If a great tech product is well-marketed to the right audience, the results are indeed outstanding.
But shifting your strategy as your business & customer base grows is cumbersome. If not done correctly, your business falls into the trap of not being engaging enough for the majority of targeted consumers.
No conversion, no sales.
Crossing the Chasm has become the bible for bringing cutting-edge products to progressively larger markets.
Written by Silicon Valley tech consultant & writer Geoffrey Moore, it got first published in 1991, it gained huge praise ever since. It has been re-edited 3 times to resonate better with the current tech industry, showing its best-seller status in business books.
We’ll dive into what the Chasm is & how the book shows that you can cross it in this new #ContentReview
Adopting Innovation
This book focuses on a specific part of what is called the Technology Adoption Life Cycle.
Unlike the Product Life Cycle, this graph outlines your overall customer base.
From innovators (tech enthusiasts willing to find the latest solution the market offers) all the way to laggards (people reluctant to change), this graph outlines every persona targeted by your product.
Innovators (being the first converted) drive early adopters to give it a go. Once this specific customer base is touched, your product is bound to grow. But most companies don’t realize that they don’t scale their marketing enough to reach their early majority. A new marketing approach needs to be set in order to reach this customer base.
The market has its own dynamics.
Crossing The Chasm
After being told what was the Chasm in the first chapter, it is time to cross it in the second.
There are many ways to make your business convert the majority of potential customers.
Here are the two most important according to Moore:
Find your niche
A key to cross the Chasm is to attack a niche application, property or service.
Thanks to low competition, it is easier to dominate this market, and put yourself in front of your customer as the leader of this specific market.
For Moore, it is highly important to find & focus on this niche when selling innovation.
Being the market leader is key to mainstream adoption
Sell a Complete product
Most of your customer base want a finished product rather than a feature.
Yes, innovators & early adopters like change. They want to try new things offered by the market. But most of your customers will be converted by a complete solution.
Crossing the Chasm stands as a must-read for any aspiring B2B (not all concepts in the book apply to B2C) entrepreneur, or product manager looking to take his product(s) to the next step of their growth. Not only does it give some good advice to tech-enabled companies, but also explains a lot about market.
This book will tell you many technical, often overlooked items that make high-tech marketing in all stages of the product’s growth. Packed with all the insights, tools & knowledge you need to make your products cross the Chasm, & eventually convert your future early majority.
Buy Crossing The Chasm on Amazon!
