IBM, Microsoft, SAP and other companies might be pouring massive amounts of cash into marketing via social technologies, but according to a new study by Forrester, Web 2.0 techniques aren’t what compel a business buyer to purchase a particular solution. According to the study, some 77 percent of surveyed business decision makers use social media and messaging and collaboration applications on the job, whether publishing a Web page, posting comments or using Facebook.

But when it comes to being swayed to spend their dollars on business technology, 84 of the surveyed decision makers were more likely to rely on word of mouth from peers and colleagues, while 45 percent said they were swayed by forums, online communities and social networks. The report suggests several reasons for marketers’ disconnect, including lack of social media experience, rapid technology changes that have left them playing catch-up, some executives being reluctant to engage with new technology and a simple unawareness of how decision makers use social media.

Nonetheless, the study found that business decision makers use a variety of social media within the context of their jobs:

• Some 27 percent reported publishing a blog or Web page, uploading video or music or posting articles online—a group the study termed “Creators.”
• Another 37 percent, called “Critics,” posted reviews of products or services and commented on blogs or online forums.
• Another 29 percent, “Collectors,” used RSS feeds, voted for Web sites and added tags to Web pages. Also at 29 percent were the “Joiners,” who utilized Facebook or other social networking sites.
• A full 69 percent, deemed “Spectators,” participated more passively in online activities by reading blogs and forums and online reviews, listening to podcasts, and watching video uploaded by others.
• Another 23 percent were “Inactives” who did not participate in any of these online activities for work purposes.

In sum, these decision makers are more active with regard to social media than the general population—and yet, the study asserts, marketers still have problems reaching out to them via technology. (eWEEK, February 25, 2009)