The document discusses the results of a 2006 study and plans for a 2008 study on the websites of the largest 80 US professional services firms. The 2006 study found that firm websites were generally not good lead generators, home pages did not well describe business problems, and few firms made it easy to subscribe to newsletters. Since then, the use of blogs, online communities, podcasts, RSS feeds, videos, and webinars by these firms has increased significantly. The document also provides examples of how large firms like Deloitte, McKinsey, Oracle, and IBM are using social media and Web 2.0 technologies in innovative ways.

1. The website habits of the 80 largest
US professional services firms
Web two dot
or ?
Tim Parker
31 July 2008
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

2. 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
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

3. 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
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

4. 50 ways to use social media…*
1. Add social bookmark links to your web pages
2. Blog posts to improve sharing
3. Build blogs
4. Start tagging
5. Create podcasts
6. Build community platform topics of interest
7. Have your company participate in existing social networks
8. Check out Twitter
9. Couple your email newsletter content with additional website content
10. Build sentiment measurements
11. Learn which bloggers care about your customer.
12. Learn how to measure their influence.
13. Incorporate elements of the Social Media Press Release
14. Try out audio or video podcasts
15. 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 interests
18. 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 business
20. Experiment with live video like uStream.tv and Mogulus
21. 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 networks
25. 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 space
27. Practice delivering quality content on your blogs
28. Hire a community manager.
29. Turn your blog into a mobile blog site with Mofuse
30. Learn what other free tools might work for community building, like MyBlogLog
31.
32. etc. etc.
* Courtesy Chris Brogan at www.chrisbrogan.com
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

5. 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
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

6. 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
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

7. Deloitte’s Dbrief webinars
Virtual conferencing
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
Webinar Features
• Agenda
• Speaker profiles, photos
• Audio
• Slide download
• Audio download
• Interactive questions
• In‐webinar poll questions
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

8. McKinsey Quarterly on Facebook
Profile Features
A new channel for thought leadership • Featured articles
• Audio downloads
• RSS feeds
• Audio articles
• Facilities to share
• Cover Photos Album
• 2,668 fans
• Free content that otherwise
requires paid subscription
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

9. Oracle communities
Making 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.
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

10. RSS Feeds
Features
Thought Leadership as it’s created • 50% of companies, up from 15%
2 years ago
Wilmer Hale
• As many as 40 different feeds
KPMG from one site
White and Case Accenture
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

11. IBM’s research & innovation podcasts
Thought 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
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

12. HP Services videos
Messages that are easy to digest Features
• Dozens of videos
• Split into
• Corporate incl. exec interviews
• Enterprise encl. Services
• Products and Services
• Uncut
• Can
• Download
• Share
• Comment
Outsourcing Examples
HP Services Overview
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

13. How PS Sales and Marketing mirror the buying process
Select Contract
Qualify • Meet with short‐ • Agree detailed
• Scour the market for listed candidates approach and
potential suppliers • Investigate detailed resources
• Evaluate against capabilities, working
Buyer Process • Agree contract terms
essential criteria style, rates etc. and price
• Reduce to short‐list • Determine preferred
supplier
Create client
Create relationship
Create Awareness • Craft tailored
• Design and run
• Formulate messages approach
participative
• Run broadcast
Seller Process • Secure resources
marketing programs
marketing programs • Agree contract terms
• Respond to enquiries
• Capture details of and price
• Discuss potential
suspects
work with prospects
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

14. How web 2.0 can contribute
• Services V • Professional
P R s’ Bios V
Thought
Leadership
Create Awareness Create Relationship Create Client
Client Work
• Expertise V
Examples
• Community
P W B R
FNB
• Client
Work V R B
B blogs R RSS feeds
F forums V videos
N networks W webinars
P podcasts
14
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC

15. 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: info@bloomgroup.com
www.bloomgroup.com
© 2008 The Bloom Group LLC