• by Seana Mulcahy , April 11, 2005

Has anyone ever asked you for advice? Have your families, friends, colleagues, co-workers, etc. asked your opinion in regard to buying a product or service? I'm sure the answer is of course. For me this happens all the time, especially online. In the past few days, I was asked to find local directions by my mother, to look to see which car dealers had a specific truck in its inventory for my friend, where tick medicine for a 60-pound dog could be found the cheapest online, and to look for land in the local area within a specific price range for a family member. If this resembles you, you just may be a tech-fluential or an efluential.

Global public relations agency Burson-Marsteller recently announced a study that has identified a new group of opinion leaders - tech-fluentials. These people are found to be powerful influencers who use high-end technologies to accelerate word-of-mouth marketing (WOM) and turn their product recommendations into sales. Not surprisingly, the study revealed that 86 percent of tech-fluentials are asked by family, friends, and colleagues for advice and influence these people's product choices.

Let's take a peek in the tent of a typical tech-fluential. First and foremost, they are influential and opinion-leaders. They use technology to connect their personal and work lives. They constantly process and transmit information in regard to companies, brand, and products. They frequent Web sites, chat rooms, blogs, and the like to research as well as voice their opinion. They often know what's hot and what's not, see trends coming, change opinions, and build buzz.

Let's take a step back and look at the writing on the wall, shall we? If these people influence the rest of the Web population as a whole, then why haven't you targeted them? Dr. Leslie-Gaines Ross, Burson-Marsteller's chief knowledge and research officer worldwide says, "Marketers need to go beyond conventional approaches to target and engage tech-fluentials on an ongoing basis. These information activists require more than the tried-and-true communications approaches."

These folks are fast communicators with fast connection speeds. Ninety-two percent have broadband as opposed to the average American according to Pew. Forty-three percent have wireless at home. The average American with wireless totals a mere 1 percent according to Pew.

Other top-line findings include:
Twenty percent of tech-fluentials have smart phones with PDA and e-mail access. According to the Yankee Group, as of October 2004, less than 1 percent of the U.S. population use wireless e-mail.

Eight in 10 tech-fluentials use new technologies to solve business problems (83 percent) and believe that cutting-edge technology gives them a key business advantage (78 percent).

Eighty-one percent talk about their experiences with a company over the phone or in-person.

Fifty-one percent of tech-fluentials give feedback to companies through company Web sites and 33 percent have their own blogs. Their blogging activity is significantly above technology norms. According to the Pew Internet and American Life Project (2004), 7 percent of U.S. online adults have created a blog.

Forty-six percent of tech-fluentials post messages on discussion boards and 41 percent use instant messaging when relaying information about companies.

Idil Cakim, director of knowledge development at Burson-Marsteller, e-mailed me these findings as I have written about this group of people before. He stressed the importance of targeting these people. However, this should not be done in a typical manner. Tech-fluentials should be marketed to on a one-to-one basis.

"Every time tech-fluentials speak up, companies have the opportunity to engage in one-to-one communication with them and earn their support," says Cakim.

Have you targeted this group? If not, then why? If you have, we'd love to hear your experience on the SPINboard.