Position your offer to an industry for targeting advantage.
Many partners avoid using a specific industry focus in their listing on the Marketplace (unless their offer is already specific built for a single industry like LawToolBox). But by utilizing industry examples and language, you can often give your solution a key advantage.
It may be a no-brainer to think that prospects searching for a solution want to work with a company that understands their business. By including key industries, you can speak the language of that business, and offer examples or case studies that others in that industry can easily relate to. Microsoft has clouds for specific industries that can help guide your decision to focus toward one or more of these, plus provide resources to help:
| Financial Services |
Healthcare
|
Manufacturing
|
Non-profit
|
Retail
|
Sustainability
|
For the complete list of industries that are supported in Marketplace, learn more here: Marketplace Industries
How to find your hidden industry trend
Think you don't have a trending industry among your customers? Try this exercise:
- List your last 10 customers and note their industry
- List your 10 largest customers and note their industry
- List the 10 largest customers in your pipeline and note their industry
- Now how many are in the same, or related, industries?
See any trends in industry types? This exercise may surprise you!
How to remain relevant to all industries
The most popular reason I hear from Microsoft Partners is the concern that if they focus on a single industry, then a potential customer in a different industry will overlook their solution or app. This is understandable, and there are some specific ways to address a few industries and still remain open to all.
- Develop industry-specific versions like Priority Matrix from Appfluence
- If you have enough of an opportunity with an industry that has very specific needs, like Government or Healthcare, consider doing a version of your app or solution specifically for those industries.
- There are obvious drawbacks to this, but it will allow your company to hyper-focus on that industry in your listing and your sales and marketing efforts.
- Choose 1-2 industries to target in keyword in text like BitFractal who addresses several industries in their first paragraph
- You can select up to two industries and two verticals per industry for your listing in Marketplace.
- As you write your listing, be sure to hit the pain points that are specific to your 1-2 complementary industries. While BitFractal addresses a number of industries in their first sentence, an alternative would be an example like this:
- Course creators no longer need to rely on their own voice
- Consultants can produce several versions with different accents and genders, for example.
- Add Case Studies and other material in your different industries
- At the bottom of your solution listing, there is a "Learn More" area where you can load up documents for your prospects. Remember to include:
- White paper with POV in a specific field
- Customer Case Studies that address specific industries and call them out in the title
- Utilize Private Offers to create custom solutions
- As always, you have the opportunity to create a Private Offer that can be unique and specific.
By being more specific, you will be able to narrow down your targeting and go deep into one industry to help you gain an advantage in the Microsoft Marketplace.
-J.L.
ISV Success Program Engagement Manager for Teams Partners
