“Your social proof is the elements of conversation that verify your brand…it is built with every interaction you make on behalf of your brand,” writes Maleeka T. Hollaway. It includes testimonials, comments, media interviews and even contributed content. If you’re a subject-matter expert, your audience will notice—seek to stand out as a resource in your area of expertise! For a deeper understanding of why social proof is essential to your business, read Hollaway’s entire article, “4 Reasons Why Social Proof is Essential to Building Your Brand.”

When you migrate to #Windows Server and SQL Server on Azure, you take the pressure of management off your teams and free yourself up to spend more time creating. Watch this video to learn more about the benefits of this #Microsoft solution.

When managing a large number of leads, efficiency and organization are key. Manage your key activities in one place more efficiently with #SalesAccelerator and #Dynamics365. To learn more about this #Microsoft offering, watch this short video:

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) telephony systems are more mobile, have greater functionality, and cost less than traditional landline phones. But like any type of IT, VoIP is vulnerable to disruptions caused by equipment failure, disasters, and cyberattacks.

To get different tasks done, businesses need a dependable, feature-rich productivity suite like Microsoft Office. Included in Office is Microsoft Word, a time-tested word processor that millions of organizations use. Now, Word has a refreshed look and feel, and is packed with even more features for improving productivity.

Accelerate digital transformation that deepens engagement, predicts outcomes, and automates operations with #Microsoft Analytics and #AI. Subscribe to learn more!

Case studies are valuable pieces of evidence in your marketing programs. They demonstrate the thought process involved in creating solutions to previous problems, and they can give your prospective clients a boost of confidence in your abilities. Developing a case study, however, requires a balance of revealing enough background details—both of the problem and solution—while presenting it in in a way that doesn’t feel like you’re advertising. Read this article for great tips from 12 experts on how to create successful case studies: “Creating an Effective Case Study: 12 Important Tips to Remember.”

Want to elevate your customer experience with AI? Check out how #Allstate is using @AzureCognitiveServices to capture insights from customer calls to enable a more seamless customer experience.

This week's guest is Gerry Murry, a Research Director with IDC's Marketing and Sales Technology service. Marketing technology and related solutions are his specialty and he's got a great pulse on marketing budgets and trends. He confirms that we've seen an increase in social, content and digital marketing and that the significant upsurge in digital marketing is because it's "way less expensive for the reach that you get.