John S. Wolfe

When it comes to guest speakers at a technology trade show, a representative of Microsoft Corp. is sure to draw a crowd.

In fact, the exhibition hall at the Phoenix Convention Center cleared out at 9:30 a.m. Sept. 23 as Jamie Walker, general manager of the U.S. Enterprise Marketing Sector at Microsoft, took to the stage for the morning keynote of the Arizona Marketing Technology Summit. They weren’t disappointed.

Walker acknowledged that customers and Microsoft followers usually want to know two things: what is Microsoft doing in social media and what is the company’s road map for the future?

Walker noted that his marketing world has been turned upside down in the last four years. In 2006 digital spending accounting for 5 percent of his budget.

Today that figure is 60 percent – and the actual budget has been cut in half.

The expense for use of banner ads on websites has been shifted to SEO tactics. The company is using a tracking system to better serve individual customers.

Events are still the primary vehicle for Microsoft to reach customers but social/digital media is a way to nurture relationships, Walker said.

Businesses can’t ignore this.

Media and technology have turned monologues into dialogues and individuals have gone from always offline to always online (through computers and cell phones).

Thus, businesses need to use a structured framework to determine what they want to do in social media, how to engage customers and how to assess if the strategy is working.

Microsoft’s “Solution” involves understanding audiences, experiences and intelligence on their activities.

“Are you reaching the right people at the right time with the right message?” Walker said. Does the message keep their attention?

For the launch of Windows 7, Microsoft dived into marketing aggressively with the social-media-friendly tagline “Windows 7 was my idea.”

On a broader marketing front, Microsoft sought to engage consumers beyond the traditional media with the Bing search engine. One avenue was to incorporate information in video games.

Microsoft tested its marketing and found that through TV ads the company could reach 13 percent of consumers.

When they moved beyond one “screen” to mobile units and the Internet with ads, the reach exploded to 53 percent, Walker said.

One audience Microsoft has targeted for engagement is CIOs. The company created “thought leadership” episodes on its website – and visitors have ended up spending on average 8.5 minutes, which is “eternity” on the Web, Walker said.

“If you have valuable content, people will engage,” he said. And they, in turn, become your brand advocates.