[day 2] the secret to designing a product that will sell out

LESSON 2: do people (really) want your product?

We want people to crave your product like you are probably craving cake from this photo.

But, sometimes I see brands that are so niche, they don't have an audience outside of them or their very small bubble. To be a successful brand you will need to grow beyond your inner circle.

So, the first step in today’s lessons is to get outside of yourself and learn how to find and analyze data to learn what your customer really craves.

STEP 1: FINDING THE RIGHT DATA

So, how can you find out if there are other people out there just like you? That want what you want?

The easiest way to find out is using Google. My secret weapon to get inside customers' heads is the Google Chrome plug-in Keyword Surfer. The plugin allows you to Google anything, and then see how many other people per month are also Googling the exact same term.

Pretty cool right? 

Now, let’s go back to our sustainable athleisure example from yesterday, and why I usually tell those students who want to make leggings out of recycled water bottles, to go back to the drawing board.

Are you ready for a crazy data point? 

Only 590 people in the United States Google the term sustainable leggings per month. Are you shocked? I was too when I saw that. That is not a lot of potential customers. Especially when you think about how saturated the market is with other competitors vying for those same 590 customers. And, at the time of me writing today's class, on Kickstarter alone, there are over 10 sustainable legging startups looking for funding. 

The competition for this niche is steep! But, we're not going to give up just yet.

STEP 2: ANALYZING THE DATA

By looking at Google's search data we learn two things. The first is that maybe the market that we thought had a lot of potential is not as big as we had hoped.

The second thing we are able to do is to assess if there is room for us in the market. With only 590 people searching for sustainable leggings, and hundreds of brands out there, we can assume competition to get those customers is going to be fierce.

After doing the research, it's obvious that sustainable leggings are not the best market for a startup brand to go after. 

So now we need to ask ourselves, how can we create sustainable leggings, but appeal to a broader audience?

Going back to yesterday's example, the next thing I looked at was how many people were searching for information about odor-free leggings, getting funny smells out of gym clothes, and things like that. And, honestly, the numbers weren’t much better. I found about 10 different search terms that each had about 500 searches a month. That’s not bad, because when you add all of them, up that’s over 5000 people searching combined.

Plus, when it comes to odor-free leggings, there is a lot less market competition!

STEP 3: USING DATA TO CREATE A BETTER PRODUCT

But, I am a curious person and wanted to see what else I could find out about customer behavior. That’s when I started down the google trends rabbit hole, and by just typing in random things that came to mind, I found something interesting.

1300 people a month search for cotton leggings with pockets. What this tells me, is maybe pockets could be a really good product feature.

I kept searching and found another interesting stat.

22,200 people search for "plus size leggings". That's a lot more customers compared to the 590 for sustainable leggings. 

Now you are probably thinking, but plus size leggings aren’t sustainable leggings, Melanie… 

Don't worry.

You can still produce your leggings consciously, but, the fact that you are a conscious brand just becomes your secondary storyline and not your brand's main focus, opening you up to way more customers and sales.

Now I can still stick to my idea of odor-free leggings that are made out of natural cotton. But, what if I added a second target customer. Not just women who like to run, but also plus size women (a historically underserved market) who like to run and are looking for pants too because who says you need to fit into standard sizing to enjoy a jog in the park or a brisk walk with your dog. 

Before we go, here’s a quick tip, if sustainability was your brand's differentiator, you need to go back and do more research. 

Download the workbook, and get to work. I’ll see you tomorrow for day 3! 

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