bpos-community driven marketing gap analysis

ANALYSIS

From: Jeremy Epstein To: Dharmesh Singh 

From: Dharmesh Singh To: Jeremy Epstein

Working on analysis gap now…you’ll either love me or hate me when it’s done. No middle ground ;-)

Will love you - irrespective

COMMUNICATION IS TWO-WAY, NOT ONE WAY

Compare and Contrast

Practice What You Preach

Your Request for Partners:

Listen. Learn. Engage.

BUT:• NO evidence that you’re listening

to your partners

• NO obvious way for partners to engage with Microsoft

You’re Not Utilizing Social Media

Your Request for Partners:

Use Social Media as a communication tool

BUT:• Partners can only

communicate with you via email or a 866 number

The Video Should Start the Conversation, But It Doesn’t

Your Request for Partners:

Embed Syndication Video On Your Website

BUT Once On, Website User:• CAN’T share it

• CAN’T comment on it

• CAN’T vote on it

• CAN’T see what others are saying about it

BUT Partner:

No “Social Proof” for The Value of the Content You Offer

Your Request for Partners:

Download and Utilize Best Practices

• CAN’T see if other partners “like” it

• CAN’T see how many people have downloaded it

• CAN’T see who has tweeted it/shared it

Check this out!

NEED AN IGNITABLE

ENVIRONMENT

Downloadable, Not Actionable

You have the content, but only offer is to download files.

PROBLEM:• Downloads are less likely to be shared

SOLUTION:• Learn from SlideShare and Scribd

Both Offer Browser ViewingBoth Offer at least 8 Ways to Share

Wondering about BPOS Marketing? Check out this presentation by Never Stop Marketing!

Learn from SlideShare & Scribd

Or If You Want to Embed - Just Copy the Code

Learn from SlideShare & Scribd

IN CONTRAST…

The Syndication Video Process

The Syndication Video Process

PROBLEM:Great! It’s customizable!

• Right idea, wrong execution

Barriers To Sharing

1 Need a “Syndicator ID”

Barriers To Sharing

2Have To Sign Up On Syndication Center

Barriers To Sharing

3Have To Install Silverlight Yes, it’s a Microsoft product, but more people have Flash.

Barriers To Sharing

4

Denied Access! You’re turning away advocates & potential partners – plus their networks.

June 24th: Hosted services could cut 10-15% off routine server maintenance tasks (source)

DYNAMIC VS. STATICFrequency & Relevance Shows You Care … And You’re Paying Attention

June 23rd: The average mid-size company spends 50 hours and $5k a year just installing software (source) June 27th: 99.9% uptime (and financially

backed SLA) in hosted services (even I need to sleep!)…June 30th: Cloud services offer better options

with no increased spend (source)

July 1st : A 90 person company could save $10k in CapEx by moving to the cloud

Get Fresh Marketing Ideas… Where?

Your Request to Partners:

Look to us for up-to-date marketing know-how.

BUT:• Perception of stale content

can affect usage

• This is found at the bottom of the page, so how important is it?

How Long Have These Documents Been Here?

Date?

Date?

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010

Released

Now heading into July. Anything new?

AUTHENTIC STORIES GET TOLD AND RE-TOLD

Again, Let’s Look at the Cloud Video

78 Seconds Long

Says, “Tools:”6 Times

Says, “Productivity:”6 Times

Tells Real-life Customer Stories:O

TOOLS TOOLS TOOLS TOOLS TOOLS TOOLS PRODUCTIVITY

PRODUCTIVITY PRODUCTIVITYPRODUCTIVITYPRODUCTIVITYPRODUCTIVITY

In Contrast, Dave Casually Telling His Story

69 Seconds Long

Says, “Tools:”0 Times

Says, “Productivity:”0 Times

Tells Real-life Customer Stories: 1

Real-life customer story on how Online Services made things better!

http://bit.ly/cYwk7k

If It Feels Fake, People are Less Likely to Share

“Think about a strategic option as being just a happy story about the future.”

http://bit.ly/d5efU3 HBR.org Article

http://bit.ly/cYwk7k

Who would you rather do business with?

Which does a better job at telling the value of hosted services?

Now Ask Yourself…

MAKE IT REMARKABLENo One Shares Boring Stuff With Their Friends

Reviewing Microsoft Partner Assets

Partner ReactionTo This Page:“It is just bland.”

Partners reviewed assets against a number of criteria.

Google Apps Campaign

Not Bland

THE YEAR OF THE MOBILE… FINALLY

Mobile Audit

2010

By the end of 2010

Over 5 Billion

Mobile Connected Devices

Make Sure We’re Ready

RTG Website Viewed On iPad: Notice Blank Space

Sure it’s the competition, but the reality is 2 million are already in use.

REASONS FOR OPTIMISM

New Website Starting to Do the Right Things

What Did Partners Find Most Valuable?

Working with

Other Partners

MS Online Team

Newsletter

RTG Swag

BPOS Guides3 of 5 Partners Point to Content

Curation – A Key CDM Element

STRATEGIC

Time to Look at the Big Picture

1 Do You Really Want Partners?

2 partners signed up as “Customers.”

They were solicited directly by Microsoft.

No mention of partners.

1 Do You Really Want Partners?

Partner Reaction:

“I had a call with Microsoft yesterday that slightly confirms that as well. I was told they have decided not to fund any partner proposed BPOS campaigns for FY11. I think they are moving towards selling this directly and will just use partners for the Azure cloud development opportunities.”

24 competencies yet nothing focused on Online Services.

2 Is Online Services a Focus?

Mixed messages.

3What’s Microsoft’s

Position and Commitment?

Rumored delay of “Wave 14” provides opening for Google Apps.

Can we catch up?

Are We Experiencing Windows Mobile,

the Sequel?4

THE CLOUDPARTNERS ARE SAYING, “IT’S YOURS TO LOSE.”

Partners want to win.

BUT:

Microsoft still has clout.

• Time to market is critical

• Need to be “remarkable”

• It’s a business sale, not a technical sale

Now, let’s talk about

how to WIN!

jer979@neverstopmarketing.com

Twitter: @jer979

Linkedin.com/in/jer979

www.neverstopmarketing.com