We’ve all seen products that sound impressive, but once they reach the hands of a buyer, they fail miserably. Real-life user testing is an essential pre-launch duty since entering the market with a new product is always risky. When it comes to product-market validation, it’s all about limiting risk and verifying a product concept within its target market.
Market validation approaches that are implemented correctly lessen reliance on human bias. Despite being frequently compromised due to time and financial limitations, the majority of the time, when effective user research and product validation are used throughout the entire project, product development will have a better chance of reaching the target market with the correct features.
What is lean market validation?
Market validation entails a series of consumer interviews with people in your target market, which usually occurs before you spend much on your concept or product. The goal of the market validation – or sometimes called product market fit – is to verify the basic hypothesis underlying the go-to-market. These can be for example questions such as: is there a strong enough need? Do we have the right assumption of the buying persona, deal size, selling pitch, selling model etc.?
“The problem is very often that founders jump straight from idea to solution, without validating the problem behind the solution. They go straight to building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), without a proper validation process. It isn’t surprising that many end up building something people don’t need, i.e. they don’t have product/market fit,” writes Riku Kokkonen from Coventures, a Helsinki-based platform for impact entrepreneurship and venture building.
How does market validation work in enterprise markets
Before launching a product, performing market research is generally a good idea, but this requires an understanding of the market well enough to guide the market research firm and the underlying basic assumptions validated. It’s about fine-tuning.
Market validation should typically begin considerably earlier in the process. More profound knowledge of the market will aid in developing a more focused and effective product. A market validation will take at least four weeks, but more likely six to eight weeks, based on the number of interviews and the number of individuals doing them.
Select one goal for your market validation. Verify the core demographic, positioning, and value propositions, whichever comes first. Attempting to accomplish both in a single market validation will result in too many variables, lowering the market validation’s usefulness. Before moving forward, write your goal and double-check that everyone involved understands it.
Lean validation tactics enterprises should employ
You get the option to pivot your product and adjust the market launch plan before spending too many resources in the incorrect area when you verify your concept in a method that allows for a discussion with your prospective customers.
Here is a run-up of the most effective lean validation tactics that you should employ in your enterprise:
Concierge MVP
The Minimum Viable Product (MVP) is among the essential principles in Lean Startup techniques. A well-designed MVP tests your critical business assumptions with a substantially simplified product that spares your effort and time.
The Concierge MVP is a creative concept that uses humans to replace a complex technological product. Read more about MVP development.
The MVP is frequently a considerable step down from the magnificent product you had in mind when you started your company. Instead of creating a complete product, you could create a landing page and monitor user sign-ups to measure market fit.
The MVP keeps you from spending time developing a product before you know whether or not anyone wants it. You don’t want to spend months developing complex algorithms and an incredible user experience to discover that nobody wants your product.
Social Media surveys
The advantage of social media polls is how quick and simple they are to put together. Social media surveys may readily provide quantitative data from real individuals. However, certain survey conditions allow for a small amount of qualitative data.
You can set up Facebook polls to allow participants to add response fields on their own, a feature that occasionally provides valuable information.
Email test campaigns
This one might be a terrific concept for you if you have an extensive list or the capacity to access one through an affiliated list owner. Make sure you divide your list wisely, spend time writing a great subject line, and refine your email body.
Ensure you track openings and click-throughs using integrated plugins or your email marketing provider’s built-in metrics.
Create multiple funnel channels for the mail receivers to flow through using your knowledge and imagination. When it comes to email, consider both quantity and quality, and you’ll do well.
Interviews
Interviewing is a popular Lean Planning validation technique for obtaining high-quality input.
When writing your interview script, one crucial thing to remember is to include many open-ended questions. These should typically provide you more light into your target customer’s viewpoint on the problem your solution should answer and their consumption patterns, rather than revealing anything about the remedy you had in mind.
Because interviewee bias is a real thing, it’s best if the individual you’re interviewing isn’t aware that you’re thinking about establishing a product/service.
If they are privy to your goals, they will give you a slew of favorable responses that will drive you to validate the concept falsely. Then, when the time comes, you’ll be riding a dead horse because no one was ever going to pay for your answer in the first place.
Since you were a likable person, everyone wanted you to feel good and confident about your business venture, and as a result, you now have a significant problem.
Pay-per-click campaigns
This is a major one and should be your top focus because you’ll be employing PPC advertising for the actual item in many circumstances. Your ad or concept is flawed if you can’t make headway with a test campaign. Avoid basic competition and targeted demographic research, as well as testing alternative content and graphics in the same campaign.
This validation technique allows you to shine a bright light on your customer acquisition costs.
Test sales
What’s stopping you from setting up a booth at your local flea market, supermarket bulletin board, or other authorised common usage area and displaying a big, eye-catching banner explaining your company’s offer?
Why not push-sell your product to customers waiting in line in front of a club, stadium, or concert? You may require a permit, but if you contact the organiser or someone else in charge, they may be willing to permit you.
The goal is to get a rush from witnessing someone take out their wallet and hand you cash.
Data will be one of your most valuable assets if you want to develop a successful product. You may have a brilliant concept, but you won’t know what tweaks or adaptations are required until you observe how the world reacts.
The concept may be flawless, but the presentation may require some adjustments. The idea may be popular, but people may expect it to function differently than you predict.
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