About Forrester
Forrester Research, Inc. is an independent research company that provides pragmatic and forward-thinking advice to global leaders in business and technology.

Melissa is a research director and principal analyst serving Marketing Leadership Professionals. As Forrester's leading authority on mobile marketing, she has defined the stages of mobile marketing evolution, the best objectives for mobile marketing, and the always addressable customer to help brands develop their mobile marketing practice and successfully engage their increasingly mobile customers. Melissa also brings to her mobile research deep expertise and experience in social media, which gives her a powerful understanding of how these complementary technologies can be used in combination to effectively bring marketers and customers ever closer together.
Melissa has been quoted frequently in publications such as The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and Fortune magazine. She has spoken at the Churchill Club, OMMA Global, SXSW, and Social Media Week on mobile marketing and social media.
Before joining Forrester, Melissa was the director of community strategy at Time Lifestyle Digital group, where she was responsible for community and social media initiatives across the network's 10 titles, which include Real Simple, Southern Living, and Cooking Light. Prior to joining Time in 2007, Melissa was part of Crayon, a conversational marketing consultancy, where she managed social media projects for brands like Coca-Cola and American Airlines. Previously, Melissa held senior product and community roles at Meetup, the world's largest network of local groups, and Bolt.com, a community of more than 10 million teenagers and young adults. In parallel with her work in social media, Melissa led early innovation initiatives in mobile marketing at several of her previous companies.
Melissa earned a B.A. in drama and philosophy from Loyola University New Orleans, an M.A. in liberal studies from The New School, and an M.F.A. in dramaturgy and script development from Columbia University.
Marketers Hope For Success In Nascent Market
Location-based social networks (LBSNs), such as foursquare and Brightkite, offer interactive marketers the promise of right-time, right-place marketing by connecting people and nearby points of sale...
After a record year for mobile marketing spend and success, mobile has finally arrived as a legitimate marketing medium. In 2011, Forrester predicts that marketers will take the training wheels off...
The increasing accessibility of the mobile Web and mobile apps makes connecting with traditional social networks like Facebook and Twitter more convenient than ever. Due to these technology and...
Forrester Research Online Facebook WebTrack
Marketers are flocking to Facebook — but creating a compelling Facebook brand presence requires forethought and commitment. The best Facebook marketers maximize their pages' exposure, post...
A Four-Phase Approach To Preparing To Engage With Your Customers
Many marketers are launching communities to engage their customers in an authentic dialogue around their companies, brands, and products. However, once they've launched, brands often find that they...
Delivering Utility At Speed To Perpetually Connected Customers
Customers are in the midst of a total mind shift. As a result of their perpetual mobile connections, their expectations have changed. They're not interested in your messaging and logos. They want...
What To Expect For The Health Of Your Community
Interactive marketers in charge of branded communities need to be able to benchmark goals and set expectations for the success of their programs. However, the benchmarks being observed are typically...