Business Challenge

Microsoft sought to drive interest in and awareness of Microsoft’s offerings for students, build an engaged community of student followers, and encourage students to develop applications for its Windows Phone platform.

Strategy

Microsoft partnered with Waggener Edstrom to develop and execute an integrated digital campaign to reach student technologists directly. The campaign included community-building, engaging participants through compelling content, and supporting Microsoft’s international subsidiaries in their local social media execution.

The campaign focused on:

• Foundation: Developed a regular cadence of compelling content for the Worldwide Microsoft Student social media channels and aligned editorial calendar across outbound marketing and communication efforts. Provided training, resources, content and digital assets to enable Microsoft subsidiaries to use social media to drive student awareness and interest in Microsoft student programs, products and initiatives locally.
• Community: Built and managed an active online global community to keep student developers involved and supported via social media and a blog.
• Reach: Expanded Microsoft’s reach by identifying new students and influencers to connect with through listening and monitoring on both Microsoft and third-party properties. Executed targeted social advertising campaigns to further expand reach.

Measures of Success

By providing fresh and compelling content to a worldwide audience, supporting the subsidiaries in executing social media and marketing initiatives locally, and expanding reach through social advertising and organic growth efforts, Waggener Edstrom helped Microsoft achieve significant growth and engagement numbers.

• Audience growth: More than 3x increase in combined Facebook & Twitter followers.
• Engagement: 3.16% engaged users on Facebook (average among top 200 brands = 1.3%) and 3x increase in number of Twitter engagements per month (retweets, @messages).
• Taking Action: 80,000+ clicks to the Windows Phone Getting Started Guide and Windows Phone development-related content driven from social media platforms.
• Apps: Tens of thousands of Windows Phone apps developed by students in less than a year.