Today’s class• Groundswell
– What is it?– What does it mean?– The social technographics ladder– The POST process
• Team time– Identify your project– The five key roles
• Blogs• Next week
groundswell.forrester.com
What is Groundswell?• A book by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff, available
April 2008 from Harvard Business Press• A new way of thinking about online social
phenomena and trends• A set of strategies for companies engaging with
customers through social technologies• A discipline that Forrester can use with clients,
and clients can use with customers, to gain business advantage
Major Groundswell themes• Increasingly, people use technologies to get the
things they need from each other, rather than from traditional institutions like corporations
• This trend is broader than the individual technologies that make it up
• Companies/organizations can turn the trend to their advantage
• Determine first what your customers are ready for and your objective; only then can you pick a strategy
Major Groundswell themes• Groundswell strategies can be deliver powerful,
measurable returns in research, marketing, sales, support, and product development
• Companies and organizations succeeding with these strategies must give up control to reap these powerful advantages
• Many of these same techniques can be used with employees, not just customers
• Engaging with the groundswell will eventually transform a company/organization into one that is more and more customer-focused
Powerful groundswell tools
• Social Technographics Profile: analyze the social profile of your customer base
• POST method: a systematic process for social strategy development
• Listening, talking, energizing, supporting, embracing – five strategies to create advantage from the groundswell
This is your company . . .
. . . these are your customers in the groundswell
This is you and your customers in the groundswell
Social Technographics classifies people according to how they use social technologies.
Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
The Social Technographics Ladder
Creators make the social content consumed by others. They write blogs or upload video, music, or text.
Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
The Social Technographics Ladder
Conversationalists voice their opinions to other consumers and businesses using vehicles like SNS and Twitter.
Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
The Social Technographics Ladder
Critics respond to content from others. They post reviews, comment on blogs, participate in forums, and edit wiki articles.
Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
The Social Technographics Ladder
Collectors organize content for themselves or others using RSS feeds, tags, and voting sites like Digg.com
Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
The Social Technographics Ladder
Joiners connect in social networks like Twitter and Facebook
Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
The Social Technographics Ladder
Spectators consumer social content including blogs, user-generated video, podcasts, forums, or reviews
Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
The Social Technographics Ladder
The Social Technographics Ladder
Inactives neither create nor consumer social content of any kind Groups include people participating in at least
one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
Taken together, these groups make up the ecosystem that forms the groundswell.
By understanding where your customers fall within the ladder you can determine which sorts of strategies make sense to reach those customers.
Groups include people participating in at least one of the activities monthly except Conversationalists who participate in at least one of the included activities at least weekly.
The Social Technographics Ladder
24 percent
33 percent
37 percent
20 percent
59 percent
70 percent
17 percent
A cool online tool
• http://www.forrester.com/empowered/tool_consumer.html
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The four-step approach to the groundswell
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
Development
Support
Sales
Marketing
Research
Groundswell objectivesRoles
Listening
Talking
Energizing
Supporting
Embracing
Key roles and their groundswell objectives
Let’s hear from the authors
• http://www.forrester.com/groundswell/videos.html
What’s a blog???
What’s a blog???
• Theme• Point of view• Consistent• Expertise• Promotion• To what end?
Starting a blog
• Select a platform (wordpress, tumblr, etc.)• Choose a theme• Choose a POV• Post at least once a week (class mandate)• Don’t write the Gettysburg address• Promote
Next week
• Facebook– Read Chapter 7 in The New Community Rules
• Quiz– Join the FB group/follow Twitter for clues
• First blog post• Group time