For Interactive Marketing Professionals

How Consumers Use Social Networks

by Charlene Li, June 21, 2007

Social networking sites like MySpace and Facebook have seen tremendous growth over the past two years, attracting a young and engaged audience. Frequent users of these social networking sites not only engage in more activities and have a more positive . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

When And How To Get Involved With Wikipedia

by Charlene Li, October 23, 2007

As one of the most visited sites on the Web, Wikipedia serves as the reference guide for almost one-fifth of online adults. But the information they see on Wikipedia — which can be created and edited by anyone — may not necessarily be accurate or reflect . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

How Teens Multitask, 2008

by Charlene Li, July 17, 2008

Masters of multitasking, youth can usually be found doing two or more things at the same time. Three out of four television watchers and almost 80% of surfing teenagers are doing something else at the same time. Multitasking increases slightly among older . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Why Marketers Should Court Online Daters

by Charlene Li, June 6, 2007

Online singles who have viewed, posted, or replied to an online personal in the past 12 months represent an attractive audience to marketers. While only 22% of online singles fit this category overall, technology optimism and action define this group. . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Loyalty Drives The Portal Wars

Google Leads In Loyalty, With Sidelined Citizens Sustaining Other Sites

by Charlene Li, September 21, 2007

Although Google leads in terms of market share, 66% of online consumers using it weekly, numbers don't tell the whole story. The "non-loyal" half of its users who don't use Google exclusively are at risk of being enticed into the folds of rival portals. . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

How Consumers Find Web Sites

Social Tools Play A Significant Role For Youth

by Charlene Li, February 6, 2008

Consumers find out about new Web sites through a wide variety of sources, ranging from search engines to radio ads. Different generations rely on different sources; youth and young adults particularly depend on social media like social networking sites. . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

AOL Buys Bebo: Prepare For Social Influence Marketing

by Charlene Li, March 18, 2008

AOL acquired social networking site Bebo for $850 million, signaling the start of traditional Web portals moving into the social Web. With a member base of 40 million users, centered primarily in Europe, Bebo represents an opportunity for marketers to . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Marketing On Social Networking Sites

by Charlene Li, July 5, 2007

Social networking sites (SNSes) like MySpace.com and Facebook attract large numbers of mostly young users who are eager to engage with their favorite brands. But most marketers use traditional marketing tactics like run-of-site advertising and static . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Social Technographics®

Mapping Participation In Activities Forms The Foundation Of A Social Strategy

by Charlene Li, April 19, 2007

Many companies approach Social Computing as a list of technologies to be deployed as needed — a blog here, a podcast there — to achieve a marketing goal. But a more coherent approach is to start with your target audience and determine what kind of relationship . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Technology Adoption Affects Social Computing Adoption And Brand Affinity

Marketers Should Differentiate Social Computing And Branding Efforts By Technology Adoption

by Charlene Li, October 4, 2007

To better understand the effect of technology adoption on marketing, Forrester segmented online consumers into three groups: Early Adopters, Mainstream Consumers, and Sidelined Citizens. Early Adopters lead the way in terms of Social Computing adoption . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Will Local Search Be Googled?

by Charlene Li, March 13, 2007

Google might dominate Internet search from both the consumer and advertising perspectives, but it's far from being leader in the highly fragmented local search market, in which different players are emerging as leaders for different types of local search . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Top Social Computing Predictions For 2008

by Charlene Li, Jeremiah K. Owyang, Peter Kim, January 15, 2008

In the fast changing world of Social Computing, there's only one constant, that people will continue to connect with each other in new and different ways, causing upheavals in the way companies and institutions relate to them. To help chart the muddied . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Calculating The ROI Of Blogging: A Case Study

A Look At The ROI Of General Motors' FastLane Blog

by Charlene Li, Chloe Stromberg, January 24, 2007

Forrester used the process outlined in the associated Best Practices document, "The ROI Of Blogging," to calculate the ROI of General Motors' FastLane blog; but, this is not merely an exercise to generate a number. Using scenarios, General Motors can . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

