Share with the world 🙏When MSPs approach us for support with their sales and marketing, one of the first tasks is take stock of their existing assets … Website, social media, blog content, paid campaigns, analytics – what’s been done, what’s working, and what’s missing.
You’d be surprised how often this simple process reveals something we think is worrying: the MSP doesn’t own all (or any) of their online assets.
It could be the website. Or the blog content. Sometimes, they don’t even have access to their own Google Analytics or CRM data.
It’s not always because an agency is trying to be “sneaky”. Maybe they use proprietary tools, license everything under their name, or tie hosting into their own systems. But the outcome is the same: the work you paid for doesn’t belong to you.
You paid for it… but do you own it?
It’s easy to assume that if you’ve commissioned and paid for a website, you must own it. Right?
Not necessarily. Ownership depends on what’s in the contract (if it’s mentioned at all), and whether the agency has handed over full control of your assets. That includes:
- Your domain name – is it registered in your name?
- Your website CMS and hosting – can you move it, access it, or change it independently?
- Your written content – do you have the rights to reuse and repurpose it if you switch marketing providers?
- Your marketing data – is your reporting set up in your accounts, not theirs?
If the answer to any of those is “no” or “I’m not sure,” it should trigger an alarm bell.
Why ownership matters – a case study
There are lots of reasons why this matters – but the principal one is control.
If you don’t own your website or content, you’re tied to the agency that created it … even if you’re no longer happy with them … even if you want to bring things in-house … even if you just want to move on.
We’ve seen MSPs forced to rebuild their entire online presence from scratch, simply because their previous provider wouldn’t release what they considered to be “their” work.
We’ve also heard horror stories when it comes to lead generation – particularly with shared lead models. One MSP in Scotland told us about turning up to a meeting arranged by a telemarketing agency, only to find three other MSPs in the same room, all pitching to the same prospect. Not only is that awkward – it’s completely unworkable.
When you outsource sales or marketing, you shouldn’t be competing with other businesses for the same leads. And you certainly shouldn’t be left wondering who else your data is being passed to.
Owning the output, even if you outsource the work
At Wingman, we do things differently.
Yes, we’re an outsourced marketing partner. Our clients hand over a lot of their day-to-day marketing activity to us – web builds, strategy, social media, blog content, paid ads, email, you name it.
But they own everything we create for them. Every word, every image, every campaign, every dataset. If we’re generating leads, they’re yours and yours alone. If we’re running campaigns, the insights go into your reporting dashboards. No shared data, no crossover, no grey areas.
The same goes for your website. We can build it and hand it straight over, or we can host and manage it for you. We’re not precious. We get that every MSP works differently, and we don’t believe in forcing people into rigid structures just to make our lives easier.
We’ll always give you access to everything, and if you want to take your site elsewhere later down the line, that’s fine too. It’s yours.
What to ask before you sign anything
If you’re thinking about outsourcing your marketing – whether with Wingman or anyone else – there are a few questions worth asking upfront:
- Will I own the website once it’s live?
- Will I be able to edit or host it myself?
- Do I have full rights to the content created for me?
- Will my analytics and reporting accounts be in my name?
- What happens if I end the contract – do I keep everything?
- Do you ever share leads or data with other clients?
- What’s my commitment?
If the answers aren’t clear, or if they make you uncomfortable, take a pause. Marketing partnerships should be built on trust, not dependency.
Final thought
You can absolutely outsource the doing of your marketing. But the results, the content, the platforms, and the leads – they should always be yours.
It’s your business. Own the assets surrounding it.
