Social Media in B2B: Social Technographics Ladder

Using Buyer Social Behavior To Boost B2B Social Media Success

Laura RamosVice President, Principal Analyst

G. Oliver YoungSenior AnalystForrester Research

Patrick Tripp

Product Manager, Tech Industry Consulting

3Entire contents © 2008 Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved.

Agenda

• Why we’re here today

• How B2B tech buyers engage socially on the job

• How knowing buyers’ behavior lets marketers set social media strategy

• Enlisting Forrester’s help

• Next steps


Why we’re here today

• In the current economy, social media offer new ways to reach and engage hidden B2B technology buyers.

• But are buyers engaging in social activity while working?

• Marketers who embrace social media will outdistance competition, build community following, and boost loyalty.

• We want to provide you with the knowledge and tools you need to set appropriate goals and achieve appropriate results.


Starting with social tactics spells disaster

• Social media puts buyers, not marketers, in control.

• “Build it, they will come” seldom works.

• Web 2.0 tool choices are secondary — it is better to start with audience first.


Today’s audience: Have not yet set strategy and only experiment with social media

Base: 50 Webinar attendees, responding to a pre-Webinar survey

What is your current approach to social media strategy?


Forrester’s 4-step approach to set social strategy

POST

People Assess your customers’ social activities

Objectives Decide what you want to accomplish

Strategy Plan for how relationships with customers will change

Technology Decide which social technologies to use


Creators

Critics

Collectors

Joiners

Spectators

Inactives

Publish a blogPublish your own Web pagesUpload video you created Upload audio/music you createdWrite articles or stories and post them

Post ratings/reviews of products/servicesComment on someone else’s blogContribute to online forumsContribute to/edit articles in a wiki

Use RSS feedsAdd “tags” to Web pages or photos“Vote” for Web sites online

Maintain profile on a social networking siteVisit social networking sites

Read blogsWatch video from other usersListen to podcastsRead online forumsRead customer ratings/reviews

None of the above

The Social Technographics™ ladder

Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly.

Model audiencepropensity to usesocial media in

business decisionmaking/adoption

activity


US consumers are participating in more online social activities each year


Today’s audience: Most don’t have substantive information about customer social behavior


What do you know about your prospective customers and the way they participate socially online?


Agenda





• Next steps


Respondents from Forrester’s recent B2B survey


All respondents had influence over the technology buying process.

Respondents from Forrester’s recent B2B survey (cont.)


The Social Technographics™ of B2B buyers: by technology category

Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly.


The Social Technographics™ of B2B buyers: by country

Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly. What about “on the job” social behavior?


B2B buyers participate less socially in a work context


Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly primarily or in part for business purposes.

How B2B buyers participate socially while working: by technology category


How B2B buyers participate socially while working: by country



How B2B buyers participate socially while working: by vendor



Peers and colleagues continue to have the most impact


However impact varies with the decision-making phase


Agenda





• Next steps


Today’s audience: economy makes online/ social approaches attractive

How has the current economy changed your plans regarding social media?



Achieving social media success depends on aligning business objectives with audienceB2B Social Objectives Functional Alignment Success metrics

LISTENING Research

•Customer insight

•Improved segmentation

•Reduced pain; alignment of offering with need

TALKING Marketing, education•Changes in reach, impressions, brand awareness

•Increased share of voice

•Higher quality of responses to offers

ENERGIZING Sales•Increased velocity of messages in market

•Increased recommendation, promotion, advocacy

•Higher trust, brand trust perception

SPREADING Professional services•Faster deployments at new customers

•Existing customers create new business capacity

SUPPORTING Customer service, technical support

•Reduced support costs

•Higher customer satisfaction

•Less churn

EMBRACING Development, Product Marketing

•Deliver products faster to market

•Increased loyalty, increased advocacy


Social participation profile of potential HW buyers

• 33-year-old female with 2-5 years in current senior IT role

– 5,000 person firm

– Business services industry

– If non-IT, more likely to be less senior than IT counterparts

• Over-indexed on Creator profile

• When making technology purchase decisions:

– More likely to trust familiar information sources than new ones

– Less likely to say that social media plays an increasingly important role than other profiles in same category


Cisco launched iPrize contest to woo innovators


What does this mean for business marketers?

• Online activity changes B2B marketing practices permanently.

• Social Technographics® is one important tool for understanding buyer social behavior.

• Uncovering differences in customer’s behavior while working versus personal use helps hone strategy.

• Integrating traditional and online tactics is essential as the groundswell of social activity grows.


Recommendations

• To integrate social media into the B2B marketing mix, start with audience, not the tactics or tools.

• Understand how social behavior changes:

– With different buyer segments

– At different stages in the buying process

• Use this insight to craft winning social strategy

– Build marketing skills that leapfrog competitors after economy turns around

– Build community following, participation

– Involve customers and engender loyalty

– Redefine B2B marketing’s mission and purpose


Agenda





• Next steps


Plan & Develop

Market &Sell

Measure & Refine

Strategize

Forrester Best Practice & Market Insights

Tech Vendor Strategy and Marketing Lifecycle


Why marketers enlist Forrester’s help

Assurance that social marketing strategy

aligns with end-user behaviors

• Supply-side insights• B2B Tech Marketing research panel • Best practice interviews with leading tech vendors• 5,000 vendor briefings annually

• Demand side, end-user perspective•Social Technographics of B2B Buyers •Survey of 1,217 IT/Bus. professionals across multiple industries and geographies •Custom survey capabilities

• Social Media Optimization•Forrester’s POST methodology •Best practice and case study library

Confidence that social marketing strategy differentiates from

competitors

Proven methodologies

Marketer’s goal Forrester’s unique value

Most importantly,

the combination of all three

from one firm


How Forrester helps marketers improve their social media strategies

Strategy development (POST methodology)

Optimizing the B2B marketing mix

Measuring results

Social profiling of target buyers and influencers

Social media strategy components

Social Media Strategy Primer

(1-2 hours)

Social Media Strategy Development/Enhancement

(customized project)

Social Media Strategy Workshop(one day)

Delivery options

Depth, customization and investment

Eng

agem

ent

type

*Components can be commissioned separately


How We’re Helping Clients

• Large global technology and services firm looking to understand:

– What are the social behaviors of their customers?

– What social technologies should they be using?

– What are the best practices for leveraging and implementing specific social media technologies?

• A global professional association commissioned Forrester to investigate:

– How to develop a social media strategy roadmap?

– Partner on social media or build their own?

– What are the social media profiles of their customers?


Agenda





• Next steps


Next steps

• Read the recent research:– Community Marketing Boosts B2B Marketing’s Value During Tough

Economic Times, February 2008

– How To Avoid B2B Marketing Obsolescence: Community Marketing Transforms The Marketing Role, January 2008

– Making Social Media Work In B2B Marketing, October 2008

– Objectives: The Key To Creating A Social Strategy: Introducing the POST Method: People, Objectives, Strategy, and Technology, October 2007

• If you haven’t started, begin getting your feet wet

• If you’ve already started, make sure strategies and tactics align with your customers’ social behavior and willingness to engage in community marketing.

• If you’d like additional guidance, reach out to your peers, colleagues, or Forrester.


Q & A


Laura Ramos Oliver Young

+1 650.581.3830 + 1 650.581.3855

[email protected] [email protected]

@lauraramos @oliveryoung

b2bmarketingpost.com blog.strategicheading.com

Patrick Tripp

+1 617.613.6216

[email protected]

@ptripp

www.forrester.com

Thank you

Social Media in B2B: Social Technographics Ladder

Business

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