The ROI Of Blogging

The "Why" And "How" Of External Blogging Accountability

by Charlene Li, Chloe Stromberg, January 24, 2007

Many large companies stand on the brink of blogging, yet they are unwilling to take the plunge. Others, having dove in early, now face the challenge of managing existing blogs without the ability to show that they effectively support business goals. While . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Youth And Social Networks  (174 KB PPT)

by Charlene Li, January 7, 2008

One in five US online young adults use social networking sites daily. Youth SNS activity focuses on communication, entertainment, and personalization. Social networking young adults are also active social technology adopters.

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

How Media Brand Users Participate In Social Technologies  (219 KB PPT)

by Charlene Li, January 9, 2008

Nearly half of US online adults are social media users, those who participate in at least one online social activity at least monthly or more. Increasingly, social computing isn¿t only for the young, but for all Internet users ¿ people who goes online . . .

For Consumer Market Research Professionals

Who Blogs  (220 KB PPT)

by Charlene Li, July 10, 2007

This data chart is a profile of adult and youth bloggers. It looks at the demographics, psychographics, and emerging online channel usage for these individuals.

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Microsoft/Yahoo!: No Deal

Microsoft's Withdrawal Of Premium Offer Hurts Yahoo! The Most

by Shar VanBoskirk, Charlene Li, May 5, 2008

Microsoft took its offer to buy Yahoo! off the table on Saturday after Yahoo! asked for $3 more per share. Forrester believes that the outcome of this three-month-long online media soap opera puts huge pressure on Yahoo! to quickly prove itself viable . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Family.com — Disney's Bold Community Play

Marketers Should Make Deals With Disney's Community-Based Mommy Portal

by Charlene Li, March 13, 2007

Disney launched the beta version of its Family.com site, a new parenting destination full of innovative features designed for parents including community, blogs, focused search, and a planned wiki-like element for answering parenting problems. Based on . . .

For Interactive Marketing Professionals

Microsoft Woos Yahoo! For Media Dominance

Acquisition Implications Would Transform Online Media Ecosystem

by Shar VanBoskirk, Charlene Li, February 11, 2008

Microsoft announced an unsolicited bid to buy Yahoo! for $44.6 billion, a deal that, if consummated, would create a media conglomerate second only to Google in the online space. Forrester believes this acquisition would ultimately be a good thing for . . .

Consumer Profiles Of Four National Newspaper Brands  (196 KB PPT)

by Charlene Li, December 12, 2006

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Blogging Platforms, Q2 2006

iUpload Leads, But Other Platforms Also Meet Diverse Needs Well

by Charlene Li, June 27, 2006

Forrester evaluated leading blogging platforms across 54 criteria and found that iUpload leads the market with its robust blogging capabilities and its strong strategic vision of a blog as a lightweight content management system (CMS), a collaboration . . .

Searching For Digital Marketing's Growth

by Charlene Li, Chris Charron, Sheila Baxter, Charles Q. Strohm, October 31, 2003

The Net's increasing influence on consumers is pushing marketers to shift advertising and brand budgets online. Search will drive US digital marketing to $16 billion, or 4% of the marketing budget, by 2008.

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

UserLand Provides A Low-Cost Solution For Blogging

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q2 2006

by Charlene Li, June 27, 2006

A longtime provider of blogging services, UserLand Software offers Manila as an enterprise solution, available in both hosted and software forms, that has strong permission controls and integrates with corporate identity systems. Basic blogging features . . .

For Information & Knowledge Management Professionals

Telligent Provides A Strong, Community-Based Blogging Platform

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q2 2006

by Charlene Li, June 27, 2006

Telligent Systems' blogging solution is an outgrowth of its Community Server software suite, which has a strong presence in the discussion forum space. Other community tools include a member point system, photo galleries, and a basic social networking . . .