The better you are at this, the less there is to show. A month with no outage, no data loss and no ransomware looks identical to a month where nobody did anything, and the person signing your invoice cannot tell the two apart. That is the central marketing problem of managed services, and no amount of stock photography of server racks solves it.
The second problem is that almost all of it happens where nobody is looking. A migration over a weekend, a patch window at two in the morning, a restore test that ran for forty minutes and produced nothing anyone will ever see. None of that photographs well, and none of it turns up on the invoice in a form the buyer can read.
What is left is the part most providers never write down: what the per-seat fee covers, what a four-hour response actually promises, who owns the backup, and what the line items on the quote mean in plain English. The ideas below are built for a buyer who is not technical and is quietly worried about asking a stupid question.
What actually performs for IT companies
Translating your own quote line by line, because the buyer approving it usually cannot defend it internally and will not admit that on a call.
Explaining the incentive difference between hourly break-fix and a fixed monthly fee — it is the one commercial argument that lands with a finance director immediately.
Publishing the boring operational detail: patch windows, restore testing, the offboarding checklist. Reliability is the product, and detail is the only way to demonstrate it before an incident.
Writing about security as habits and patterns rather than scare stories, because a buyer who cannot judge your technical skill can still judge whether your advice is usable this afternoon.
Short, specific posts that answer a question someone was embarrassed to ask, since your buyer is frequently the office manager who inherited IT alongside facilities and health and safety.
30 Instagram post ideas for IT companies
Every idea below includes the first slide, the full slide sequence, and a caption starter. Swipe each preview to read the slides.
1.What per-seat pricing covers
Educational
First slide
“What $85 per user per month actually covers”
1/6
What $85 per user per month actually covers
Swipe →
2/6
Monitoring and patching on every machine, whether it complains or not.
3/6
Unlimited support tickets inside the agreed scope.
4/6
Backups, plus a tested restore every quarter.
5/6
License management, so you stop paying for people who left.
6/6
Not included: hardware, projects and after-hours work. Stated upfront.
Caption starter
The exclusions matter as much as the inclusions and almost nobody publishes either. Ask any provider for both lists in writing before you compare two quotes.
Why it works: A non-technical buyer cannot compare proposals without knowing what sits outside the fee, so publishing exclusions makes you the easiest quote to evaluate.
“Paying us by the hour rewards us when things break”
1/6
Paying us by the hour rewards us when things break
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2/6
Under break-fix, our revenue depends on your problems.
3/6
Nobody on that model has ever been paid to prevent anything.
4/6
A fixed monthly fee inverts it. Your outage costs us money.
5/6
That is the incentive you actually want to buy.
6/6
Check which model your current provider bills on.
Caption starter
This is the single most useful thing to understand about IT pricing and it takes one line of your quote to check. Have a look, and tell me which model you are on.
Why it works: An incentive argument is legible to a finance director who has no way to judge technical competence.
“What a four-hour response time actually promises”
1/6
What a four-hour response time actually promises
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2/6
Response is someone starting work. It is not resolution.
3/6
Priority one: nobody can work. Response inside one hour.
4/6
Priority three: one printer, one person, an annoyance.
5/6
The clock starts when the ticket is raised, not when you call.
6/6
Ask for last month's median, not the number in the brochure.
Caption starter
Response targets are written to be misread and most buyers never ask the follow-up question. Ask for actual median response times for the last quarter, from us or anyone else.
Why it works: Teaching the buyer to interrogate an SLA makes your own reported numbers meaningful and exposes competitors who quote targets rather than results.
No outage, no data loss, no incident, few tickets.
3/6
It is genuinely difficult to invoice for absence.
4/6
So our reports show what was blocked, patched and prevented.
5/6
Eleven hundred patches applied. Four restores tested.
6/6
Quiet is the product. The report is the receipt.
Caption starter
IT is one of the few services where success is invisible by design. That is why our monthly report leads with prevention rather than tickets closed. Ask to see a sample.
Why it works: It names the buyer's unspoken suspicion that they are paying for nothing and reframes silence as the deliverable.
“Monday morning: forty-one tickets. What they were.”
1/6
Monday morning: forty-one tickets. What they were.
