Gearing up to launch a new product in 2022, or expand your existing product line to new territories? You’ll need a solid go-to-market strategy, and developing one starts with understanding your target customer.
Let’s take a look at a few ways you can gather key insights into your target customers, to give your strategy more impact…
Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Before you start your customer research, you need to narrow down the field. Specifically, you need to know exactly the kind of customers you’ll be targeting with your new product or service. This involves putting together an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP).
To precisely define your ‘perfect customer’, focus on things like:
- Geographical location and language
- Industry and size of business (for B2B marketing)
- Specific demographics – i.e. families with children under 5, young professionals, retirees with disposable income
- Preferred media – how does your ideal customer find and share information? Do they use social media? You need to pinpoint the platforms and communication methods they use in order to reach them.
- Shopping behaviour and purchase history
- Decision-making motivation – what factors encourage a customer to take the plunge and make a purchase decision?
- Pain points – what problems does your target customer have, that your product could potential solve?
Once you have your ICP, you can go even more granular with your targeting. Segment your audience into specific buyer personas, which ‘flesh out’ your ideal customers with likes, dislikes, aspirations and preferences. In short, make them human.
Interview potential (or current) customers – and get to the heart of the matter
Now that you know who you’re targeting, it’s time to actually speak to them. Interviewing potential ‘ideal’ candidates, or existing customers who match the ICP profile for your new product, is a critical way to conduct research for your go-to-market strategy.
To really get value out of the interview process though, you need to focus on some key essentials. Ask the right questions, and you’ll get valuable insight that shapes your strategy. The emphasis should always be on what the customer is trying to accomplish, through questions such as:
- What are you ultimately aiming to achieve? For example, solving a tech problem.
- Have you tried anything to fix this problem yourself so far? If so, what was the first thing you did?
- Would you pay more to get the ‘job’ done the best/fastest?
You can carry out this research in a number of ways. For example, you can send out surveys, conduct face-to-face interviews or deep-dive into all the information you have on existing customers. Just make sure to stick closely to the customers in your ICPs and buyer personas, otherwise you’ll end up with non-targeted data that won’t be useful to you.
If you’re looking for software sales and marketing experts to help you launch a new product in 2022, we can help. Strive specialises in attracting and headhunting the top tier of software sales talent worldwide, so we can find exactly who you’re looking for – and fast. Get in touch to find out more and start your search.
Adam Richardson
Co-Founder and Director
