The One Graph All High-Tech Marketers Must Understand
Whenever I take on a new high-tech copywriting customer, I always ask a lot more questions about the prospect than I do the product. It just makes sense. Before I can adequately share how the product’s features match up to benefits, I have to know what benefits the prospect cares about and why.
And if I’m promoting a high-tech product, it pays big dividends for my customers to know the Technology Adoption Life Cycle…and what it means to them.
Goeffery Moore’s “Crossing the Chasm” should be required reading for all marketing managers and campaign leaders who promote high-tech products. It’s every bit as relevant and on-target today as it was back in 1991 when he wrote the first edition. I’m certain Moore’s Technology Adoption Life Cycle will be taught in all MBA marketing classes in the coming decades.
Here is his Technology Adoption Life Cycle…
The TALC plots all technology buyers (whether they’re individuals or organizations) on a normal distribution - the famous bell-shaped curve. These buyers can be placed into any 1 of 5 different categories…
- Innovators - technologists who buy technology for the sake of technology
- Early Adopters - those who see the potential and are willing to jump on a new technology
- Early Majority - those willing to accept a new technology only if it provides a bona fide benefit. If they’re convinced it does, they’re willing to change the way they operate to enjoy the business benefits
- Late Majority - very similar to the early majority, except they aren’t willing to change the way they do anything. If it doesn’t work out-of-the-box, they won’t buy.
- Laggards - won’t buy new technology for any reason. If they’ve got a low-tech way to accomplish something, they’ll stick to it…regardless of how much benefit a new technology could bring them.
Each of these categories implies a different marketing strategy. And different ways to reach them in in copy. I think every B2B copywriter needs to be aware of this model, as well as the different copy approaches to reach them. I’ll address each of these in future posts, along with examples of B2B copywriting I have used to connect with each of them.
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Eric
Tags: High Tech Copywriting, Software Copywriting
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