Even if you have the best product in the world after sliced bread, launching a project can feel a bit uncertain. It can feel like you’re throwing your idea against the wall and hoping it sticks. To not feel that uncertainty, you’ll want to know the people you’re throwing your idea to. So how do you do that? How do you get to know your audience?
By knowing the in’s and out’s of who your project was made for, you will be able to crush your crowdfunding campaign and have a better chance at success.
I used to be a Product Marketing Manager…
Before crowdfunding, I worked in a company that launched new products into the market that were alternative solutions to everyday problems. And what I did was find the right audience for these products. Let’s say it was a cheaper solution so people could have a back camera in their cars (before every car in the market came with one. This was back when that was a luxury). I wanted to get to know the audience for this exact product. People who needed or wanted a back camera in their cars but didn’t want to invest thousands of dollars on installing one via their car retailers.
This is product-market fit.
Where does your product or the idea you have fit with the market? Who are the people who like this product? Who needs this solution?
When you want to launch something new to the market you need to be certain of two things:
- Not everyone will love your product.
- There will be a group of people who absolutely love it.
So you’ll want to market for the latter. You want to get to know your audience, so you don’t feel like you’re launching to a void. That’s the job.
Who are they? What do they like? How old are they? What do they do on vacation? Why would they enjoy your product?
What Product Does Your Audience Like?
If you can’t pin down exactly who your audience is – go back to the drawing board of why you created your product in the first place.
This exercise will give you a guide to understand who your audience is and why would they enjoy your product. What problem they’re probably looking to solve and why they would prefer your idea over something else in the market.
Your creative process is the key to get to know your audience.
The Potato Peeler Example
How does a potato peeler have anything to do with your audience? A lot actually!
Think of a normal potato peeler. It’s perhaps something like this:
Not very comfortable, effective and bad for people who might have muscle or arthritis problems. Not the easiest thing in the world to grab and work with. I mean, it does the job but not much else.
Someone saw his wife, who happened to have arthritis, using it, struggling with it, and thought: why don’t make something alternative with an easier way to grab it? Why don’t I create something that will help people like my wife to keep doing what they love but without the struggle and pain?
And that’s how this peeler was born.
Now you can find this anywhere and is a very common design. But it all started with someone who wanted to solve a problem, saw an alternative solution and market it to the people who needed it, inspired by people in his life.
You see, this is the key to know your audience. Going back to the birth of your idea and remembering who you were thinking of when you created your product.
Picking Your Audience Helps You Pick Their Influencers
People trust influencers, reviewers, or anyone who has sway in a certain industry. Knowing your audience will allow you to know who will have more success in selling your product to them for you.
By knowing your audience, you’ll know who they look up to, what content do they consume, which Youtube channels resonate with them, which medium writers, and which podcasters. And this will give you the insight to narrow down who might be a good influencer to promote your idea.
You want to be in a place where people talk about your type of project. If you’re launching a board game, you want to have reviewers who have talked about board games in the past, who are looked up to as authorities. You don’t need to be reviewed by the biggest video game youtuber out there. Your target audience is somewhere else, with the first guy, who is perhaps not as big, but who will be reaching out more of the people you want as an audience.
How To Predict People’s Response To Your Product
The more effort you put into getting to know your audience and being in the online community where they are, you’ll be able to get feedback on your idea even before you launch. A lot of creators do this! This way, you can make sure you’re talking to the right people, in the right way.
Final thoughts
If you know your audience BEFORE LAUNCH, it won’t feel as much as if you’re launching to a wall. It’ll feel less alone and less uncertain.
Taking the time and effort to build an actual community, is the key to success. Other than actually having a good product idea, but that’s a story for another time.
For the complete guide to everything launch and crowdfunding go here.
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We’re here to help you crush your crowdfunding campaign and fund your dream. Our team has helped creators successfully launch and raise over $13 million on Kickstarter and Indiegogo. We’re so excited to help you on this journey to launch!
