Nearly 30,000 products are launched annually, yet 95% of them fail. What differentiates the winning brands from those who fade three hours after their launching is the substantial focus accorded to understanding how customers evaluate products and what drives their purchasing decisions. Companies generally focus on creating value, which, without any doubt, should be the top priority of every enterprise. Unfortunately, they forget an aspect that’s at least as important as the quality of their product:
- Will consumers appreciate the genuine worth of this product, or will it unravel into a devastating financial and reputational burden for the company?
A triumphant product launch must meet or exceed expectations across multiple dimensions and it starts with thorough market research. You don’t have to master everything by yourself, but you do, however, need to truly understand how market viability works in order to achieve the goals of long-term success. Let’s find out how we can make the future foreseeable!
Market viability vs. product viability
Market viability indicates the business potential of a particular market, analysing the chances of the financial success of that particular industry. When evaluating market viability, the spotlight is on understanding consumers’ demands, competitive landscape, and potential profitability. Under any circumstances, questioning is a uniquely powerful tool for depicting value, and so it holds truth here as well. Consider the following three inquiries:
- Is there a viable space for your business to thrive in the market?
- Is your product within the financial reach of your targeted customers?
- Do you have what it takes to stand up to the competition?
Product viability exclusively refers to the market potential of a specific product, covering the relevance and uniqueness as assessed by the target buyer personas. This examination is equally as important as market viability, validating whether a product is worth launching or has the potential to be a profit generator. Firstly, you must examine if your product deserves to build an entire business around it. Next, assess whether the price point is competitive enough to generate a profitable return on sales (ROS).
Methods to assess product viability
Whatever product idea or ecommerce niche you explore, it’s essential to assess its viability and profitability while also taking into account customer demands for each option. Let’s explore the most effective methods for evaluating product viability.
Market research
What exactly is market research, and why does it matter so much for your business’ success?
Market research covers a plethora of aspects of your business, blending consumer behaviour and economic trends to offer you a smart way of making decisions. Primary and secondary market research improves your understanding of your customers, competitors, and industry (which is crucial) by collecting data that provides valuable insights into buying patterns, location, and search preferences.
Lean market research extends beyond analysing the nature of the source of information, covering the way in which the entire research process is conducted. In fact, it’s a methodology that studies the outcomes of early tests, learns from their results, and then evolves without waiting for the process to conclude before making an assessment. To be more specific, learning market research works as a cycle of progressive improvements.
The market research industry is evolving hastily, and it is no wonder that it provides full analyses regarding the hidden corners of the internet where buyers are already searching for solutions, offering you accurate insights into your market’s DNA. In agreement with Market Research Industry Statistics, the demand for market research services ranks second with a valuation of $9.1 billion.
The question is, how could you not work with market research experts, considering the numerous facets covered by their services?
- Competitive analysis
- Pricing decisions
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Demand
- Market size
- Qualitative research
- Product development
- Brand awareness research
- Current trends
- Marketing strategy
Moreover, their services encompass a different array of services tailored for banking and other financial companies, but also for companies from other sectors, ensuring strategic growth and operational excellence.
Perform a smoke test
In an age where digital marketing dominates the industry, smoke testing is one of the most cost-effective ways to gather real-world purchase intent data, treating your product or service ideas as if they were ready for launch. Everyone is now just a click away, and running ads is your best shot. They provide you with significant variables that determine what performs best by leveraging insights about how many consumers clicked on the ad, who paused over it, and how many people completely ignored it.
Generally, a budget of around $500 covers a few days of ads, which should suffice to offer you insightful data regarding user response. After you identify who will buy your product, you can create a compelling message for those consumers, providing them with more details about it while highlighting your brand values.
In short, what you need to is:
- Establish how success translates for you and what number of visitors you expect on the landing page in order to conclude your product is worth building.
- Design a landing page that delivers value and uses strong verbs that demand action, such as “Buy now,” “Subscribe,” and “Sign-up.” Colour, font, size, and positioning also matter.
- Leverage Google Ads and Facebook Ads. Remember that intricate details seduce people’s minds, and you can anytime turn a basic ad that sounds like” RED LIPSTICK, join us now” into “Never forget the power of a red lipstick, affordable prices only.”
- Carefully analyse results and optimise. You may have to question whether your product, pricing, or messaging. Be open to both minimal changes and drastic improvements.
What’s your exit plan?
There is no need to over-dramatise a failed product plan. It’s not the downfall of your business, and you can come back even stronger. A failure is a chance to redefine your product idea according to consumers’ preferences, improve your team’s operations, and tailor your strategy. After you address the reasons that caused the product’s failure in the first exposure, you need to rebrand the product and remove any negative carryover. Remember, if something doesn’t work, it only means another thing will work better.
