Every company you know that’s dominating a mass market of consumers got there by focusing on something else first. Read that again.

Uber has captured mass market appeal as an easy ride share app, but it started as an expensive black car service for tech bros looking to show off in New York and San Francisco (where cabs are both exponentially easier to hire and wildly more affordable).

AirBnb is the world’s largest hospitality provider, but it started as a roommate sharing website for a design conference in San Francisco.

Liquid Death has surpassed the billion-dollar valuation mark and punched into the mainstream water market, but it started as a brand aligned water product for music festivals.

RXBAR was sold for $600 million dollars after reaching mass market success, but it started as a Paleo friendly option only sold in CrossFit gyms.

Tesla has disrupted the mainstream automotive industry in the United States with its nearly century old moat of automakers, but it started as a niche electric powered roadster concept.

We could keep going, but you get the point. Below I’ll outline why this is and how this is relevant to you, even if you aren’t a company entering the marketplace.

If 100% of your potential market could be mapped out on a graph, it would probably look a lot like the one above. A small minority (~2.5%), known as innovators, will be first in line to try your product and services because they are willing to be first. A larger minority group, the early adopters (~13.5%), is likely willing to “beat the crowds” for the adoption of your product or service but aren’t willing to be guinea pigs.

Between the early and late majority, roughly 68% of your potential customer base is found here. Everyone wants these consumers, but how to reach them may be counterintuitive.

Going from zero to the center of this bell curve is improbable. Compare and contrast these two opposing scenarios for a new sports drink company:

Scenario #1

You start small and capture the hearts and minds of a niche market. Ultramarathoners. Not runners. Ultramarathoners.

Scenario #2

You think electrolytes are the key to changing health in America. You begin sending emails to buyers hoping to get distribution into Walmart.

In Scenario #1, costs are low. The specificity of the brand messaging is high and remarkable. Niche communities communicate well with each other, so word of mouth comes easy. These innovators and early adopters are easier to reach for feedback for product iterations. These groups become fans and theirs a chance for a relationship beyond the transactional.

Ultramarathoners are the extreme tip of the running community, and their support would inform the rest of the running community nicely, which would bring context, brand equity, an origin story, and scale that transcends and includes running.

In Scenario #2, you’re an unremarkable start up with no sales and no customers. Every meeting you take, you’re perceived as 1 of 1000s of beverage startups.

Not only is it cheaper and less risky to address a small, highly specific market first, it’s also the best path to mass market adoption.

I Don’t Have a Product or Service (Did I Just Waste My Time?)

Have no fear! Even if you’re not a brand looking to acquire new customers, you’re still in the world working and relating with others to get things done. Every bit of the product adoption model above can be applied to creating mass change in a department or selling your ideas inside your company. 

Start small, close to home with what you have.

If you want to change your corporate culture, you could make the equivalent error above and shoot for massive change out of the gate. You could send an email that isn’t actionable into the ether, sure. Or, you can start niche, close to your sphere of influence, and build your innovators and early adopters to your ideas. 

That’s how you start a goddamn revolution, after all.

TAKE ACTION:

1) BUILD CONTRAINTS. Let’s define who your innovators and early adopters are. These are people close to you (or your brand) and/or what you stand for. Think about your innovators as the people who would take a chance on your idea right now without much convincing. Your early adopters are folks right behind them who might need to see some proof and some marketing.

2) BRAINSTORM. Make a list and find a way to offer a call to action. You could drum up interest, ask for feedback, or try to convert a sale, but first have your list. (Pssst.. if you need inspiration, you specifically are the result of me trying this very exercise.)

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