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Most consumers see huge benefits to being online: 54% think it has had an overall positive effect on their lives. But being online has a downside: wear and tear on your body. Consumers say the Net has negatively affected their sleeping habits, posture, hands, eyesight, and faith.
Mark your calendars!
Making B2B Marketing Work
April 27, 2006, San Francisco
Making Emerging Channels Work For You
May 2, 2006, Naples, Fla.
Corporate Blogging Fundamentals
May 11, 2006, Cambridge, Mass.
The Essentials Of Search Engine Marketing
June 8, 2006, Cambridge, Mass.
For details, contact Forrester Events at events@forrester.com.
Marketers: Don't wait to get word-of-mouth marketing into the media mix. Get started now by creating strict ethical guidelines and planning campaigns, and you'll benefit from the low costs of participation that will rise as the medium matures.
Broadband Creates A Content Business Model
by Brian Haven
Cisco: Supplier To The Digital Home
by Paul Jackson
Youth Tune In For Online Video
by Brian Haven
The UK's Search Engine Polygamy
by Hellen K. Omwando
A Day In The Life Of A New European Blogger
by Michèle Bouquet and Jaap Favier
The Database Marketing Services Landscape
by Eric Schmitt
The Reality Of Behavioral Ad Targeting
by Shar VanBoskirk
The European Podcast Consumer
by Manuela Neurauter and Jaap Favier
Here are five predictions for direct marketing:
1. Search marketing will become the killer app for acquisition marketing.
2. By 2010, 13% of all consumer retail and travel dollars will be spent online.
3. TV will decline rapidly in 2007; by 2015, most TV dollars will flow to new formats.
4. Direct mail will become a lower-volume, premium medium.
5. The dominance of traditional agencies will wane.
Nearly half of the frequently online consumers in the UK read comments from others online, although blog creation is skewed toward those under the age of 24. Marketers can use UK blogs to get their messages out, but they must actively encourage audiences to participate in this still nascent form of online communication.
Please be on the lookout here for our dedicated Marketing First Look emails in the coming months. These emails, from Elana Anderson, will deal expressly with issues and topics of interest to marketers.
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Social Computing Has Universal Consequences
Blogs, RSS, podcasting, open source, wikis, mash-ups. What -- if anything -- should companies make of these new technologies? Can they provide any real value? Forrester believes the answer is yes. The technologies themselves may come and go, but taken as a whole, this new wave of collaborative technologies will reshape our society and your company. Forrester calls the movement created by these collaborative technologies Social Computing -- a new social structure in which technology puts power in the hands of communities, not institutions. Social Computing is transforming the Internet, the economy, and society. Inexpensive devices that cheaply and easily connect to the Internet allow increasingly socially motivated consumers to link up with each other more than ever before.
This convergence of social and technology factors -- which allows consumers to communicate, create content, and share ideas -- has many forms, including blogs, RSS, social networking sites, and podcasts. Three tenets will define Social Computing and alter the interactive landscape that lies between consumers and institutions: 1) Innovation will become a bottom-up process driven by communities (à la Apple's iPod shuffle); 2) institutions' value will shift from the products they offer to the experiences they facilitate; and 3) the communities that helped drive innovation will take power from institutions. Depending on your role, Social Computing will have different implications for you.
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Marketers: Consider A Pull (Not Push) Approach
For marketers, operating in a world defined by Social Computing means embracing new tactics. The power of communities will drain the effectiveness of campaigns that simply shout a message from a mountain top, using the usual media outlets to get the word out. Successful marketers will instead facilitate word-of-mouth campaigns, keep customer advocacy top of mind, and integrate themselves into the community to gain consumer buy-in.
CE Manufacturers: Keep An Ear To The Ground For Innovations
Social Computing will help reduce R&D costs as manufacturers allow consumers to drive innovation. To realize this advantage, manufacturers must let go of some creative authority and empower consumers with tools to communicate product ideas and reviews, good or bad. The next step? Respond quickly with product modifications, upgrades, or patches so your consumers know you're listening.
Media Companies: View Communities As Partners
Although the rise of user-generated content may seem threatening to big media outlets, it doesn't have to be. Smart media companies will swallow their pride and invite users to participate in content generation, creating hybrid radio broadcasts or magazines that appeal to those who want the institutional perspective, as well as those who want the point of view of their peers. The alternative is the unique opportunity involved in owning a site at the center of Social Computing, already realized by media giants like NBC, with its purchase of iVillage, or News Corporation, with its acquisition of MySpace. But acquirers beware: The business model for standalone Social Computing sites is not here yet. Most media companies are better off building community elements into their existing brands.
Don't ignore Social Computing. Getting involved early and often can mean positive effects for your customer loyalty and your bottom line.
Over the next few weeks, we'll be completing research on emerging marketing channels, top marketing technologies, marketing organization, voice and access bundles, mobile music, media brand use, the DVR market, and the state of North American broadband, as well as Forrester Wave™ evaluations of content delivery networks and enterprise blogging software.
Best,
Chris Charron
Vice President, Research Director
Devices, Media, & Marketing Research
P.S. If you'd like to suggest research for us to write or if there are data points you're looking to track down, feel free to drop me a line anytime at chrischarron@forrester.com.
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