I was born in 1984, which was a time ideally suited for me to be an early adopter in the technology / internet sectors. Those of you in or near my generation know what I mean.
I was 7 when the internet was launched in ’91, and was quickly thereafter learning and exploring this new, interesting World Wide Web. Kids tend to explore more so than adults, so you can only imagine what it was like for a 13 year old to figure out his way around the web before search engines.
We are the generation of “Facebook’s first users” and have watched it turn from a simple tool that helped us skip class and find someone who attended, into a massive cult of over 1 billion people.
Early adopters are the trendsetters. They are the first customers of a company, product, or technology in really any field you can think of.
We’ve had the pleasure of watching dot com sites like Amazon, Google, Groupon, Facebook, and more grow right in front of our eyes. In a way it’s as if we are their estranged uncles because of how we watched them from inception, followed their growth, and watched them evolve into what they are today.
I envision the folks at Google saying, “Oh, that’s just uncle Marc submitting another Gmail lab feature request,” after watching me submit hundreds of ideas to them.
But, we’ve also watched internet giants launch and fall rather quickly. Remember the dot com bust?
I have always rooted for Myspace, but who am I kidding, I don’t even know my login info anymore. In fact, I don’t even know my hotmail credentials that I used to sign up for the site in the first place. It probably was automatically de-activated a few years after I was ecstatic to receive a beta-only invite to use Gmail back in ’05. I remember having 10 invites that I could use and I carefully selected people who I felt would appreciate and use the service as I did.
The early adopter consumers in the daily deal space don’t just have the latest apps from deal and coupon sites…
They have all the latest apps from deal and coupon sites organized properly on a custom folder on their brand new smart phone, and in a few minutes can find a deal nearby their current location for just about whatever they are looking for.
Or better yet, they are doing all of the above on their new Google Glasses.
The way consumers search for information, companies, reviews, deals and coupons continues to evolve.
I felt privileged back when I started using Google as a freshman in high school, because I had the realization that anything can be found on the web if you searched for it properly. I remember researching for information and the best deals to help my parents out because they didn’t yet realize the possibilities.
Everything has greatly changed since then.
I recently Skyped with a 78 year old named Joe who sold things on eBay, regularly used craigslist, checked his Facebook profile daily, and redeemed Groupons on his smart phone.
At this point, it’s not just the early adopters. Early majority, late majority, and even laggards are beginning to use smart phones and technology. Folks are getting smarter when it comes to searching for things online and on their phones.
Living Social was recently called out by reviewers for pulling a fast one on their customers. They posted a deal priced at $25 at a supposed 64% discount. Many customers/reviewers have pointed out the fact that a quick Google search shows the same product priced at over half of what LI was selling for; 15 bucks not on sale and even $10.99 on Amazon.
What does all this mean?
It means now, more than ever, businesses must realize that consumers are smarter. They will research and dig up information and do what they can to find the best deal. Your customers will not only find out if you are lying, but they will publicly call you out on it on a platform that you may not even be aware exists yet.
Competitors are only a click or two away, and folks know this.
It means customers have more power than ever to hurt or help your company’s reputation. A well written negative Tweet or FB status about a company can spread out of control in an instant. Putting focus on customer service is more important than it ever has been.
The “curve” and trends moves fast. How are you staying ahead of it?
For businesses and folks involved in technology… Programmers and software developers are a key asset to help you stay ahead of the trends.
Check out our new opportunity to have our team help you out:
http://dailydealbuilder.com/dev
Marc D. Horne
Questions? Comments? Feedback? Press?
email support@hcdesk.com
I originally posted this article on Daily Deal Media.
