For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Sidewiki: Dealing With Google's Land Grab

Your Best Defense Is To Build Your Own Social Site Features

by Josh Bernoff, Sean Corcoran, September 30, 2009

Google announced Sidewiki, a product that allows users of Google's Toolbar to share their comments on any Web site. Just as we predicted, this endows all Web sites with social features and commentary. Mass adoption will take years, and Google needs to . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

How To Create A Social Application For Life Sciences Without Getting Fired

Social Strategies That Succeed Within A Regulatory Framework

by Josh Bernoff, April 20, 2009

People with health problems naturally form mutually supportive communities and seek out information about drugs and treatments. And yet, because of restrictive FDA regulations, pharmaceutical and other life sciences companies are terrified to take advantage . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Social Tools Consumers Want From Their Favorite Brands

by Josh Bernoff, April 16, 2009

More than half of online tweens and teens and 42% of online adults want to see a social application from their favorite brands. For example, one in four US online adults want to see discussion forums from brands they like, while more than one-third of . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Talk To Youth The Way They Talk To Each Other

by Josh Bernoff, April 2, 2009

Young consumers' close social connections allow them to influence each other's purchase decisions. Seventy percent of youth tell friends about products that interest them, nearly twice the percentage of older consumers. Not only do these consumers love . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

Social Technology Strategies For "Boring" Consumer Brands

To Create Borrowed Relevance, Get Customers Talking About Their Problems

by Josh Bernoff, March 24, 2009

Even if your brand isn't Apple or Nike, you can still benefit from the surge in social technology. The trick is "borrowed relevance" — creating an application that's about your customers' problems and then tapping into that application. Building around . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Persuasive Consumers Are Socially Connected

by Josh Bernoff, February 17, 2009

Forty-four percent of US online adults are persuaders, those who tell others about products that interest them. They're brand-motivated, open to ads, and highly active in social applications. To energize persuasive customers, marketers should listen and . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Peer Influence In An Unstable Economy

Tap Consumer Trust In Each Other To Build Brand Relationships

by Josh Bernoff, February 17, 2009

Marketers should prioritize energizing customers over just talking to them when the economy is this unstable. Why? Consumers trust word of mouth most — and it has proven business impact. Most marketers' customers are open to sharing content; 59% of US . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Top Social Computing Predictions For 2009

Experimentation Gives Way To Meeting Business Objectives As Social Computing Goes Mainstream

by Jeremiah K. Owyang, Josh Bernoff, Sean Corcoran, Steven Noble, January 27, 2009

With adoption of all Social Computing technologies increasing in 2008, brands will move beyond experimentation and focus on real business impact in 2009. New technologies will arise that allow platforms including email, the Web, and mobile devices to . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Time To Rethink Your Corporate Blogging Ideas

With Corporate Blog Credibility Low, Blogging Only Makes Sense As Part Of A Plan

by Josh Bernoff, December 9, 2008

Corporate blogs rank at the bottom of the trust scale with only 16% of online consumers who read them saying that they trust them. Furthermore, the consumers who say they trust these blogs are the most likely to trust all other sources of information. . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Growth Of Social Technology Adoption

by Josh Bernoff, October 20, 2008

Social technology adoption increased tremendously this year. Three in four US online adults now use social tools to connect with each other compared with just 56% in 2007. What else changed? Ratings and reviews, "voting" for Web sites, and peer-generated . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Metrics For Social Applications In A Downturn

Measure What Matters, Not Just What's Easy To Measure

by Josh Bernoff, October 17, 2008

Given the skepticism that comes with social applications, you'll need metrics to prove their worth, especially with economic conditions deteriorating. Unfortunately, many interactive marketers we surveyed were still using metrics like unique visitors . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Lessons From The Groundswell

What We've Learned From Six Months Of Talking To Clients

by Josh Bernoff, October 6, 2008

We've discussed the concepts in our book Groundswell with clients from industries ranging from pharmaceutical devices to credit cards to software. These concepts — specifically starting with objectives first — resonate with everybody. Some verticals like . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Social Technographics® Of Device Owners