Swipe →
2/6
Fourteen password and multi-factor resets after the weekend.
3/6
Nine about Outlook or Teams behaving oddly.
4/6
Six hardware faults, four of them the same model of dock.
5/6
Five access requests for one new hire nobody warned us about.
6/6
Three genuinely serious. Those got everything.
Caption starter
The reason your Monday feels slow is that everyone's Monday is slow, at once. If you want fewer of these, tell us about new hires before their first day.
Why it works: Showing real volume and triage makes the monthly fee feel like staffed capacity rather than a charge for nothing.
One engineer on site, rotating between four buildings.
4/6
One on projects only, so tickets never eat migrations.
5/6
One on nights and weekends, paid to be bored.
6/6
You get names and direct numbers, not a queue.
Caption starter
Most buyers never ask how many people sit behind the service they are paying for. Ask for headcount and shift pattern before you commit to anyone. We will tell you ours on the first call.
Why it works: Putting names and shifts against the fee answers the quiet worry that a managed service is one person with a laptop.
“A backup you have never restored is not a backup”
1/6
A backup you have never restored is not a backup
Swipe →
2/6
Three copies, on two types of media, one of them off-site.
3/6
Restore a real file every quarter and time how long it takes.
4/6
That timing is your recovery objective, whatever the plan claims.
5/6
Most backup failures are discovered during the test. Deliberately.
6/6
When did anyone last restore something of yours?
Caption starter
The question at the end is the whole post. If nobody can give you a date, you do not currently have a backup, you have a scheduled job. Ask your provider for the last restore date.
Why it works: One checkable question gives a non-technical buyer a way to audit their current provider, which frequently starts the conversation.
“"We're too small to be a target" misreads how this works”
1/6
"We're too small to be a target" misreads how this works
Swipe →
2/6
Most attacks are automated and never chose you specifically.
3/6
Scanners look for an open door, not a revenue figure.
4/6
Smaller businesses often have weaker controls and no in-house staff.
5/6
That combination makes you easier, not less interesting.
6/6
Nobody is targeting you. That is not the same as safe.
Caption starter
The word target is doing the damage in that sentence. Almost nothing about this is targeted. Ask us what an automated scan would currently find on your perimeter.
Why it works: Correcting the mental model rather than using fear keeps the post credible with skeptical operational buyers.
“Thirty-eight users moved off an aging server in a weekend”
1/6
Thirty-eight users moved off an aging server in a weekend
Swipe →
2/6
Friday 6pm: final backup taken and verified before anything moved.
3/6
Saturday: data copied, permissions rebuilt, nothing switched over.
4/6
Sunday: profiles, printers and the two awkward applications.
5/6
Monday 8am: four tickets, all of them printer related.
6/6
Old server stayed powered off but intact for thirty days.
Caption starter
Shared with permission. The thirty days of keeping the old system available is the part that matters, because that is the difference between a migration and a gamble. Ask us how we would plan yours.
Why it works: A migration narrative with a rollback plan reassures the buyer whose real fear is a Monday when nobody can work.
“Offboarding someone who leaves: the fifteen-minute checklist”
1/6
Offboarding someone who leaves: the fifteen-minute checklist
Swipe →
2/6
Disable the account. Do not delete it, not yet.
3/6
Revoke active sessions and tokens, or they stay signed in.
4/6
Convert the mailbox so colleagues keep the history.
5/6
Retire or wipe the device and reclaim the license.
6/6
Tell us on their last day, not three weeks later.
Caption starter
Former staff with live access is one of the most common findings when we take over an environment. Send us last-day dates as soon as you know them and this takes fifteen minutes.
Why it works: A checklist the buyer can act on immediately demonstrates competence and quietly audits their existing arrangement.
“We phished your staff. Here's what actually happened.”
1/6
We phished your staff. Here's what actually happened.
Swipe →
2/6
A fake delivery notice, sent from a name they recognized.
3/6
Roughly one in five clicked. That is unremarkable.
4/6
Only two reported it, and that is the real problem.
5/6
Clicking is human. Not reporting is a process failure.
6/6
We measure the reporting rate, and we retrain quarterly.
Caption starter
The click rate gets the attention and the reporting rate is what actually protects you. This is never a disciplinary exercise. Ask us what a simulation would look like for your team.
