web2.0 for ps firms

© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

The website habits of the 80 largest US professional services firms

Web two dot

or ?

Tim Parker31 July 2008


Bloom Group Professional Services Firms website study

• 2006 study– Largest 20 firms in each of accounting, law, consulting and IT services– Analysis of their websites– Survey ‐ 40 participants

• 2008 study (in process)– Largest 20 firms in each of accounting, law, consulting and IT services– Websites analysis– Survey


2006 study results – key findings

• Content is less than impressive

• Websites are not a good lead generators – but firms want them to be

• The firms with the most resources are not necessarily the ones with the best websites

• Home pages are generally mediocre at describing the business problems they address

• Law firms are the best at putting users in touch with their experts

• Few firms make it easy for users to subscribe for newsletters or events

• IT services firms provide much more information on their client work


50 ways to use social media…*

1. Add social bookmark links to your web pages 2. Blog posts to improve sharing3. Build blogs 4. Start tagging5. Create podcasts 6. Build community platform topics of interest7. Have your company participate in existing social networks8. Check out Twitter9. Couple your email newsletter content with additional website content 10. Build sentiment measurements11. Learn which bloggers care about your customer. 12. Learn how to measure their influence. 13. Incorporate elements of the Social Media Press Release14. Try out audio or video podcasts15. Build conversation maps for your customers using Technorati.com , Google Blogsearch, Summize, and FriendFeed. 16. Experiment with Flickr and/or YouTube groups 17. Have your staff start personal blogs on their personal interests18. Run a project that incorporates a blog, commercial social networks, and a face‐to‐face event 19. Start a community group on Facebook or Ning or MySpace or LinkedIn around the space where your customer does business20. Experiment with live video like uStream.tv and Mogulus21. Attend a conference dealing with social media like New Media Expo, BlogWorld Expo, and New Marketing Summit 22. Collect case studies of social media success. Tag them “socialmediacasestudy” in del.icio.us. 23. Interview current social media practitioners. 24. See if you can reach more potential buyers/users/customers on social networks25. Don’t forget early social sites like Yahoogroups and Craigslist. 26. Search Summize.com for as much data as you can find in Twitter on your competitors, your space27. Practice delivering quality content on your blogs28. Hire a community manager. 29. Turn your blog into a mobile blog site with Mofuse30. Learn what other free tools might work for community building, like MyBlogLog31.32. etc. etc.

* Courtesy Chris Brogan at www.chrisbrogan.com

http://www.shiftcomm.com/downloads/smprtemplate.pdf

http://del.icio.us/

http://mofuse.com/

http://mybloglog.com/


What is web 2.0?

• “The business revolution in the computer industry caused by the move to the Internet as platform, and an attempt to understand the rules for success on that new platform”

Tim O’Reilly

• “Not a meaningful term, since many of the technology components of ‘Web 2.0’ have existed since the early days of the Web”

Tim Berners‐Lee

• Use of the World Wide Web that enhances creativity, information sharing, and, most notably, collaboration, including so far, web‐based communities and hosted services, such as:– social‐networking sites

– wikis

– blogs

– folksonomies


The use of web 2.0 and other non‐written media is growing fast in PS Firms

2006 2008

Blogs 6% 20%

Online Communities ? 15%

Podcasts 6% 51%

RSS Feeds 15% 48%

Video* 5% 61%

Webinars 15% 80%

* in 2006 only looked for videos of client testimonials


Deloitte’s Dbrief webinarsVirtual conferencing

Webinar Features• Agenda• Speaker profiles, photos• Audio• Slide download• Audio download• Interactive questions• In‐webinar poll questions

Program Features• Free sign‐up• 5 or 6 per week• Organized by function (Fin, HR, Tax)

• And by Industry (15)• Also China• Automatic notification• CPE credits• Archives


McKinsey Quarterly on FacebookA new channel for thought leadership Profile Features

• Featured articles• Audio downloads• RSS feeds• Audio articles• Facilities to share• Cover Photos Album• 2,668 fans• Free content that otherwise requires paid subscription


Oracle communitiesMaking the firm a return destination

Profile Features• Millions of users• Many communities

‐ Technical Network‐ Partners Network‐ Technical Discussion Forums‐ Executive Blogs‐ “Ace” Program for advocates‐ Applications Community‐ Wiki‐ Etc.


RSS FeedsThought Leadership as it’s created

Wilmer Hale

KPMG

White and Case Accenture

Features• 50% of companies, up from 15% 2 years ago

• As many as 40 different feeds from one site


IBM’s research & innovation podcastsThought leadership to consume in the office or on the go

Features• About 40 interviews• RSS subscription• pdf transcripts• Summaries• Executive Briefs• Links to related:

• reports and papers• services and products


HP Services videosMessages that are easy to digest

HP Services Overview Outsourcing Examples

Features• Dozens of videos• Split into

• Corporate incl. exec interviews• Enterprise encl. Services• Products and Services• Uncut

• Can• Download• Share• Comment


How PS Sales and Marketing mirror the buying process

Qualify• Scour the market for potential suppliers

• Evaluate against essential criteria

• Reduce to short‐list

Create Awareness• Formulate messages• Run broadcast marketing programs

• Capture details of suspects

Select• Meet with short‐listed candidates

• Investigate detailed capabilities, working style, rates etc.

• Determine preferred supplier

Create relationship• Design and run participative marketing programs

• Respond to enquiries• Discuss potential work with prospects

Contract• Agree detailed approach and resources

• Agree contract terms and price

Create client• Craft tailored approach

• Secure resources• Agree contract terms and price

Buyer Process

Seller Process


How web 2.0 can contribute

14

• Services V P R

• Expertise V P W B R

• Client Work V R B

• Professionals’ Bios V

• Community F N B

Thought Leadership

Client WorkExamples

Create Awareness Create Relationship Create Client

B blogsF forumsN networksP podcasts

R RSS feedsV videosW webinars


The Bloom Group

The Bloom Group powers up marketing for professional services firms. We specialize in helping professional services firms determine their marketing strategy, attain thought leadership and grow their business through effective thought leadership marketing and campaign execution.

Contact us at: Tel: 978.335.4313

email: [email protected]

www.bloomgroup.com

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.bloomgroup.com/

web2.0 for ps firms

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