What it means for your team
- Your marketing team knows what to change first, and has suggested copy ready to test.
- Your sales team has a listing they’re happy to send prospects to, because it answers their questions before the first call.
- If you have a Microsoft Alliance Manager, they have a listing they can confidently point Microsoft’s sellers towards.
How our review works
Step 1: Tell us what you’re aiming for
Send us the link, and tell us who you want to reach and what you’d like them to do next. We’ll also ask why your listing looks the way it does, because some choices are deliberate and we’d rather understand them than guess. Then we’ll agree a delivery date with you.
Step 2: We read what your buyers read
We look at your listing alongside your product and pricing pages, knowledge base and help articles, plus two or three similar listings. So our advice reflects everything a buyer sees before they get in touch.
Step 3: We follow your buyer’s journey
Who evaluates your product, and who signs off the spend? We follow their path from your listing to a demo, a trial or a conversation with your team, so you can see where they might lose interest.
Step 4: We check the details and see how you compare
We find claims, numbers and features that differ between your listing and your website, so buyers see the same facts wherever they look. We also show you what similar listings explain that yours doesn’t, and where you already have the edge.
Step 5: You get a prioritised plan
Specific advice for your product and your buyers, in the order we’d tackle it, with suggested copy you can test.
What you’ll come away with
- Confidence in what’s working. You’ll know which parts of your listing already do their job, so you can keep them.
- A clearer reason to choose you. Positioning that speaks to the buyer you want, including the person who signs off the budget, and shows how your product fits into their working day.
- A stronger position against similar listings. You’ll see what comparable listings explain that you don’t, and where you can stand out.
- An easier route to a demo or trial. Fewer reasons for a buyer to stop between finding your listing and getting in touch.
- Copy you can test straight away. A suggested headline and opening, plus starting keyword ideas in the language your buyers and Microsoft’s sellers use.
- Screenshots that make your case. A gallery plan built around what you want the images to prove, with a caption for each that explains the value.
- One consistent story. Your listing and website say the same thing, so buyers can trust the facts wherever they find them.
- Fewer hold-ups at sign-off. Technical, security and setup information that buyers and their IT teams can assess quickly.
- A clear next step. What to do now, what can wait, and what to measure so you can see what’s working.
Plus
- A 30-minute call to walk you through what we found and agree your priorities.
- A second look within 60 days of your changes going live, so you know they’ve landed as you intended.
More than a listing review
Reviewing a listing means reading everything around it. We often find things that matter well beyond Marketplace: a language count that differs between your listing and your product page, or a feature buried in a help article that buyers would want to know about. We’ll flag what we find, so you can fix it everywhere buyers see you.
After your review
You can make the changes yourself using our recommendations. If you’d like more help, there are three ways we can carry on working with you.
Full listing rewrite: A listing that’s ready to publish, built on the review’s recommendations. Commission it within 30 days and we’ll take the $750 off the price.
Supporting content: Buyers find the answers they need before they have to ask. We write the solution overviews, technical guides and getting-started content your listing links to.
Customer case studies: Proof from customers like your buyers, and the strongest evidence a listing can link to. Try us with a single case study.
Why Bright Star?
We’re trained journalists from the Guardian, the BBC and ITVX, and we’ve spent more than seven years working inside the Microsoft channel. Our Marketplace reviews are led by an experienced marketing practitioner who has run Microsoft-backed Marketplace workshops and optimisation labs for partners for years. You won’t need to explain Marketplace to us. We’ll ask the questions your buyers would ask, then write the answers in plain English.