Why it works: Shifting the measure from blame to reporting makes security training something a manager can introduce without upsetting staff.
“What happens here on the second Tuesday of the month”
1/6
What happens here on the second Tuesday of the month
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2/6
Microsoft releases its monthly security updates.
3/6
We hold them for seventy-two hours on a small test group.
4/6
Then they roll out in rings, department by department.
5/6
Reboots are scheduled outside your working hours. Always.
6/6
We rolled one back last year. That is why we test first.
Caption starter
Patching sounds like the most boring thing we do and it prevents more incidents than anything else on the list. Ask when your machines were last fully patched.
Why it works: Publishing a routine process gives the buyer something concrete to compare against a provider who patches whenever they remember.
“Four questions to ask before you hire any IT provider”
1/6
Four questions to ask before you hire any IT provider
Swipe →
2/6
When did you last restore a real file for a client?
3/6
How many engineers, and what hours do they cover?
4/6
What sits outside the monthly fee, in writing?
5/6
Who picks up the phone at eleven at night?
6/6
Anyone worth hiring answers all four in one email.
Caption starter
These take five minutes to ask and they separate a staffed team from one person with a good website. Send them to whoever quotes you next, including us. We will answer in writing the same day.
Why it works: Handing the buyer a comparison checklist makes you the advisor rather than the vendor, and sets criteria you already meet.
“The shared inbox needs multi-factor too. Especially that one.”
1/6
The shared inbox needs multi-factor too. Especially that one.
Swipe →
2/6
Shared accounts get exempted because they are inconvenient.
3/6
They also hold invoices, quotes and supplier conversations.
4/6
That is precisely what invoice fraud is looking for.
5/6
Shared authenticator entries solve the inconvenience.
6/6
The exemption you granted for convenience is the open door.
Caption starter
The accounts most likely to be exempted are the ones with the most useful contents. Check whether your shared mailboxes are covered, and tell us if they are not.
Why it works: Naming the specific exception every business makes is more useful than a general instruction to enable multi-factor authentication.
Cabling work looks cosmetic until something fails at four in the afternoon. Send us a photograph of yours and we will tell you honestly whether it needs attention.
Why it works: It gives a naturally invisible trade one genuinely photographable transformation with a stated commercial payoff.
Endpoint protection: software watching each laptop's behavior.
3/6
Remote monitoring: how we patch without visiting your office.
4/6
Per seat: charged per person, not per device they carry.
5/6
Professional services: project work outside the monthly fee.
6/6
If a quote cannot be translated, ask for one that can.
Caption starter
Nobody wants to admit they are approving a document they cannot fully read. Send us a competitor quote and we will translate it, honestly, including the parts where they are cheaper.
Why it works: Helping a non-technical approver defend the spend internally removes the most common reason a decision stalls for months.
Microsoft protects the service. You remain responsible for the content.
3/6
Deleted items clear after a retention window and then they are gone.
4/6
Ransomware on a laptop syncs cheerfully to the cloud.
5/6
Third-party backup for 365 is a separate product you must buy.
6/6
Check whether you have one. Most businesses assume they do.
Caption starter
This is the single most common false assumption we encounter and it is usually discovered on the worst possible day. Check your invoices for a separate backup line, and message us if there is not one.
Why it works: Correcting a widespread and consequential misunderstanding creates an urgent, verifiable reason for the reader to make contact.
“Someone in accounts is running things on a personal account”
1/6
Someone in accounts is running things on a personal account
Swipe →
2/6
It happens because the approved tool was slower to use.
3/6
Blaming the person misses why the workaround was needed.
4/6
Audit what is genuinely in use before you ban anything.
5/6
Then make the sanctioned route easier than the workaround.
6/6
Policy loses to convenience. Every single time.
Caption starter
Unapproved tools are a design failure rather than a discipline problem. Ask your team what they use that nobody signed off, and promise not to be annoyed about it.
Why it works: Framing shadow IT as a usability problem rather than misconduct makes managers willing to admit it exists.
“Staff using their own laptops: the honest answer”
1/6
Staff using their own laptops: the honest answer
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2/6
It is workable, and it is more work than buying hardware.
