By Christopher Carfi, founder, Cerado

CRM magazine, June 2009, cover

[EDITORS' NOTE: This is part of a series of posts that began here, dissecting a two-page chart that appeared in CRM magazine's June 2009 issue on social media. The digital edition of that issue can be found here, and a standalone image of the chart itself can be seen here. (Click on the “View Full Size” button at the top right of that page.) To view all posts in the series, please add this RSS feed to your RSS reader.]

JUNE 3, 2009 — As this is the “experimental” month around these parts, I decided to experiment with a video post covering my initial thoughts on the Social Media Maturity Model, instead of a text-based analysis. A few thoughts to highlight, however.

First, definitely check out Josh Weinberger’s post from June 1 to get the lay of the land. It’s a good guide to the graphic and to the experiment we’re conducting here.

Next, kudos to Lisa Boccadutre on fitting a whole raft of information into a very small space. The information density on this piece is astounding, in that in two pages there are points about time frames of market uptake of social media, capability changes over a five-year horizon, strategic evolution, treatment of customers and evolving social capabilities.

I do have one primary concern: This graphic seems to imply that the customer will still be on the outside looking in, even five years from now. Not sure I entirely agree with that.

My key question: What does this look like if the customer moves to the center of the picture, instead of merely being a target of an organization’s actions?

Here we go…

link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e1p-CoclHwE

Christopher Carfi is a founder of Cerado, which works with companies to help them to understand what their customers are thinking (by doing crazy things like going out and having conversations with those customers). Cerado also helps its clients understand what competitors are doing, so they can thwart those competitors at every turn. Most of Cerado’s customers rely on the firm for services such as Win/Loss Analysis and Competitive Intelligence (aka “competitive analysis” or “corporate intelligence“).

Having spent the last six or so years working with organizations to help them better connect with their customers at a real, nonsynthetic level, Carfi’s interest in developments such as blogs, wikis, and social networks is self-explanatory.

In fact, he blogs with startling regularity on his site, The Social Customer Manifesto, and can be found on Twitter as @ccarfi.

His contribution to CRM magazine’s June 2009 issue — a special report on social media — can be seen in the magazine’s Connect column: “The New Maelstrom of Social Media.”