Devices Should Make Social Connections Beyond Marketing

by Josh Bernoff, July 1, 2008

Owners of mainstream electronics devices like HDTVs and digital cameras rate about average on social participation, while those who own MP3 players and home networks rate well above average. Consumer electronics companies should be embracing social marketing . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Working With Web 2.0 Startups

Unlike B2C Startups, Many B2B Startups Are Great Partners For Marketers

by Josh Bernoff, June 9, 2008

Hundreds of consumer-focused Web 2.0 companies have sprung up, but most struggle to attract traffic and monetize it. This is why some worry that Web 2.0 is a bubble. But much of the current value in this market comes from corporate applications; many . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Interactive Marketers Are Bullish In A Recession

by Josh Bernoff, April 30, 2008

In a recession, marketers typically cut interactive spending. But our survey of 333 interactive marketers revealed strong support for maintaining or increasing budgets in categories including social networking, email, blogging, and search optimization. . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Which Car Brands Should Pursue Social Applications?

Mazda And Honda Have The Most Active Customers; GMC And Mercury The Least

by Josh Bernoff, April 3, 2008

Car owners have widely different affinities for social applications. Mazda, Honda, Pontiac, Hyundai, and Jeep have the most active customers; Ford, Nissan, Chevrolet, GMC, and Mercury have the least. Car brands should use these tendencies to plan strategy. . . .

For Marketing Leadership Professionals

How To Choose The Right Social Technologies

Choose Based On Objectives And Include Success Metrics

by Josh Bernoff, March 4, 2008

Building a social technology strategy? Pick your objective first, then choose the appropriate technology to accomplish your goals. In this document we describe which technologies work best for listening, talking, energizing, supporting, and embracing . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Big Online Spenders Embrace Social Technologies

by Josh Bernoff, February 15, 2008

The biggest online spenders are also highly involved in social activities, especially those that include creating content and participating in dialogues. Retailers should take notice of this as they build strategies. They should use online brand monitoring . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Strategies For Interactive Marketing In A Recession

Unlike Last Time, Results-Based Marketing And Social Applications Could Thrive

by Josh Bernoff, February 6, 2008

Many economists now believe we are in, or approaching, an economic recession. In the last recession, online spending cratered along with the rest of the advertising industry. But since interactive marketing programs are now fueled by measurable results, . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The Social Technographics® Profile of Voters

by Josh Bernoff, December 7, 2007

How should candidates use social technologies? We analyzed the Social Technographics® profile of voters and found that Democrats participate in social technologies more, especially backers of Barack Obama. Republicans are less active, except for Mitt . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Objectives: The Key To Creating A Social Strategy

Introducing the POST Method: People, Objectives, Strategy, and Technology

by Josh Bernoff, October 9, 2007

Executives are going about social strategy backwards: picking technologies like blogs or communities first instead of focusing on what they want to accomplish. This document introduces our four-step method for social strategy. First, examine the Social . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Why You Should Care About Web Widgets

Demo 2007's "MySpace Furniture" Lets Marketers Connect With Their Fans

by Josh Bernoff, February 7, 2007

MySpace furniture is our name for a new class of video-laden widgets that consumers can assemble and paste into email and on Web pages, including MySpace.com pages. At the Demo 2007 conference, entrepreneurs releasing products in this category included . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Here Come The Internet Video Devices

IVD Rollouts Create A New Online Power Position: Device Portal

by Josh Bernoff, Charles S. Golvin, January 19, 2007

The first two weeks in January saw a wide variety of announcements of Internet video devices (IVDs) — devices intended to bring online video to the TV set. By virtue of its installed base, Microsoft's Xbox 360 will take the early lead over devices from . . .

Over The Top: The Path To Internet-Delivered TV

Devices, Economics, And Interface Obstacles Will Slow This Transition

by Josh Bernoff, January 3, 2007

Now that so much video is available online, television executives are asking if future TV programming will be delivered over the Internet, bypassing today's traditional cable and satellite providers. This idea, known as "over-the-top TV," faces four obstacles: . . .

Few iPod Owners Are Big iTunes Buyers

by Josh Bernoff, December 6, 2006

Forrester's recent analysis of more than 2,700 US iTunes debit and credit card transactions reveals that 3% of online households made an iTunes purchase in the past year. Apple's iTunes proves that $0.99 micropayments for digital music can lead to substantial . . .