What can a group of partners together do better than one partner alone? When the goal is to improve visibility with search engines, the answer is to combine social engagement to move higher in rankings.
Group blogs have helped many partners build rankings through combined efforts. And now, a new Microsoft partner community, PartnerPulse, is providing a central platform for partners to benefit from collective social activity. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on April 25, 20130 comments
What better way to show your customers the value of the latest technology than to allow them to experience firsthand the best that Microsoft has to offer?
Through "day in the life" Microsoft Experience Center (MEC) scenarios, partners help customers imagine what they could accomplish with the newest productivity tools -- many of which they already own. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on April 11, 20130 comments
How does a small regional system integrator (SI) achieve the same designation as Microsoft partners like Dell and CDW in just five short years? Palmetto Technology Group (PTG) based in Greenville, S.C. has made the grade as a Microsoft Tier 3 Cloud Champion and Cloud Accelerate partner with an impressive track record of customer adds.
Consistent inbound marketing efforts stoke the sales pipeline to keep PTG fueled for continued growth. Over the past two to three years, PTG has enjoyed triple-digit growth riding the adoption of Microsoft's online services. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 27, 20132 comments
The marketing video posted on the K2 site bears little resemblance to most partner marketing videos. There are no product features, no benefit statements, not even a customer testimonial. The leading images and soundtrack evoke the mundane, and then the video draws you in with some serious attitude. The music is more than intriguing -- and it holds a great story.
"Dispute Impossible," the latest marketing campaign video from K2, aims to connect with people on a different level. Josh Swihart, senior vice president of marketing for K2, a global ISV headquartered in Bellevue, Wash., explains, "We wanted the video to inspire and strike a chord that you can't hit with a product description or value proposition. We weren't trying to manufacture something to generate hits but to connect honestly." More
Posted by Barb Levisay on March 04, 20130 comments
It always starts out strong -- the new content marketing program that will finally tap into the collective knowledge of your company. Everyone is on board. Everyone has a ton of ideas. "Yes. We can commit to an hour a week. No problem. We'll never run out of topics."
And then the newness wears off and enthusiasm dies down. The marketing team needs more content...again.
"I've got too many billable hours this week, I will write twice as much next week."
"Can't we just hire someone to write this stuff?" More
Posted by Barb Levisay on February 28, 20130 comments
The natural disasters of the last decade have convinced all business owners, whether they were personally affected or not, the value of disaster preparedness. Most recently, Hurricane Sandy delivered a noteworthy reminder to northeast businesses on the importance of IT infrastructure continuity. As winter storm Nemo, with epic blizzard potential, was approaching anxious customers, one partner made a small gesture with meaningful impact.
Genuine Concern for Customers
eMazzanti Technology and many of its customers are located in Hoboken, N.J., ground zero for Hurricane Sandy's wrath. When the National Weather Service was warning of another potential weather disaster, Carl Mazzanti, eMazzanti's CEO, decided to take a proactive approach to reassure nervous managed service and infrastructure customers. On Thursday, Feb. 7, Mazzanti sent the following message to everyone on his company's e-mail list: More
Posted by Barb Levisay on February 13, 20130 comments
Building an effective social media presence takes time -- more time than most partners imagine is realistic for them to take on. Daily blogs, frequent Tweets and consistent activity on LinkedIn sounds like something only a big partner can manage.
One regional Dynamics partner, however, has found a method to handle the work and is reaping the rewards. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on January 24, 20133 comments
Do your marketers interact directly with your prospects and customers on a regular basis? Do they go out on sales calls and attend project meetings?
To convince prospects that your services bring value, your marketers need to have a clear understanding of the challenges that your customers face. Good marketing requires contact. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on January 10, 20130 comments
Over the past two weeks, we've seen how partners identify and educate clients who qualify for the Microsoft-funded Deployment Planning Services (DPS) engagements. With the sizable investment required to become certified -- a minimum Gold or Silver competency plus additional testing -- partners can maximize the value with a strategic approach to DPS.
As a tool to build relationships and future service sales with enterprise customers, it's important to thoughtfully align your DPS market approach with your certification roadmap. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on December 19, 20120 comments
What better way to build a relationship with a customer than to help them plan how to best use software -- at no cost to them? That's exactly what Microsoft's Software Assurance Planning Services program is designed to do.
As we covered last week in Part 1, Deployment Planning Services (DPS) engagements are conducted by certified partners who analyze the customer's organizational environment and create comprehensive deployment and implementation plans. Partners are compensated by Microsoft to conduct seven types of technology planning engagements ranging from one to 15 days. More
Posted by Barb Levisay on December 13, 20120 comments