For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

2009 Forrester Groundswell Awards Winners Offer B2B Tech Marketers Valuable Social Media Lessons

by Laura Ramos, November 4, 2009

Business-to-business (B2B) marketers approach social strategy with a mix of enthusiasm and skepticism. Most want to know which firms execute social pursuits well and what tangible outcomes occur. The B2B Division winners of the 2009 Forrester Groundswell . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

How B2B Technology Buyers Use Social Media

Support Forums Rank Highest Among Emerging Tactics

by Laura Ramos, October 26, 2009

Technology buying is a highly considered, collaborative process, one ideally suited for social interactions. To see how emerging digital media affect the process, Forrester surveyed 1,217 technology decision-makers to find out which online sources will . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Reach Real Global B2B Tech Audiences With Virtual Events

New Tools And Best Practices For B2B Marketing Beyond Borders

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., October 6, 2009

The downturn is turning out to be a double whammy for tech marketers. Budget cuts and a significant drop in the effectiveness of tried-and-true tools, like trade shows, make calls to reach wider audiences through traditional marketing activities problematic. . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

PLOT: A Social Media Strategy To Make Better Development Decisions

Social Media Compel Product Managers To Learn A New Requirements Discipline

by Tom Grant, Ph.D., July 8, 2009

Social media provide a wealth of information that might help technology vendors make better decisions about products and services. To maximize the value of the answers, and the speed with which product managers can find them, Forrester recommends an approach . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Case Study: MetricStream Builds B2B Community With ComplianceOnline

by Laura Ramos, June 17, 2009

As a premier destination for content, training, and advisory services dedicated to regulatory compliance, IT governance, and corporate risk management, ComplianceOnline is a model online community that delivers two million visitors annually to MetricStream's . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The Down Economy Pushes B2B Digital Tactics Ahead

Integrate Email, Digital, And Search Marketing To Make The Marketing Mix Pay Off

by Laura Ramos, April 24, 2009

As the current recession continues through 2009, a company's marketing mix must produce sales-ready results using less expensive channels. Digital marketing creates engaging, interesting experiences that rival personal selling without the cost of travel . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Case Study: Intuit TurboTax Uses Crowd Wisdom To Make Online Support Less Taxing

by Laura Ramos, March 4, 2009

Intuit TurboTax used the wisdom of crowds — gleaned by analyzing how tax filers and tax preparation businesses interact with thousands of pages of support and tax code information — to supercharge its online support and hold down costs. Business-to-business . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

The New Competitive Priorities For B2B Web Sites

Finding The Value In A Differentiated Online User Experience

by Alan E. Webber, February 6, 2009

As business-to-business (B2B) customers migrate online, companies have to rethink their differentiation strategy. An area that is ripe for improvement? The online experience that they provide to potential and current customers. To really differentiate . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Digital Marketing: A Deep Dive Into IT Security Decision-Makers

by G. Oliver Young, Laura Ramos, January 23, 2009

Security products mitigate corporate risk, and, as a consequence, buyers approach these purchases very conservatively. Forrester surveyed IT security buyers to find out how they respond to emerging social media and found that these tactics have not yet . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

How To Avoid B2B Marketing Obsolescence

Community Marketing Transforms The Marketing Role

by Laura Ramos, January 15, 2009

Business decision-makers are increasingly banding together in online communities to research purchase decisions using peer insights and independent product experts. Business marketer influence is declining at a rapid pace. To remain viable, you must invest . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

How To Take B2B Relationships From Indifferent To Engaged

Customers Require A New Approach Online

by Alan E. Webber, January 8, 2009

Business customers are shifting their behavior more toward the Web as a key source of information, engagement, and interaction, and business-to-business (B2B) vendors have failed to keep up. Vendors remain hamstrung by outdated notions of what their customers . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Can Enterprise Web 2.0 Survive The Recession?

