A ‘twofer’ is when you get two things for the price, effort, or time of one – two-for-one. Another reason to connect with analysts: media coverage and awards. This week, one of our customers beat out Motorola and Sony to win an impressive marketing award. How did it happen?
On a couple occasions, we’ve had the pleasure of briefing Jeff Zabin, Research Fellow at Aberdeen Group; super nice guy and very knowledgeable! Jeff is always looking for vendors to provide real world examples of companies leveraging social media to enhance the customer experience and drive overall business growth. It’s the focus of his research.
Recently, we suggested Jeff talk with our customer, Kodak Gallery. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, Kodak has had great success with the Idea Center, an online community that empowers members to exchange ideas on how to use Kodak products to create personalized gifts and other creative projects using their digital photos.
Before any research was published, Jeff wrote this article for CRM Buyer last month: “If You Build a Branded Online Community, Will Customer Come?” He included his findings and interviewed the Chief Business Officer, Jeffrey Hayzlett. Besides great details on the brand’s overall approach to online communities and ROI, it’s always powerful to see your customer quoted (a happy customer!):
“When it comes to storing, saving and preserving memories, people look to Kodak. They think of us immediately. The key for us is to extend that trust to a whole new generation. Online communities like the Idea Center help us do that,” says Jeffrey Hayzlett, Kodak’s Chief Business Officer. And our technology solution played a big part.
Again, reporters and editors will often times seek analysts to provide insight on the market. So isn’t it nice when an analyst includes your customer in their story? And, even better when they get an award!
Recently, Aberdeen Group recognized five organizations for their marketing excellence with an Aberdeen Industry Achievement Award at the second annual Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Summit. Kodak won for “Excellence in Building Online Communities.” Not bad, eh?
Besides research, media coverage and awards are likely by-products of improving analyst relations. Connect with the right analyst and you might get a twofer!
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Tags: Aberdeen Group, consumer products goods, enterprise social networks, Kodak Gallery, Neighborhood America, online community software, Social Media, The Idea Center
Analyst relations (AR) are important for vendors of high tech products and services, like Neighborhood America. Analysts cover our space – review the good, the bad and the ugly—and release industry reports about their findings, which can play a pivotal role in our customers’ buying decisions. Not to mention, reporters and editors depend on them to provide insight about the market.
In the last couple months, my job as Corporate Communications Manager has evolved to promote brand awareness among key analysts. I coordinate routine briefings between our executives and the analysts to keep them up-to-date on our offerings, with the hopes of being included in their research.
A couple weeks ago, we connected with Caroline Dangson, IDC Research Analyst. Come to find out, she’s working on a report about online community software, a natural fit for us.
So our VP of Sales & Marketing Tom Edwards (aka The Black Fin) jumped on a call with Caroline to provide her an overview of our company, our differentiators and to help flush out some of her thoughts regarding the space. Tom’s been around. He came to us from Telligent, a competitor, because he believed in our vision. All in all, he had a nice chat with Caroline.
This week, IDC announced its latest research by Caroline: “U.S. Online Community Software 2009-2013 Forecast: Strong Growth Despite Recession – Corporate Culture Remains Inhibitor.” The September 2009 study highlights Neighborhood America for addressing an emerging business need — facilitating a social marketplace– to support a nearly 50 percent annual growth rate in the market.
According to Tom, “While consumer engagement through social media has proven itself as a viable business model to deliver value in multiple ways – driving revenues, productivity and innovation – organizations are now preparing to take the next step to drive commerce between enterprises, where the average deal size can reach millions.”
Caroline’s study brings attention to this next era of enterprise social networks, and includes us among the vendors that are differentiating their offerings based on what businesses need. That’s really important for us.
So if you identify an opportunity to connect with an analyst in your space, don’t waste your time analyzing what to do, make it happen. Connect and your customers will connect with you.
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Tags: enterprise social networks, IDC, industry research, Neighborhood America, online community software, social marketplace, Social Media, Tom Edwards
