Microsoft Adds Marketing Best Practices to Ready-to-Go
A new section on the Microsoft Ready-to-Go (RtG) marketing site rounds out an impressive set of resources for Microsoft partners. The Marketing Best Practices portal takes away the last excuse that partners had left for not making a full commitment to marketing. Campaigns, sales tools, Web content and event management resources now combined with guidance on how to use them -- that should do it.
"We heard from the partners that while they appreciate the RtG resources, they wanted to know how they could market better. They were looking for some education to help them use those RtG resources more effectively," explained Karey Bakker, content manager of U.S. SMB Marketing for Microsoft. "We had been doing marketing training webinars, but wanted to make it really visually appealing and available on demand."
Sound, Practical Marketing Advice
The Marketing Best Practices section of RtG includes training videos and supporting resources, plus links to outside sources of marketing information. Your first stop on the page should be the videos. Short and to the point, the videos deliver sound, realistic marketing guidance on the foundational elements of an effective marketing program, including:
- marketing planning and ROI
- digital marketing
- SEO and SEM
- event marketing
- social marketing and blogging
- nurture marketing
Supporting each of the video topics are "Getting Started" guides that provide examples and step-by-step recommendations. For example, the Event Getting Started guide includes a timeline of all the tasks that will make your event more successful. That's a very practical tool for a partner holding its first event.
Further down the best practices page, there's a list of marketing-related articles and blogs. The RtG team promises to regularly update that list with new material relevant to partner interests.
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Event Marketing Best Practices Source: Microsoft
Something for Every Level of Marketer
The best practices hub is a particularly great resource for marketers who are new to the channel or just getting started. Between the campaigns, Web content and best practices, RtG provides a strong foundation for an effective marketing program. But even the most seasoned marketer can benefit from watching the videos and checking out the guides and resources. They're bound to remind you of something you were meaning to tackle or spark a new idea.
"We understand that there are a lot of different types of marketers in the channel. The owner that works on it after hours, the dedicated marketing person, as well as sales reps working on their own," Bakker said. "We wanted to make it easy and valuable for each of them."
Bakker promises that this is just the beginning and that content will be expanded with regular updates.
Microsoft has made huge strides in the past couple of years with the RtG marketing resources for partners. There's simply no excuse left. The content, tools and guidance to establish a consistent, professional marketing program are all there. Making it happen is up to you.
Have you executed a great campaign using RtG materials? Add a comment below or send me a note and let's share the knowledge.
Posted by Barb Levisay on August 13, 2014