I just read Groundswell, by Charlene Li and Josh Bernoff. The book reads as a tactician’s guide to succeeding as a business in the world of social media. One of the most useful and insightful gems from the book is the Social Technographics ladder.
Creators
Creators publish blogs, publish their own webpages, upload their own videos and music, and write and post their own stories.
Critics
Critics post ratings and reviews, they comment on blogs and other websites, they contribute to online forums, and they contribute to and edit wiki articles.
Collectors
Collectors use RSS feeds, add tags to web pages or photos, and “vote” for sites online.
Joiners
Joiners visit and maintain profiles on social networking sites.
Spectators
Spectators Read blogs, watch video other users have uploaded, listen to podcasts, read online forums, and read customer ratings and reviews.
Inactives
Inactives do nothing. It’s not that they don’t use the internet, it’s just that they don’t participate in its social components.
The marketer’s challenge
The process of engaging people in online spheres is a multi-step process. The first step is to figure out where on the ladder your customers fit, and the second step is to devise a strategy to engage them in that spot. For example, if your customers are primarily spectators, attempting to get them to blog or post videos about you will likely be difficult. If your customers are primarily critics, a successful strategy could likely be built that incorporates reviews and other participation.