Lesson 7: Validate your product choices

undefined (6)

Once your store launches, you’ll want to spend time validating your product selection with your customers. Market validation means that there is measured confidence in the relevance of your product or service. Typically, this is a combination of strong customer desire for your offerings and an excellent customer experience.

Do some research with your target audience

Reach out to your target demographic on social media and connect about your product or service. You can find relevant audiences on Facebook by joining a group associated with your brand’s niche. You can also find them on Instagram by finding followers of influencers or competition in your market.

We recommend putting all of your products in a Google document or creating a demo version of your store to share with your audience so they’ll more easily get the idea. When you reach out, here are some basic questions you can ask:

  • What products stand out to you?
  • What do you think would be a fair price for this product?
  • What would create a great purchase experience for you?
  • What might make you choose one store over another?
  • What feedback can you give on the layout and design of the store?

Incentivize your target audience for higher engagement

The depth of interaction you get from your target audience should be your number one influencing factor in determining product or market validation. That said, you won’t gain that information for free. We recommend creating some sort of incentive to ensure you receive your customers’ participation when collecting feedback as a thank you. This could be the difference between getting useful feedback and not.

PRO-TIP

Here are some things to keep in mind when getting feedback on your product or service:

  • Prioritize strangers and avoid friends and family that will go easy on you
  • Offer a discount or exclusive offer to increase the odds of receiving feedback
  • Be direct, honest, and personal with whom you’re asking feedback from

Product validation is a critical step, and it will help you create a list of curated products or services that your customers will love. Getting your customers to like your products is the first step, but having them trust your business as a whole requires a few extra steps, which we’ll cover in the next lesson.