partner event

• Customer feedback was gathered through the company’s first formal customer survey

• Wider team members began actively supporting business development

This phase also highlighted the growing importance of marketing to sales performance, leading to the decision to recruit a marketing executive to support delivery and scale.

3.The Outcome

The move from foundations to focused tactics has produced clear early results.

• One confirmed new ideal client secured directly through the website

• Increased turnover from existing clients following the cyber security partner event

• Website visibility rebuilt, moving from no meaningful presence to thousands of impressions and page 1–2 Google rankings

• A case study bank being developed to support credibility in target markets

• The first customer survey completed, informing plans to better support and retain clients moving forward

• Marketing recognised internally as a commercial function, with recruitment underway to strengthen capability

Kriston is now well on track to achieve its goal of 2 to 4 quality new clients per year, while strengthening relationships with existing customers.

Most importantly, marketing is now actively supporting business development and revenue growth, rather than operating in isolation.

4.Testimonial

Working with Su was an absolute pleasure, and it highlighted the importance of identifying our ideal client profile. I think we already knew who they were, but by working through the process, writing it down, and diving into the detail of the personas involved, it’s given us a laser sharp focus and clarity, which has made marketing so much easier

Carl Gray, Technical Director

Photo by Scott Graham on Unsplash