How to Identify a Hungry Market For Your Next Digital Product

Creating the best product possible is what all digital product developers strive for. After all, first impressions count, right? And I think it’s only fair to inform you that if your product is inferior, your customers will be happy to let you know about it.

They’ll also let all their friends know as well, and your business will suffer as a result.

So most people do the right thing and make sure they put their best effort into building an epic product that will stand the test of time and man, spending countless hours fine-tuning copy and tweaking video until everything is perfect.

Whoa! Hold it right there.

Let’s think about this for a minute.

Which Way First?

I’ve always seen this as a “cart before the horse” type of thing. Yes, of course your product has to be the best it can be, the absolute finest you’re capable of AT THAT TIME.

But what lots of product owners fail to place enough emphasis on is the marketing of their product, and in my opinion it’s equally important, if not more so, than the actual product itself.

And a huge part of your marketing effort should be centered around identifying your target market so you can be sure that the product you’re developing will actually have a marketplace filled with eager buyers.

It’s easier said than done sometimes, but in this article we’ll take a look at how to accomplish this and give your product the best chance for success.

Psychology 101

Any type of marketing, whether online or offline, is all about psychology. You must get in the head of potential buyers and understand what makes them pull the purchasing trigger.

People buy things for all kinds of reasons, but their right at the top of the list is to either relieve a pain they’re suffering from or to solve a specific problem.

So what I always recommend is simply this.

In everything you do, put your customer first.

It’s All About Them

If you want your business to be successful, remember that your wants and needs really don’t matter.

While it’s true you really need to pick a niche that you have an interest in, I always recommend that the broad niche be something to do with the following:

• Wealth
• Health
• Relationships

I’m sure you’ve heard this advice before, but sticking to these broad niches gives you the best chance for a successful product.

Of course, you’ll want to narrow down your idea based on your target market’s wants and needs.

Remember, if you create a product surrounding your desires, or something that you think is cool and might be fun to work on, you probably won’t sell too many copies.

Focus on the problems of your potential customer and you might have a winner on your hands.

Digging Down Deep

To understand the needs of your market you must first understand who your customer is.

Let’s go through an example so we can see the process of narrowing down a niche to zero in on a target audience.

Suppose we have an interest in the health niche. The first step would be to build a profile of your ideal customer.

To begin, give your customer a name, then make a list of all the things you can think of that make up this fictional person. Don’t be afraid of being too detailed, it’s almost impossible.

For instance, my broad niche is health, and my customer’s name is Lisa.

Let’s meet her now.

• Mother of 2, mid-thirties
• Works part-time to contribute to the household income, full time at mothering, not much time to herself.
• Blonde hair, blue eyes
• Bachelor Degree – Business
• Active on social media, Pintrest, Facebook
• Overweight since the birth of second child, embarrassed a bit about that
• Worried about her relationship because of being a bit overweight
• Would like to get back to the gym, but is too exhausted most of the time
• Enjoys walking and gardening
• Slightly depressed, and because of that tends to binge eat

This is my ideal customer. Her pain points are being stressed, being overweight, and worrying about her relationship.

I’m guessing they’re all tied together and linked back to being a bit overweight. It can put tremendous stress on relationships and the health of the individual.

Product Design

So if we were to design a product around the needs of our ideal customer, where would we start?

• We already know she’s stressed and a little embarrassed about her perceived weight problem, so an online product would be perfect with her. Going back to the gym is not really an option because of time constraints.
• The last thing she needs is another set of workout routines
• She doesn’t want everyone in the world to know she’s seeking help with her weight

From these simple bullet points we begin to draw a picture of what an info product for our ideal customer will look like.

She doesn’t have much time to work out, so complicated workout routines won’t do her any good, nor would a membership product or course for any extended length of time.

We know she likes to walk and work outside in the garden, so perhaps what would do well is a product that she could download as a PDF to read in her quiet time, but that also has MP3 files so should stick them on a portable device and listen to them at her leisure.

Bonus Content

Don’t forget to ask questions like this long before you begin creating your digital product.

• Can I find an audience that’s seeking a solution to the problem I’m solving with my product? Hint: Forums are still a great place to research this sort of thing.
• Are my ideal customers suffering with pain, or do they need an urgent solution to their problem?
• Have I identified what other options they have to solve their problem?
• Is there a chance that I develop a long term relationship with these customers? Will they be open to the prospect of buying more products? (This is perhaps one of the most overlooked aspect of marketing, and the one where most people leave gobs of money on the table)

Wrap Up

As you can see, there are plenty of things to think about BEFORE the actual product creation begins. And remember that the more work you do upfront regarding marketing, the more tightly focused and customer-centric your product will be.

While it would be nice to create a product we think is fun to work on and MIGHT fit well in the marketplace, .

It’s much more profitable, too!