What Vendor Strategists Should Expect During The Economic Downturn

by G. Oliver Young, January 6, 2009

The US and global economies have landed with a thud, and technology spending for the next four to six quarters is going to suffer. Enterprise Web 2.0 vendor strategists are asking Forrester the question: How badly will it hurt? Different sectors of the . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Digital Marketing: A Deep Dive Into IT Hardware Decision-Makers

by G. Oliver Young, Laura Ramos, January 6, 2009

Hardware firms like Dell, HP, and Sun Microsystems have made strategic bets that social media will drive hardware purchases and satisfaction. To test how well this effort is progressing, Forrester surveyed IT hardware buyers to find out whether social . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Sow Web 2.0 To Target Emerging Tech Markets

Community-Driven "Market Self-Selection" Identifies Gems Beyond The BRIC Markets

by Jennifer Belissent, Ph.D., December 19, 2008

With the economic downturn sapping the US and other established tech markets, technology industry marketers are fast at work identifying new targets among higher-growth, emerging markets. With so much attention placed on the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Deriving More Value From Your B2B Web Site

Six Factors For Improving Online Lead Generation In A Down Economy

by Alan E. Webber, December 3, 2008

In this recessionary economy, every solid lead is worth its weight in gold. Although most B2B companies focus their Web real estate on getting visitors to download whitepapers or register for a Webinar in hopes of getting more leads, they end up placing . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Digital Marketing: A Deep Dive Into IT Services Decision-Makers

by G. Oliver Young, Laura Ramos, November 19, 2008

As social media permeates consumer activity, business-to-business (B2B) markets like high technology and telecommunications also begin to feel their impact. Earlier this year, Forrester surveyed IT services decision-makers to assess the influence of social . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Forrester TechRadar™ For Vendor Strategists: Enterprise Web 2.0

How Product Strategists Should Approach A Maturing Web 2.0 Market, Q4 2008

by G. Oliver Young, November 3, 2008

Vendors looking to sell into the market for enterprise Web 2.0 collaboration tools face a distinct landscape of technologies and ecosystem players. Navigating this maze will be critical to building long-term client customer value and profitable business. . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Forrester TechRadar™ For I&KM Pros: Enterprise Web 2.0 For Collaboration

Wikis And Social Networks Are Ready To Deliver High Value To Your Enterprise, Q4 2008

by Gil Yehuda, November 3, 2008

No longer new, Web 2.0 technologies solve problems that enterprises have today — but most have not yet used these tools to anywhere near their potential. Waiting for tools to mature seems prudent, but if you wait too long, employees may create their own . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

B2B Digital Marketing: A Deep Dive Into Network And Telecommunications Decision-Makers

by G. Oliver Young, October 9, 2008

As social media and Web 2.0 tools redraw the consumer marketing landscape, many questions are arising as to the applicability of these same tools to business-to-business (B2B) marketing. Earlier this year, Forrester surveyed telecommunications and networking . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Case Study: HP Taps Social Computing To Boost B2B Podcast Results

Community Marketing Tactics That Work

by Laura Ramos, September 24, 2008

Business marketers hole up to produce boatloads of content that customers and sales seldom see and value little. Determined to do better, HP social media managers engaged experts who work daily with customers to develop relevant marketing content grounded . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

How To Make B2B Webinars Deliver Better Leads

Planned Pre-Show And Follow-Up Communications Are The Key

by Laura Ramos, August 25, 2008

As technology and business-to-business (B2B) marketers replace traditional offer-response strategies with community marketing practices to embrace adopter community issues and values, Webinars will become a key plank in the B2B marketing platform. Technology . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Inquiry Insights: B2B Marketing, Q3 2008

by Laura Ramos, August 22, 2008

Forrester clients submit roughly 20,000 analyst inquiries each year. Reviewing these one-on-one interactions in aggregate illuminates the issues that concern Forrester's clients the most. Our analysis of the questions submitted by business-to-business . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Introducing The Technology Vendor Online Customer Experience Index

B2B Customers Rate The Online Customer Experience Of Tech Vendor Firms

by Alan E. Webber, July 30, 2008

Marketing professionals at tech vendors know that providing a good online customer experience is critical to the success of their firms' marketing and channel strategies. Do those sites today hurt or help the marketing cause at companies like AT&T, . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

IT Departments Play Key Role In The Acquisition And Deployment Of Web 2.0 Technologies

How Technology Marketers Can Grow Their Business By Appealing To IT

by G. Oliver Young, July 10, 2008

Marketing departments, corporate communications, or other lines of business led early enterprise Web 2.0 deployments, with IT departments along for the ride, if they were involved at all. That dynamic is changing rapidly; our recent Web 2.0 survey shows . . .

For Technology Product Management & Marketing Professionals

Case Study: Web 2.0 Propels StackSafe's Debut

by Laura Ramos, June 23, 2008

Software startup StackSafe used Social Computing technology to burst onto the scene in the multitier testing and change control market. How? The companies' marketing professionals engaged prospects in a community conversation to validate a problem, postulate . . .