dispatches from a digital marketer

Historically, new applications, technologies etc. were at launch the domain of the early adopter, someone who was tech-savvy, a heavy tool user, efficiency driven, and willing to take the time and risk to try something new. But a new wave of “quick adopters” has emerged, those users who are less concerned with having the ultimate performing application than with being able to perform simpler tasks easily and quickly. These quick adopters are more consumer-oriented than technology driven, less concerned with efficiency and more with entertainment and social connecting.

What has changed that has created this new user base?  First, the emergence of open source has produced numerous new applications and upgrades to existing software, that have resulted in easy-to-use and more consumer-oriented software. Second, the introduction of new apps, smaller software applications that are single-application centric, performing a single utility rather than a more complex set of functions. This has created easy-to-use, lite versions of tools that can be quickly downloaded and tested. Finally, pricing has changed significantly: no longer an expensive proposition to purchase, free or nearly-free apps have become the norm reducing the cost risk of trying something new that may or may not prove worthwhile.

All of this presents a challenge to the digital marketer attempting to capture the interest and loyalty of a quick adopter. How do you make the your new apps or products ‘sticky’ when the quick adopter is just as likely to abandon your product as not?