By Charlene Li: Many companies approach Social Computing as a list of technologies to be deployed as needed — a blog here, a podcast there — to achieve a marketing goal. But a more coherent approach is to start with your target audience and determine what kind of relationship you want to build with them, based on what they are ready for. Forrester categorizes Social Computing behaviors into a ladder with six levels of participation; we use the term Social Technographics® to describe a population according to its participation in these levels. Brands, Web sites, and any other companies pursuing social technologies should analyze their customers’ Social Technographics first and then create a social strategy based on this profile.
B2C Profile Tool
Companies often approach Social Computing as a list of technologies to be deployed as needed — a blog here, a community there — to achieve a marketing goal. But a more coherent approach is to start with your target audience and determine what kind of relationship you want to build with them, based on what they are ready for.
Forrester’s Social Technographics® classifies consumers into six overlapping levels of participation (see short presentation). Forrester Research’s Consumer Technographics® data covers hundreds of brands and behaviors globally — customers of specific retailers and car owners by brand, for example. Work with us to profile your customer base, then develop a social technology strategy.
B2B Profile Tool
Social media give a voice to buyers who can now describe their experience and disappointment to a global audience. And, wow, are they saying a lot. Forrester surveyed more than 1,200 business technology buyers and found that they exceed all previous benchmarks for social participation.
B2B marketers, eager to know how social media fits into the marketing mix, can use the Social Technographics® Profiles of business decision-makers to design marketing programs that not only capitalize on emerging social behaviors but also fundamentally change the nature of the marketing relationship between B2B buyers and sellers.
Original Source: Groundswell
Data comes from the following surveys:
US: Forrester Research’s North American Technographics® Interactive Marketing Online Survey, Q2 2009 (US), 4,766 respondents
Europe: Forrester Research’s European Technographics® Benchmark Survey, Q2 2009, 25,932
Asia Pacific: Forrester Research’s Asia Pacific Technographics® Survey, Q2 2009, 7,652
