Engage Gen Y Online With Social Interactivity

June 2nd, 2009

Bruce Temkin

With contributors:

Rachel Zinser , Andrew McInnes

Summary

Gen Y is a unique breed. Firms can't interact with these young consumers in the same way they do with older consumers. That's why Forrester identified four design approaches for reaching Gen Y online: immediacy, Gen Y literacy, individualism, and social interactivity. To examine best practices in one of these approaches — social interactivity — we examined the online experiences of 20 large companies. Some good social interactivity tactics we found: Zappos.com provides several ways to share product information, Sprint offers forums for product and service suggestions, and Toyota presents customers' "stories from the road." Customer experience professionals can start infusing social interactivity by identifying the specific paths that Gen Yers take through their sites.

Want to read the full report?

This report is available for individual purchase ($1495).

Forrester helps business and technology leaders use customer obsession to accelerate growth. That means empowering you to put the customer at the center of everything you do: your leadership strategy, and operations. Becoming a customer-obsessed organization requires change — it requires being bold. We give business and technology leaders the confidence to put bold into action, shaping and guiding how to navigate today's unprecedented change in order to succeed.