VCU MASC 491 Lecture 2

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