Forget about the revenge of the nerds. The technology elite are now called “geeks,” thank you very much, and they’ve gone beyond revenge to earn respect as a potent market segment. Geeks are smart, but skeptical (think Bill Gates, Mark Cuban), and savvy marketers need to approach them with the right strategic marketing communication plan, in the right style. Here are some ways to reach and win over this important audience:

1. Use word of mouth. Mozilla, maker of the Firefox browser, has developed a strong online community of supporters, including developers who create open source code that interfaces with the product. These users talk about ways to make the product work better and even interact publicly with the management team through blogs and other online mechanisms. Gaming companies have done the same thing, developing online communities that let customers become critics and even creators of their products. “These companies are growing their business through nerd word of mouth much more effectively than [they would] by creating old-world marketing and advertising programs,” says Robbie Baxter, a principal consultant with Peninsula Strategies in Menlo Park, Calif. The key is to give geeks “jobs” in these communities, such as making them moderators.

2. Don’t fix all the bugs. Geeks love to beta-test. “They have a strong desire to have the latest phone, computer, and gadget even before all the bugs have been worked out,” says Joshua Estrin, president of Concepts in Success, a consulting firm in Plantation, Fla. “In fact, some bugs excite this niche. If they can redesign or update a product, you might be looking at the next Bill Gates.” At the very least, allow this hands-on group to test the products in stores before they buy.

3. Employ the Woody Allen factor. In your marketing materials, cast the geek as the hero. “And don’t ‘cool’ them up,” warns Greg Hunter, a copywriting expert at McKee Wallwork Cleveland, an advertising agency in Albuquerque, N.M. “Every geek believes his time is coming.”

4. Get rational. Most consumer marketing starts with an emotional appeal and then closes the deal with rational reasons for making a purchase. Marketing to geeks should focus on the logic first, says Bob Bly, a technology copywriter in Dumont, N.J. For example, people who buy semiconductors don’t need to be sold on the benefit of using them; they want to know if the product meets specifications in terms of voltage, current, and resistance.

5. Forget the fancy packaging. Anything that feels like slick advertising turns geeks off. Bly recalls a client who tested two direct mail marketing letters touting a financial book aimed at engineers. A straightforward, benefit-oriented pitch outsold a glitzy, bells-and-whistles package by a wide margin.

6. Check your facts — because they will. The Arketi Group, an Atlanta-based marketing company, developed a direct mail campaign for the Swiss measurement firm Leica Geosystems that used a math equation. For marketing purposes, the answer was supposed to be the number 1. Leica KO’d the plan because the equation only rounded up to 1. The firm figured its audience would catch the flaw and write letters.

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