For all new ideas, there is always a first time: the time when the idea becomes a concrete project and its inventor is there, waiting to see if anyone will ever use it.
That someone is the early adopters: experimenters who are willing to use a new product before others.
If they speak well of it, then other people will adopt it and the launch will be a success.
They are few, but they are important. And I don’t think there’s ever been an invention in the world that didn’t need a first handful of men at the forefront to establish itself.
So I imagined the early adopoters of the wheel: ancestors who knew better and to whom we are still indebted.
Early Adopters. Who are they?
Early adopters are identified as all those people who use new products, services, or technologies just before their mass deployment.
Why early adopters are important
The term early adopter translated “early user,” identifies a specific niche of users, who like to try out products, services and technologies early, before they are adopted by the masses.
Why are they so important for companies?
Basically for two reasons.
Early adopters can test one of your products or services
Because thanks to early adopters, the company has the opportunity to test products and services, before they are released to the market:
- How are they perceived?
- For which functions are they valued and for which are they not?
- What problems or needs do they solve… etc.?
In this way the company achieves two important goals.
- May apply any changes and additions to the product and service before mass distribution.
- It can implement the right positioning strategy and consequently the marketing and communication strategy to reach its target market and target audience.
Early adopters become ambassadors, promoters of your company
Because early adopters, in many cases, are real ambassadors.
They are valued and respected by the community. They are considered experts in their field.
So if an early adopter recommends a product, or a service, the community reacts accordingly.
We could call them real influencers.
Where the ability to influence does not depend on the number of followers they have but on their professionalism, knowledge and authority in the market.
The adoption curve of a new product
The diffusion of innovations always follows a cycle that broadly speaking we can summarize as follows:
- idea;
- realization;
- test;
- optimization;
- market launch;
- diffusion.
The adoption curve is a model proposed by Everett M Rogers in his book Diffusion of Innovations, in fact it is also called the Rogers curve.
Describes the steps in the diffusion of a new idea in the market, dividing into 5 categories of users:
- The innovators (very few)
- Early adopters
- The initial majority
- The late majority
- Latecomers.
Early adopters are few in number, but unlike the scattered early innovators they already have the critical mass that can kick-start the whole movement. Before launching new technologies or a new service, a company should always consider these early adopters as its target audience initial. What do they need? How to change their daily lives for the better?
When an idea spreads successfully among early adopters, the majority decision-making process changes for the better: the number of users spontaneously rises and reach an initial majority of people in the target audience (early majority or early majority).
At this point the trend is growing, and social pressure drives the last large segment of users (the late majority or late majority) to purchase. Finally, it is the late majority’s turn.
Some innovations are destined to last for centuries. Others have a limited life cycle, but can still change the daily lives of millions of people.
An example you already know
A crazy case was made by Facebook. The idea, simple, to connect students at an American college and “spy” on fellow students.
Success within college and then spread, dizzyingly, around the world. The world’s first social network changed social interactions, the way we make acquaintances and purchases, and the psychology of most connected humans on earth.
Today Facebook still has a lot of users, but it is experiencing a downturn. A symptom that the adoption curve has peaked.
How to launch a new product
If you are struggling with a product launch, this last paragraph can help you build a viable launch strategy for innovative products or services.
Let’s start with the prelaunch phase. Unfortunately, very often ideas that sound great do not come to fruition. This is the time to work on themarket analysis, the business plan, and then the marketing strategy.
Answer these questions to get started on the right foot: does your idea have a market? Do people need it?
The early adopters of the wheel needed it, all right. Facebook early adopters, on the other hand, could continue to live well without peeking into the lives of others … but only before they realized they had this chance, which was too tempting to pass up.
To be successful, therefore, you must know your potential customer inside out. In this case, you have to start with the early adopters: who are the first people willing to use your product or service?
Try to understand these people thoroughly: age, profession, cultural level, needs, fears, economic possibilities, expectations.
Sew your product to them, to solve a problem or to make explicit a latent desire that they did not know they had before (Facebook).
Now that you know who you are doing this for, you can start with product/service testing. Feedback is very helpful in improving your offering.
When you are ready to sell, then also start with a marketing and communication strategy to get the word out about your proposal.
Again, remember that campaigns should be aimed at the target people: in the very first phase precisely at potential early adopters.
Try to engage them, get reviews and word of mouth (perhaps by offering free products in trials or dedicated discounts).
Once your product has been launched in the market, continue to pamper and retain early adopters, such as with great content marketing.
When others, most people in your target audience, see them happy to use your product, they will buy it in turn.
To learn more, also read the Galactic guide to launching a new product on the market.
Think of a phased marketing strategy, targeting gradually different people as the adoption curve grows and the target audience becomes broader.
In this growth phase you may find that your product also finds new and different applications.
The wheel not only pushes goods and boulders, but also takes us on trips or to try our luck in a TV quiz show. Facebook is no longer just a window into the lives of a group of American students, but a platform that influences political and economic life; where to stay in touch with high school friends, and America’s uncles; where to buy second-hand clothes, meet your soul mate, and promote your brand.
Do you want to launch your new product or start-up in the market? Contact us!