Marketing Matters by Barb Levisay, Owner, Marketing for Partners
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Cloud Advocacy in Response to Disaster
It's heartbreaking to read stories about the businesses affected by the Hurricane Sandy disaster. Family businesses built over generations were destroyed by rising water and no power. Unfortunately, the cloud can't back up food in the refrigerator, but it can safeguard the digital assets of every business.
The heightened awareness of the devastating results of natural disaster provides an opening to educate your clients and prospects about business continuity. As a cloud expert, you have the opportunity to teach your community about the options they have to protect their businesses.
The Right Approach
While this is definitely an opportune time to hold a disaster-preparedness seminar in your town, tread carefully. You don't want to be seen as a profiteer looking to make a buck off other people's fears. With an educational approach and sincere intent to show business owners the options they have to respond and recover from a disastrous event, you can make a positive impact.
Resources and Ideas
Whether you plan to hold a seminar or execute an e-mail campaign, there is some excellent content in the Disaster Preparedness campaign on Microsoft's Ready-to-Go marketing site. Some specific suggestions to use these resources include:
- Work with the Microsoft Community Connections program to find a business group in your town that would be interested in a Disaster Preparedness workshop.
- Launch a Disaster Preparedness e-mail campaign using the e-mail template on the Ready-to-Go site.
- Post the Disaster Preparedness Guide on your Web site and tell your customers about it in your next newsletter.
To make your message more interesting and compelling, contact a customer whom you have helped overcome an emergency. Ask them to co-present at your seminar or include their story in your marketing campaign. A real story always makes the message more meaningful.
Build Your Status as an Expert
With a sincere approach to help your community prepare for whatever nature throws at it, you can build your status as an expert. Microsoft has built effective, professional tools that you can use to advocate for the benefits of cloud computing. Reach out to your community and a make a difference.
Have you held a disaster-preparedness event? Tell us about it with a comment below or send me an e-mail and let's share the knowledge.
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Posted by Barb Levisay on November 15, 2012