Learn how to identify who among your consumers fall into this group, and how to work with them.
Every emerging media channel raises the pile of information on customers to a new high. The flood of data on technology, current events, food, clothing and investments generates as many questions as it answers. How much memory do I really need on my new home computer? Why is this company sponsoring an arts festival in my neighborhood? Will this drug treat my condition?
While marketers bombard their audiences with mass messages, consumers are turning to alternative, trusted sources. The knowledge-age consumers check the facts, compare notes and make purchasing decisions after searching online, screening blogs, posting questions to discussion boards and asking friends who are in-the-know. Opinions about brands and products percolate in online and offline conversations.
Finding Tech-fluentials
Since 1999, Burson-Marsteller has been researching influencers who use the internet to spread the word on companies, brands and products. E-fluentials® constitute only 10 percent of the online population but they pass along information to millions of followers through word-of-mouth. In 2004, Burson-Marsteller wanted to investigate how the e-fluentials integrated new communication technologies into their lives.
Using its proprietary segmentation formula, Burson-Marsteller screened and identified 400 e-fluentials among WIRED magazine’s subscriber panel -- a surrogate for the technology elite. (The screener questions are about online communication habits. They are posted at www.efluentials.com/quiz.)
After conducting a series of co-relational analyses, Burson-Marsteller uncovered a new group of e-fluentials who were more influential, viral, affluent, educated, tech-savvy and design-conscious than average. Given their aptitude in using high-end technologies to accelerate word-of-mouth, members of the newfound segment are called the “tech-fluentials.”
The 10 Traits of Tech-fluentials
The tech-fluentials are not just another demographic segment. They are a powerful audience group defined by their behavior and attitudes towards technology and communication. Tech-fluentials set themselves apart from other influencer groups, using technology as an enabler and driver. While their predecessors attended town meetings, wrote letters to politicians and spoke to large groups of friends and family about new products to try, the tech-fluentials use blogs, IM, SMS, broadband and WiFi connections to spur word-of-mouth faster and further. On average, tech-fluentials share information about a company with 15 other people.
Tech-fluentials’ expertise is not restricted to technology. They advise their peers on a wide array of subjects including politics, healthcare, automobiles and corporate social responsibility programs. Tech-fluentials are a group of self-appointed journalists, issue advocates and marketers powered by high-end communication technologies. The following are their key characteristics.
Tech-fluentials are:
1. Chief Opinion Leaders
Tech-fluentials’ friends, family and colleagues often ask them for advice (86 percent). In return, tech-fluentials typically influence the types of products these people buy (86 percent).
2. Information Spreaders
Tech-fluentials pass along information about their experiences with companies in-person (81 percent), through email (81 percent), with instant messages (41 percent) and text messages (13 percent).
Tech-fluentials are about five times more likely than the average U.S. adult to have their own blog. One-third (33 percent) of tech-fluentials write their own blogs. Meanwhile, according to the 2004 Pew American Internet Life Survey, only 7 percent of U.S. online adults have created a blog.
3. Highly Active and Engaged Internet Users
Almost all tech-fluentials provide feedback to websites (99 percent) and email companies (97 percent). Nine in 10 tech-fluentials post to bulletin boards (92 percent) and make business contacts online (88 percent).
4. Knowledge Hunters and Gatherers
Information is tech-fluentials’ currency. They make it a habit to be informed (96 percent), are open to new ideas (94 percent) and like knowing diverse perspectives (94 percent).
5. Futurists
Tech-fluentials use technology to bridge their business and personal lives (86 percent), solve business problems (83 percent) and get an edge in business (78 percent).
6. Fast and Mobile
Tech-fluentials point to broadband (75 percent) and search engines (72 percent) as the most influential technologies of the past five years.
7. Accessible Online and Offline
Tech-fluentials get their technology news from both online and offline sources. They read magazines (85 percent) and visit tech-related websites (83 percent). They watch network TV and cable programs (50 percent) and follow blogs (49 percent).
8. Design-conscious
Tech-fluentials believe that good product design and style can establish a brand (91 percent) and give a company competitive advantage (91 percent).
Seven in 10 tech-fluentials (68 percent) go as far as saying that they choose technology products that match their own personal style.
9. Function- and Quality-focused
Tech-fluentials value function (98 percent) and quality (97 percent) over price (74 percent) when purchasing technology products.
10. Community-oriented Citizens
Tech-fluentials follow corporate social responsibility programs to learn more about businesses and buy these companies’ products (42 percent) and stock (18 percent).
Following their tradition to inform their peers about great finds, they also recommend their friends, family and colleagues to buy socially-responsible companies’ products (44 percent) and stock (19 percent).
Doing Business with Tech-fluentials
Businesses can sidestep the information clutter and create deeper relations with customers by earning tech-fluentials’ approval and cascading messages through these dynamic opinion leaders’ circles.
Companies can survey their stakeholders to identify the tech-fluentials among them. For instance, website visitors, customers and vendors who have given the company permission to communicate with them can be invited to answer questions about their communication habits, behaviors and attitudes towards technology. Qualifying respondents can be grouped as a new target audience for the company.
Once a company identifies its own set of tech-fluentials, it can implement the following tactics to establish meaningful, one-to-one relationships with them and join in their conversations:
Capture qualitative feedback and reply: Keep track of the messages that come through your website’s “contact us” section. Assign a team member to respond personally to these messages within a week.
Hold online focus groups: Tech-fluentials continually call and write to companies. Why not channel this energy into online forums where they can share their candid opinion with their peers and the company? Online communities bolster customer loyalty and enhance their experience with the company’s products and services.
Invite tech-fluentials to test new products and services: Tech-fluentials thrive on being the first to try new concepts. They are open to new ideas. Their feedback can be used to put the final touches on a product.
Soft launch with tech-fluentials: Start a conversation with tech-fluentials and reach broader audiences by informing and empowering these outspoken opinion leaders. Encourage tech-fluentials to talk or write about their experiences with the new product. Address any concerns directly and offer solutions to underscore the company’s dedication to customer satisfaction.
Align online and offline communications: Tech-fluentials are a multi-media audience. Leverage both online and offline communications to engage them. Prompt their attention online and ask to send them more detailed information. If advertising in a newspaper or magazine, direct them to a website where they can learn more about your offerings and forward the information to their friends.
Offer options to customize style and design: Tech-fluentials have a strong preference for esthetically pleasing environments and products that reflect their personal style. Brands can differentiate themselves in the eyes of the tech-fluentials by offering options to personalize their products. For instance, tech-fluentials would be interested in choosing the color of their MP3 player, creating their customized travel bag or upgrading their car with the latest digital technologies for entertainment and environmentally conscious driving.
In the new communication era, connectivity, social influence and peer networks have to be taken into consideration when addressing early adopters. Many of us use technology to increase our enjoyment of daily activities, to get the latest news or to work at a global scale. Yet a select few, such as the tech-fluentials, take the initiative to translate marketers’ messages and guide communities about purchasing decisions. Identifying and establishing relations with these dynamic opinion leaders will help companies manage their reputation, build brand equity and acquire new customers through word-of-mouth.
Idil Cakim is a director of knowledge development at Burson-Marsteller, a global PR firm. She specializes in interactive marketing and custom research. She manages Burson-Marsteller's internet-related proprietary studies, including the e-fluentials®.