Do you know who your social media audience is and where they sit in the Social Technographics Ladder? Probably this tool will give you the answers you need or at least an element of support when evaluating your social media effectiveness. This is a very good tool for any marketer planning their social media strategy, as it is critical to understand where in the ladder your audience sits. We are now using this tool with all our customers to help them define their social media objectives.

Peers we’ve spoken to and marketers in the B2B arena often talk about getting frustated with their results from social media campaigns, because of lack of conversations, comments etc. But this is a common mistake we have all fallen into and this is predominantly because the only benchmark we have is based on B2C.

However, according to the ladder, the majority of the B2B Marketing audience sits in the “Inactive” or “Spectators” categories. So is it any surprise that your social media efforts are not generating lots of dialogue? Having said that, this doesn’t mean your strategy is failing. What’s key is to take a closer look – first check out your web traffic and visits from social media channels to your site. How long are they spending on your site, what pages are they viewing and what are they doing afterwards?

By figuring out your audience profile, it will dictate what you can or cannot expect from your B2B social media efforts and the immediate impact it may create (or may not!) – and it helps with the all important KPI ammunition for senior management.

Check the Social Technographics Ladder and both tools Forrester Social Media Tool for Consumer and Forrester Social Media Tool for B2B.