(Part 1 in a 3 part series)
Although it’s Sunday, I’m up early reviewing the data that Andres R, (one of our consultants) and I will be presenting to a client. It’s my first official project that I’m delivering and it’s a real learning experience. I’ve been in heaven lately, swimming in lots of social media data from our massive surveys we deploy, and in this case, we ‘cut’ data from the database to help a client understand the Technographics of the people they are trying to reach.
Being new to this process at Forrester, the research is similar to user experience research I used to conduct. We conducted stakeholder interviews to understand the business goals and drivers, worked with our data team to match the client provided persona and demographic information with our own data, and then conducted analysis.
While I certainly can’t give away any of the details, it’s very clear that two of the three personas that client is trying to reach has heavy use of social media, and the third doesn’t. Furthermore we segment the persona down to the Technographics, to understand how they use each social tool (from blogs, social networks, bookmarks, rating sites, etc) and to then share with client.
Armed with detailed knowledge about how their personas use social media, they are better equipped to move forward with their plans. It’s very clear, based on the data, which tools would work well for the particular personas, and which ones would not. It’s important to understand the people that you’re going to reach before deploying tools. Put people before tools.
You can learn more about Technographics, we’ve made some high level data available on the Groundswell site.
Wish me luck on my first project deliverable.
Good luck with your first project, I’m sure you’ll do fine.
Hey thanks, lookin’ forward to it.
Good luck! Do you or have you worked on projects along these lines for hard disk manufacturers?
Sripathi
Well I worked at Hitachi Data Systems, storage servers for 3 years (including chatting with our sister company HGST –Hard Disk group) and my last client at PodTech (where I was involved with client relations) was Seagate, so I’m familiar with the industry. All of this around the area of social media.
The good news is, we can ‘cut’ this data for any industry, and it’s easy when you know the demographics of who you’re trying to reach.
Break a leg (oh wrong industry, maybe 🙂 ) Have a great presentation.
This week I’m writing strategies for our community platforms. And I’m excited to have an appt with Maria Sipka, CEO of Linquia. She said she met you in Barcelona. Talking about comm bldg is always fun!
People & personas before tools– Wished more of my work colleagues and leaders followed that simple principle. Bestest!
I just finished the Groundswell book, so feel very up to date on the technographics you’re talking about. I talked about the book with Rodney Rumford on video, I’m sure he’ll have that up soon. Congrats on getting your first project done!
Good luck and have a great meeting! It must be really rewarding for you to have this happening. You’ll be terrific (after all – your good karma is huge with all the sharing you do). Enjoy the experience!
Best of luck, Jeremiah. I always feel great going into these things when I know my data is solid, and I’m positive that’s the case for you here. Have fun!
Jeremiah,
It is really exciting to hear about your work at Forrester, especially regarding the development of personas shaped by the analysis of their participation and impact in social media. I am trying to break new ground in the company I just entered, evangelizing for deeper UXA methodology – and was just speaking to someone the other day about the significance of social media. The wheels turn slowly but eventually people will understand how important it all is. All the best in your presentation! Forrester rox!
Thank you all for your support, really tremendous.
Best of Luck. Please let us know how it went.
I think it went well, but of course, the final approval is dependent upon the client satisfaction.
Interestingly, many of them read my blog, and are interacting with me on Twitter …they are among us…(insert dramatic sound here)
Now, to turn that data into insight, then to recommendations they can act on.
Good luck! Do you or have you worked on projects along these lines for hard disk manufacturers?