Microsoft Office is a staple among many schools businesses worldwide. Even with its prevalence in the industry, Microsoft is still growing and learning its approach. Throughout the years, company has utilized inbound marketing techniques as a way of maintaining its stronghold. Here are 7 ways Microsoft utilizes inbound marketing:
1. Educating their Customers
Even with over 30 years since its release, Microsoft Word still has free tutorials and user guides created for its new customers. This not only helps them get started using their software right away, but it also expand their knowledge of what they can do with Word and how they can use it to improve their education and career experience.
2. Emphasize the Human Element of Their Software
Microsoft has a strong campaign going focusing on how they’ve made their software more accessible to those with disabilities. They recently shared a video to their social media featuring a mother emotionally retelling the story of how her son with dyslexia was able to read for the first time with Microsoft Learning Tools. This campaign does well to bring the humanity to Microsoft’s business
3. Incorporating Customer Suggestions Into Their Future Software Releases
Microsoft listened to their customers and optimized their software for mobile. If your content is not optimized to appear well on mobile devices, you may be losing valuable interactions with your customers. Microsoft's twitter consists of many retweets from their customers thankful that they can access and edit their Word documents and PowerPoint Presentations from their phone.
4. Tying their Customer Aspirations into their Promotions
Microsoft frequently uses words and phrases like “success” and “reaching your full potential” and “land your dream job”. They’ve clearly studied that many of their customers use their software tools to help them move forward in their careers. Microsoft most likely wants their customers to associate their software with the feeling of achieving their goals.
5. Offering Rewards for Customer Feedback
Microsoft offered $40K for the best idea customer tips on how to improving productivity. This prize money will encourage their customers to share their best ideas, which will most likely be incorporated into Microsoft’s future offerings. In the end it’s Microsoft that is winning because the best of those ideas alone will likely result in profits for the company well beyond $40k.
6. Help Their Customers Improve Their Business
Microsoft has testimonials from small business owners sharing the benefits they’ve received from Microsoft’s Office365 software. These included ease of collaboration, how the 3D renderings they created helped their customers understand what they planned to create better than words, and that the software helped increase their team productivity.
7. Delighting Their Customers After Their Purchase
The Insiders Program allows customers who sign up access to early Microsoft software releases as well as one-on-one sessions with Microsoft Office developers. Microsoft in turn learns from these customers’ feedback on how it has helped or hindered them to fine-tune their software before it is released for the public. Microsoft emphasizes that those who sign up will be influencers, which really makes their customers feel powerful and that they are shaping the future of the company for the better.
