Check your product’s market fit with 19 time-tested market validation tactics.
(Plus tools for validating)
Proper product validation can make or break a business. Since it’s a broad subject, I skipped over it in my post on coming up with startup ideas. But since people appeared interested in that step of the procedure, I looked into it.
Here is a list of validation techniques, going from the simplest (which tend to have low confidence) to the most difficult (high-confidence). Hope it’s useful!
“The only thing worse than starting something and failing…. is not starting something”
Seth Godin, Founder of ‘Squidoo’
Characterize validate
The process of confirming whether there is a market need for your product and whether consumers are willing to pay to have that need satisfied is known as validation.
Research into the problem, the market, and the solution must be done in-depth (product). And it’s how entrepreneurs overcome their founder blindness and rely on cold, hard data to tell them whether or not a product will take off.
The exchange of money typically serves as the most genuine form of validation in this situation.
How to validate?
Investigating is the first step. This is your first line of defense against unsustainable ideas, though it probably won’t be enough validation in and of itself.
Write down your objectives, presumptions, and hypotheses first. What are you going to test? What will you accept as proof? After that, start your research.
- Do you face any competition? Perform a competitive analysis. If so, that’s typically viewed as a positive development (within reason). Identify your rivals and research their performance. If they are prospering, that might be enough proof to support them. You can go one step further with a SWOT analysis to truly comprehend your rivals.
- Analyze online markets: In the same vein as competitive analysis, look into online markets where goods similar to yours are sold. You can gain a deeper understanding of the market and what your target customers are looking for by looking at the number of comparable products as well as their reviews and comments.
- Look at review websites: The analysis of competitors in yet another form. Look up customer opinions of your rivals on websites like G2 and Capterra. By doing this, you can discover a lot about the problems that your potential customers face and determine whether your idea will fill a need that isn’t being met by existing products.
- Discover search interest: You can learn what (and if) people are searching for in your niche by using tools like Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, Ahrefs, and SEMRush. More importantly, you can determine whether your solution is in demand, whether demand is growing, and whether a pivot might be necessary to bring you more in line with search traffic.
- Communities both online and off: Basically, you want to go to the places where your target customers congregate and observe them in action. You’ll hear a lot about problems, choices, and other topics that you might not otherwise be aware of.
- Quora: Check out the inquiries people have made about your concept. In what problem are they engaged? What answers have received the most votes? Once more, this can offer priceless insight into your market and the potential usefulness of your product.
Have a Startup? Let’s launch your Start-up 5x faster!
Supercharge your startup with outstanding strategies used by world's top 3% of startup.
Being a founder-market fit gives you a significant advantage in market research because you’ll already have a good sense of the market.
Market testing
Start having conversations with other people if your research is showing promising results.
- Describe to colleagues: After all, they are familiar with the sector and might be able to offer insightful advice. Of course, you can also share with others you know. But you should be more dubious of their affirmative responses the closer they are to you.
- Starbucks test: Request feedback from a random customer at Starbucks (or another location). Do not claim ownership of it. Offer to pay them back with a coffee.
- Communities both online and offline: Reddit, LinkedIn groups, Facebook groups, independent hackers—you name it. Speak with your target audience where they are present (observing the rules of the group, of course). Ask for opinions. I see that some users have stated that a Hacker News “Ask HN” post was helpful.
- Meetups: Attend the meetups where your target clients hang out to get to know them. Get their opinion after presenting the idea to them.
- Send surveys to segments of your email list that most closely resemble your target customers if you have an email list. Ask them questions that will put your beliefs and theories to the test. Depending on where you are in the process, your questions will change, but try to be direct and avoid leading the respondents. Although it might not seem like it, it’s actually advantageous if they reject your proposal.
- Create surveys using the following: This can be done on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., and it can provide you with a wealth of useful information. However, keep in mind that social media respondents might not be in your target market.
- Reach out wherever you see a chance: get feedback from Twitter users who had voiced complaints about rival brands in order to test ideas. All it took was a message with a few brief questions, and if they responded, perhaps a follow-up with a longer question.
- Conduct formal interviews: This is one of the key suggestions I have come across in my research, and it is related to each of the other suggestions in this section. Sitting down with target customers can be very beneficial, whether they are current customers, members of an email list, or just random individuals. Keep in mind: Don’t pitch. Discuss your life (not the idea). Discuss the past (not the future). Collect information and commitments, not praise. Be precise. And instead of having one conversation with 20 different types of customers, have 20 conversations with just one type. The Mom Test provided that advice. And now, some advice is drawn from the book.
Gaining commitments
Some validation tools to take notice of…
Here are a few validation tools I found along the way, in case you’re interested.
- AreYouInterested: A free tool that facilitates brainstorming, idea validation, and business idea discussion.
- UserTesting: This tool records customer responses to your product rather than conducting user interviews.
- PingPong: A tool for setting up phone calls with potential customers.
Blog Author
Edvinas Rakickas
MAIN AREA: PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Edd is the one that will ask the right questions and find the answers 
. Innovative solutions is the name of the game, and with broad experience at Fintech and Startups 
. Edd is a wonderful addition to the team and company evolution.
— Subscribe to the Newsletter
Have a Startup? Let’s launch your Start-up 5x faster!
Supercharge your startup with outstanding strategies used by world's top 3% of startup.
