The mainstream market

crossing-the-chasm.png

The next group are the early majority, they are the key to getting a stable foothold on the market. This group are very loyal customers if you win them over and essential in securing growth and profitability. The next group are the late majority and are characterized by demanding easy to use, value-for-money products before anything else. Finally, the laggards, this group are the last to adopt an innovation. As clients they can be very tough to win and are therefore often ignored by many marketing efforts, yet can provide important feedback regarding the areas where your product could be further improved e.g. made even simpler, cheaper and more convenient to use.

The chasm is the point where the vastly different motivations for using the new product are emphasised. Visionaries seek out dramatic shifts in productivity which can enable them to quickly move forward, even despite resistance from within their own companies, the pragmatists want gradual, steady improvements, making sure no drastic changes occur too fast.