Understanding your target audience is an essential part of building a meaningful product. While market research requires hours of work, it can yield incredibly valuable insights into the pain points of your ideal customers. However, translating that data into actionable steps towards creating an offering that your audience wants - or, even better, needs - can be tricky. In this guest blog post, Designli CEO/Co-Founder and friend of the Founder Institute Keith Shields outlines how founders should conduct market research, and how to use that data to convey the value of their products.
The secret to a product that performs well in the marketplace is perceived value. Once they understand what you’re selling, your target market should quickly agree that your product will make their lives better. This fact is common sense, but it’s much easier stated than achieved. You might have a plethora of amazing features, but if your market doesn’t value those features, you’re at square one.
Every founder knows that companies must deliver value to be successful. The question that often stumps them is “What kind of value is our target market looking for?” To answer this question, you have to thoroughly understand your target market to learn what they actually care about (and what they don’t).
What to Guard Against When Researching Your Target Market
There are a variety of pitfalls when it comes to learning about your target market’s needs and desires. Market research is where many startups go off the rails. Here’s what to watch out for.
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Guesses — It’s tempting to guess what your target customers want. Especially if your product is built to solve a need you or people you know have experienced, you may think you already know what the market desires. But not everyone thinks like you and the people you know, so it’s important to keep exploring.
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Confirmation Bias — Beware of coming to a foregone conclusion. We’re all prone to confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret research in light of what we already believe. But gaining actionable insight requires keeping an open mind and following the data wherever it takes you.
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Too Small a Sample Size — If your research isn’t broad enough, you may end up talking with a few people who happen to share the same perspective but who don’t represent the rest of the group. Try to survey and interview as many different people as you have time and budget to reach.
Unlike established companies who have a wealth of Big Data and the resources to purchase mailing lists for sending surveys and setting up focus groups, startups who are bootstrapping it have to work within constraints. The good news is that the type of data that yields the best insight (qualitative data) is easily accessible to startups. Let’s look next at why qualitative data is so valuable.
Why the Magic is in Qualitative Data
Quantitative data is made up of numbers and statistics — what percentage of users want this or that feature, the number of questions on Quora about a particular topic, etc. It’s valuable, but it doesn’t allow you to get into the minds of your target customers.
Qualitative data tracks trends in opinions and emotions — dreams, desires, goals, and fears. It’s not obtainable via a computer. But it is accessible through human-to-human conversations (i.e. interviews). Qualitative data gives you a more complete picture of your target market. And the pieces of the picture that qualitative data reveal are invaluable because they tell you what your target market actually wants.
Questions to Ask for Insight
The specific questions you’ll want to ask will, of course, depend on where you are in the development process and the type of product you’re building. But here are a few ideas to get you started.
Context Questions
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What does your average day look like?
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Do you keep a list of goals you’re working toward? If so, what are they?
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What thought makes you the most afraid?
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What do you hope your life looks like in five years? In ten years?
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Do you consider yourself an extrovert or an introvert?
Pain Point Questions
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What frustrates you about [task your product is designed to make easier]?
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How does this problem affect your daily life?
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How long have you been trying to find a solution?
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Describe the ideal solution to this problem.
Solutions Questions
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What solutions have you tried so far?
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What parts of the solutions that you’ve tried do you like? What parts don’t you like?
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Do you know of an existing solution that may help you that you haven’t yet tried? If so, why haven’t you tried it?
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How important is it to you to solve this problem?
Product-Specific Questions (if you have a prototype or an MVP for them to test)
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What do you think about our product’s packaging?
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What do you think about the features?
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What’s the most valuable feature to you?
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How thoroughly does the product solve your problem?
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What’s missing that you would like to see?
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What’s included that you think isn’t necessary?
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When would you use this product, if you could?
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How often would you use this product, if you could?
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What do you think about the current pricing?
The qualitative data that you gather from questions like these will give you a fuller picture of your target customers. You’ll be able to envision the people you’re serving in a more complete way. And the answer to the question “What kind of value is our target market looking for?” will appear in full form.
