Early Adopters: Discover how to identify the buyers most eager for innovation in order to capture them

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Are you the type of consumer who wants to be the first to try a new product or who prefers to wait for other people to approve the product before purchasing it?

If you identify with the first alternative, then you are one of the early adopters in the market!

Early adopters are not afraid to embrace new things: as soon as a product is launched, they are the first to buy it .

On the other hand, other consumers, who seek greater security when purchasing, wait for the impressions of early adopters before betting on an innovation.

Do you realize how this type of consumer has a great power of influence? And that is why marketing and sales strategies must pay more attention to this public.

In this article, you will better understand:

What are early adopters?
Why is selling to early adopters different?
How to segment campaigns for these passionate consumers?
Join us to find out everything!

What are early adopters?
Early adopters are people who embrace an innovation from the start, being responsible for driving the success of a new product or service .

They are willing to try new things, even at the risk of buying a product that has not yet been approved by the market and may not be fully developed.

However, the risk is worth it to be one of the privileged few who have access to innovation and can influence the decisions of other consumers.

This term arose from the studies of Everett Rogers, one of the most renowned scholars in the field of innovation. Intrigued by the success of innovative products, the university professor wanted to understand the path they took to conquer the market.

This is how he launched the book “ The Diffusion of Innovation ” in 1962.

In this work, Rogers launches the theory of diffusion of innovations, according to which a new idea, a new product or a new behavior is consolidated in society after passing through different public segments.

So, early adopters would be those consumers who drive the adoption of the innovation, so that only later it creates roots in the social environment .

The model proposed is summarized in this graph:

early adopters chart
This model divides social segments into five groups, based on their size and the time it takes them to adopt an innovation.

They are:

innovators (inovators);
early adopters
early majority;
late majority;
laggards.
In the consumer market, it works like this: after the product is launched, only a small group of innovators know about it. These are usually specialists or technology enthusiasts who like to explore new things on the market. With them, innovation takes off slowly.

Thus, early adopters form a larger group of first consumers, even in an environment of uncertainty; in the end, very few people know if that product is really good, if it will work or if it has a fair price.

When it comes to innovation, the market often does not even understand what it is for and what needs it can solve . It is these people, therefore, who push for the launch of an innovative product to make it capable of transforming its status quo.

From there, other consumers feel more confident in adopting the innovation . Then, based on the first impressions of the early adopters, the initial majority (or early majority) begins to acquire the product and thus begins to expand in the market.

The product then finally becomes established in the market with the late majority. This segment does not like to take risks with new products, preferring to stay in their comfort zone, but they do not want to be left behind either.

So it takes a while for them to adopt innovation, but they end up giving up when they notice that they are becoming outdated.

Finally, a smaller group of latecomers is the last segment to adopt innovation, which has already caused transformations in social habits. This group prefers the traditional solutions to which it is already accustomed and is reluctant to buy new products.

Therefore, this only happens when you can no longer escape, because only that product can solve your need.

Want an example to see how this happens with a real product? Think of the iPhone, as Apple is known for its innovation power.

When the iPhone was launched, tech fans were macedonia phone number list already looking forward to what Steve Jobs would bring to market. But it was the launch event in 2007 that stirred up early adopters who needed to try out the device that promised to put everything in the palm of their hands, even if they had to pay dearly for it and the product wasn't fully finished yet.

They were responsible for testing the smartphone and sharing their impressions with other consumers.

That product was different! So, most people started to change their cell phone for iPhone looking for its benefits.

Some resisted, perhaps because of the price or because of their attachment to their habits. But the iPhone became a standout in the mobile device market and gained a legion of fans and defenders. Most of them were late, but they could not be left behind.

Those Blackberry and Windows Phone users, however, were still holding out. It was undeniable that Apple's launch featured superior technology, design and performance. There was no getting around it, the iPhone had dominated the market.