[Hidden-tech] Studies/Surveys on Effectiveness of "Web 2.0"

[Tish Grier]

Hi Philip,

We are still very  much in the early days of "web 2.0" -- or, as some would call it, "the conversational web."  For instance, nobody paid attention to blogs for a long time, but some folks started to experiment with them around 2004-'05, and a few people wrote books on it (Debbie Weil's "The Corporate Blogging Book" being a popular one), and then blogs became a technology that could be used for businesses.

Social networking tools started emerging around 2005 (early LinkedIn) but really didn't start to gain steam until 2007, when Facebook started allowing adults into its community..  And those tools were not not used directly for business until Facebook started group pages sometime in '08 and improved them to Fan pages (which actually are apps) in '09.

So, hard numbers, such as the "value" of a tweet, the ROI of blogging, are still in their infancy.  There are examples of how these tools can work for medium/small businesses--actually Kate Vishnyakov of the Kate Gray Boutique in East Longmeadow is a big advocate for how social media has helped  her business.  There are some good articles in Ad Age on how these tools work for smaller businesses.  

For technology businesses, depending on the market you want to reach, social media can be very helpful because it is technology based and there may be communities in there that can be of tremendous help for growing  audience for your product (which you then have to convert to sales.) But you have to know your target market really well, and know what their activity might be in the social space.  

If you want to read up on the subject, I'd suggest Groundswell by Charlene Li and Josh Benhoff of Forrester.  there's also the "Tribalization of Business" study done by Deloitte & Beeline Labs

and if you'd like to talk further, please feel free to give me a call,

Best,
Tish Grier

 Social Media Strategist and Blogger
http://www.tishgrier.com
blog:  http://spap-oop.blogspot.com
LinkedIn:  http://www.linkedin.com/in/tishgrier
land: 413-203-1339

cell: 413-265-1500



----- Original Message ----
From: P. Havens <safe.haven15 at att.net>
To: Hidden-Tech Listserv <hidden-discuss at lists.hidden-tech.net>
Sent: Wed, February 24, 2010 1:55:22 PM
Subject: [Hidden-tech] Studies/Surveys on Effectiveness of "Web 2.0"

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Hello HT,
Just thought I'd throw out a request to everyone for their input. It seems that recently when I have been at various business networking events, the topic of "Web 2.0" comes up. There seems to be a lot of mystery, myth, and intrigue around the topic that generates a lot of questions and occasionally some very heated opinions. Here is my request - has anyone come across any studies or surveys that indicate either quantitatively or qualitatively how "Web 2.0" technologies really help small and medium size businesses to grow?  If not, do you have any recommendations as to a good starting point to begin a search?  As a (new) small business owner myself, and one involved with technology projects, I'd like to be more knowledgeable about this.  Thanks for any information.  Philip Havens