3/6
Company data needs separating from personal data on that device.
4/6
You need a way to wipe the work container remotely.
5/6
Set that up before the laptop touches company email.
6/6
Cheaper on the invoice. Rarely cheaper overall.
Caption starter
The answer is not no, it is that the saving is smaller than it looks once the setup is done properly. Tell us how many devices you are considering and we will price both routes.
Why it works: Giving a balanced answer to a cost-saving question earns more trust than an outright refusal and often leads to the larger sale anyway.
That is one enormous capital request every four years.
4/6
Replace a quarter of the fleet each year instead.
5/6
The cost flattens and the oldest machine is never five.
6/6
Decide this before the budget round, not during it.
Caption starter
Hardware planning is a finance conversation more than a technical one. Send us your device list with purchase dates and we will map a staggered replacement plan.
Why it works: Aligning with the budgeting calendar gives you a reason to contact prospects that is about their planning cycle rather than your pipeline.
“Tell me the age of your oldest machine in daily use”
1/5
Tell me the age of your oldest machine in daily use
Swipe →
2/5
No judgment. We have all seen the one under the desk.
3/5
Last time somebody answered with a machine from 2013.
4/5
It was running a database the whole business depended on.
5/5
Say yours in the comments and I will tell you the real risk.
Caption starter
Every business has one and everyone is slightly embarrassed by it. Put the year in the comments and I will tell you honestly whether it needs replacing this year.
Why it works: A low-stakes confession prompt surfaces exactly the legacy hardware conversations that turn into projects.
“We started because a client lost four days of work”
1/6
We started because a client lost four days of work
Swipe →
2/6
The backup had been failing silently since February.
3/6
Nobody had opened the report, because nobody was paid to.
4/6
The provider had done nothing technically wrong.
5/6
They had just never been asked to check.
6/6
Every restore we run traces back to that week.
Caption starter
This is the story behind the quarterly restore test, which clients occasionally think is excessive. It is not. Ask us when your last verified restore was.
Why it works: An origin story that explains a specific operating policy makes the policy memorable and differentiates it from a competitor's identical service list.
“What happens in the ninety seconds after you raise a ticket”
1/6
What happens in the ninety seconds after you raise a ticket
Swipe →
2/6
It lands with a human, not a queue nobody reads.
3/6
Priority is set against the definitions we agreed at onboarding.
4/6
Your site's documentation opens alongside it automatically.
5/6
You get a name and a realistic time, not an acknowledgement.
6/6
Nobody at this end gets to mark a ticket closed for you.
Caption starter
The gap between raising a ticket and hearing from a person is where most IT relationships are judged. Ask what happens in that gap wherever you are getting quotes.
Why it works: Detailing an ordinary interaction the buyer experiences daily makes service quality tangible before they have bought anything.
“"The internet is slow" is almost never the internet”
1/6
"The internet is slow" is almost never the internet
Swipe →
2/6
First question: one person, one room, or everybody.
3/6
One person is usually the device or the cable.
4/6
One room is usually wireless interference or a tired switch.
5/6
Everybody, at ten in the morning, is usually a backup running.
6/6
Tell us which of the three it is and we start two steps ahead.
Caption starter
The most reported fault we receive and the one where a single detail changes everything. Next time, tell us who is affected and where they are sitting.
Why it works: Teaching users to report faults usefully improves your resolution times while demonstrating diagnostic thinking to a prospective buyer.
How much data can you afford to lose? An hour? A day?
3/6
How long can you be down before it genuinely hurts?
4/6
Those two answers belong to your finance director, not to us.
5/6
Give us the numbers and we build to them and price them.
6/6
A recovery plan nobody has rehearsed is a hope.
Caption starter
These two questions decide the cost of your entire backup arrangement and they are business questions rather than technical ones. Answer them this week and send us the numbers.
Why it works: Handing the two defining decisions to the buyer makes the eventual quote feel like their specification rather than your upsell.
Two posts a week, written in a batch every two weeks, usually by whoever handled the most interesting ticket. Avoid posting only when something has gone wrong in the wider industry, since that reads as opportunism.
Hashtags for IT companies
Mix these with location tags for your own area. Put them in the first comment so the caption stays readable.