Tech Marketers Guide December Webcast Final Dec13 Kc

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 1 © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

December 13, 2011. Call in at 12:55 p.m. Eastern time

Kim Celestre, Senior Analyst

Teleconference The Tech Marketer’s Guide To The Social Media Platform Universe

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 2

The large and diverse ecosystem of social media platform technologies is undergoing rapid change, but you can still navigate through the chaos to reach your goals.

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 3 © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

The universe is in motion

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 4

There are many vendors in the universe*...

*represents sample of all platform vendors

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 5

…and it is rapidly evolving

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 6

…but despite this, you can successfully navigate to your final destination

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 7 © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Seeking order out of chaos

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 8

There is money to spend…

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 9

…and vendor selection can be a perilous journey

Comparing platform capabilities is difficult

Assessing vendor viability is difficult

Most platforms are optimized for B2C

Vendors are extending their platforms

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 10

But you can still use The Force

Platforms that are simple to use and deploy

Platforms that can be integrated

Platforms that aggregate data

Platforms that will outlast what’s currently “hot”

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 11

Buzz words add to confusion…

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 12

…but you can still achieve order out of the chaos

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 13 © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Navigating the universe

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 14

Analyze who is talking about you

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 15

Catalyze your community members

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 16

Create super content

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 17

Manage what is being created about you

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 18 © 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Follow other stargazers’ leads…

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 19

Ultimate Software catalyzes community interactions

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 20

IBM creates super content

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 21

Dell knows who is talking about their brand

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 22

What does the future universe look like?

Enterprise high-tech companies will join the universe.

There will be one or two prominent vendors in each category.

There will be role-based and vertical industry solutions.

Vendors will position themselves as B2B leaders.

© 2011 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited 23

Recommendations

B2B expertise and integration should be top

decision drivers, and you can save time and

money if you focus on your needs.

Evaluate technologies that are appropriate for objectives.

Prioritize vendors that have strong B2B use cases.

Put vendor expertise before buzzwords.

Consider how solutions will integrate with other platforms.

Define your success metrics.

Determine which social media platforms/tools to deploy.

© 2009 Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited

Thank you

Kim Celestre

+1 650.581.3810

kcelestre@forrester.com

@KCelestre

Engage beyond this event

Community – http://forr.com/CommunityTM

Blog – http://forr.com/BlogTM

Twitter – http://forr.com/ForrTwitter