Early Adopter Insights
March 29, 2010 by Nate Winter
Ad Age just published a new white paper called Shiny New Things: What Digital Adopters Want, How to Reach Them and Why Every Marketer Should Pay Attention. (You can download Shiny New Things for free here.) The big buzzword here, especially as it applies to tech toys, is “early adopters”-- the first group of people who buy a new product. They’re the real the subject of this article, even though the term doesn’t actually appear in the title.
If nothing else, Shiny New Things is well-timed. With the current influx of so many big, competing consumer tech products-- iPad, Kindle, Google’s Nexus One phone, Motorola’s Droid-- this is an appropriate moment to look at how innovative products gain critical mass and become widely popular. Unfortunately, I found this white paper only moderately enlightening-- in large part it’s a primer on early adopters and the big tech launches of the past five years. Although, Shiny New Things did reveal a few interesting nuggets worth sharing, so here they are.
The Social Media Soapbox
There’s more to early adopters than just being first to buy a product. Part of the psychology that drives their purchases also drives them to talk to others about those purchases. The early adopter’s social side wants to show off his or her new toy in front of others. Since the idea of early adopters emerged in the early ‘60s, this group’s desire to talk up recent purchases has been key to driving a product’s sales toward mass adoption.
In the past, this talking up and showing off relied on more traditional methods of communication: face-to-face conversation, phone calls, email, etc. But in the social media age, the likes of Facebook, Twitter and blogs have made it extremely easy for early adopters to tell a much larger audience about their new purchases. This kind of soapbox for early adopters shortens the new product adoption cycle and makes products more popular more quickly. This plays a big role in the increased attention that product marketers are now giving to early adopters.
How to Engage Early Adopters
For product marketers, the big question is how to engage early adopters to try and endorse their products. There are competing theories on how to do this.
Google’s method is an extended beta period where users can help shape development of the final product by supplying feedback and ideas to Google’s development team. For products like the Nexus One mobile phone, Google gave test versions of the phone to influential tech bloggers before the Nexus One went on sale.
Google obviously trusts its early adopters and values their input. I think there’s another motivation here. When someone gets involved with a product by offering feedback or participating in discussion forums, they form a connection with the product. It’s a positive connection that leads to a positive opinion of the product. When you get early adopters on your side, they’re likely to support your products and help you spread the word about them.
Apple’s method, on the other hand, relies on complete exclusivity. Apple offers no public beta versions of its software. And no early versions of products like iPhone or iPad are sent to influential bloggers prior to launch. Because of Apple’s notoriously tight control over its entire product development and marketing process, early adopters get no special treatment. This careful control lets the curiosity and anticipation of Apple’s new “It” product grow to fever pitch, which usually means big results upon release.
Even without the input of early adopters, Apple’s products are known for their innovative design and ease of use. As a result, Apple inspires strong brand loyalty among early adopters and consumers who buy later in the adoption cycle.
What It Means to You
So maybe you’re not as big as Google or Apple. And you don’t have a strong network of early adopters to reach out to. There are still some fundamental ideas to take away here.
Your company can (and should) use social media to let people know when you’ve released a new product. You can still ask people to try your product and give you feedback on it. Start with your most loyal clients and do what Google does: give them a sneak peak at what you’re working on get their input. They’ll feel like a trusted insider, and you’ll get valuable feedback from the people most likely to use your product.
