The marketer’s challenge is to reach the tipping point where most people in the target audience feel that most other people are already benefiting from the marketer’s new product or service. The role of proactive marketing is essentially to alert the right people in this audience that now is the exact time to acquire the new offering, if they want to remain in sync with others in the market, which is a goal for many.
People’s behaviors are influenced by their peers and how widespread they think a particular action is. Most people hesitate to go first, and most don’t want to be last. Most people do what others do – they wait to see what other folks are doing.
Influencing your target audience to act involves two steps – raising awareness about an unresolved need and educating about why now is the best time to choose a new offering.
It’s the dream of innovators to imagine how the world will beat a path to their doors, intuitively comprehending how their better mousetrap meets an unresolved need. But the reality is that new product adoption is not driven by quality or features or head-to-head testing, but rather by momentum generated through sharing how others are already enjoying promised benefits.
Building this momentum requires the development of a group of early adopters for the new concept. These folks are often found among your enduring customers; they may have even contributed to your first assessment of the potential new offering. Your initial advocates validate your value proposition, revealing how your offering produces the promised quantifiable benefits. Their testimonials elevate awareness about the urgency of unmet needs, confirm the delivery of advantages you’ve promoted, and stress that now is the right time to do what others are already doing, securing additional benefits for themselves. The generosity demonstrated by your advocates in sharing their experiences opens minds to exploration and minimizes the risk of considering change, accelerating progress towards the tipping point.
What’s your process for introducing new offerings?
How could the influence of early advocates accelerate acceptance of your new product?
