Win7 Social Media Launch strategy 1: MeetUps

We rolled out the first part of our Win7 marketing plan this week. Windows7 is inviting anyone that is excited about Windows7 to have a party and show and tell with their friends. The story has made it's way around the web, you can read more about it here or here.

Windows believes in empowering our customers to help us tell our story so we've invested in creating content and assets people can use to do just that with House Party. We on the Social Media team wanted to extend that idea to anyone who is interested in or passionate about Win7 and empower them to participate as well. On September 15 we will roll out our Win7 MeetUp program. You can find more about it on Windows.com (after Sept 15). The MeetUp program will include a toolkit anyone can use to host their own MeetUp anywhere in the world. The toolkit will give you information on;

1)How to Create Your Event

2)How to Promote Your Event

3)How to Host an Event with tips and demo's to use

As part of our #tag strategy for launch we have created #Win7MeetUp to help enthusiasts drive awareness for their events. We will also highlight the Win7 MeetUps schedule on Windows.com/meetup so people can find information about local MeetUps in their area.

The goals for this program are:

•Activate and arm the enthusiast base – they are our greatest asset

•Create word of mouth excitement for launch through peer-to-peer engagement

•Gives customer hands-on experience – the product is great and we want to get people in front of it.

•Create additional UGC for syndication across Microsoft and Partner sites

What is a MeetUP? Wikipedia defines Meetup as something "that allows members to find and join groups unified by a common interest, such as politics, books, games, movies, health, pets, careers or hobbies." MeetUps compliments House Parties because whether or not House Parties is coming to your country, or if you do or don't get selected to host a House Party, you can certainly create a MeetUp and we'll help you promote it. MeetUp's are perfect for people who want to broaden their audience and get lots of people together around a common interest – this case Win7. MeetUp's can be held in public places like libraries, pubs, cafes, etc. There will be more information about how to host and promote a MeetUp on the website Sept 15.

This is the first of several programs we will be rolling out for Windows7 launch. Stay tuned!

Technorati Tags: Microsoft,windows marketing,social media marketing,meetups,windows7,win7,community,marketing