Entering The Social Media Groundswell
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The era of social media is in full swing with the growth of myspace communities, Twitter conversations, Ning sites and such. The reasons individuals participate in online communities are pretty clear but how does a business navigate the fast changing maze of social media business development opportunity? If you question why you should consider entering this world, I would say to you that many people (probably some of your prospects) are using the power of “one another” in online communities to make life and purchase decisions; so there is a persuasive argument for businesses to consider slowly entering the pool.
With their book Groundswell, Forrester research analysts Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff have made it easier for business owners and managers to make sound decisions in planning a social media strategy. For my taste too much attention is given to case studies featuring large corporations but the decision making processes behind the strategies are applicable to businesses of any size.
Throughout the book Li and Bernoff stress the idea that a successful social media strategy involves first determining what you want to get from your social media effort (generate buzz, refine a product, obtain customer feedback, generate more business…) then selecting social media tools and tactics that match the behavioral profile of your target audience (groundswell technographics profile). With this principle as a guide, the authors walk you through real world approaches to meeting just about any marketing goal. In the video below Bernoff talks about what to consider when entering the groundswell.
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Tags: forrester, forum, groundswell, linked in, myspace, online community, social media, twitter
June 28th, 2008 at 9:31 am
John:
Thanks for this post. I’m gliding through chapter five of Groundswell and so far, I’m impressed. I especially like the data that compares social media trends across the world. Right now, my biggest takeaway is the importance of LISTENING before jumping into social media. Like other marketing channels, some vehicles work best for one group of people while others don’t.
I’d recommend that businesses of all sizes add this book to their collection.
Kristina
August 13th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
[...] Grass roots connections: The independently launched grassroots money bomb fundraising campaigns that resulted in the single largest fundraising day among all Republican candidates indicates his connection with the groundswell. [...]
August 31st, 2008 at 10:02 am
[...] Entering The Social Media Groundswell [...]