Choosing your target user group: who are your future customers?
Target user selection
Have you ever heard the phrase “if you build it, they will come”? And was your first thought “wow, I bet that’s true about building products too! Maybe I should build an awesome product, and then customers will come!”? …Oh, that’s why you’re here? Well… I wish I had better news. While this workflow may have proven successful in the movie, it is almost sure to lead to failure in the world of product. Many entrepreneurs (and established companies) do build it, but unfortunately, this fictitious they never comes. So why is that and how can we as entrepreneurs avoid being left alone at our (launch) party, so to speak?
Being user-first
In the exciting world of product, it’s easy to get ahead of ourselves. You think you have an amazing idea, and you’re ready to start building the next big thing. But have you stopped to think about who will be buying it? My two favorite answers to this question, in no particular order, are “everyone” and “whoever”, with honorable mention to “people like me”.
User selection is the first part of the product development process. I rarely say things this concrete in writing (legal concerns + years of consulting), but I’m willing to go out on a limb for that statement. You simply cannot effectively validate a problem or identify a value-add opportunity until you know your “problemees”.
The “people like me” effect
Now… let me say, if you have a product in mind and you haven’t yet chosen a specific group of users, that is okay. Normally, if you’ve thought of what you consider to be a “great product” but can’t exactly put your finger on who it’s for yet, the target user group is you. Unfortunately, 1 is a lonely number when it comes to target market. What you have on your hands right now is a “project” not a “product”. Fear not though, my friend, there’s a way out of this.
Entrepreneurs in this situation tend to fall back on anticipating that other people like them are also experiencing the same problem and will also want the same solution. If this is you, I urge you to stop here and think about what specific traits, interests, qualities about yourself make you the ideal user of said product. What is the problem you’re experiencing and why are you experiencing it?
Indulge me for a moment, and pretend:
Your idea is to build a marketplace where people can buy and sell futures contracts on real estate (Robinhood meets Zillow, if you will). You think this type of market could help people to save up money for real estate purchases by setting a specific purchase date and dollar amount to save. Your hypothesis here is that other people like you too have trouble saving up large sums and that having tangible incentives would fix this problem.
Now why are you having this problem? Say you are a young professional who is currently paying rent, then maybe other young professional currently paying rent like you are having this problem as well? Oh, you also live in a high cost of living (HCOL) city? Ok, we’re getting warmer! Here, your user group could become “young professionals in HCOL areas who pay rent”. Now, this group is much more specific.
Once you have honed in on why you see value in said product, it becomes a whole lot easier to figure out who else might be in your user group too and to get to the root of the collective problem.
Why your product should NOT be for everyone
While making something for everyone may seem like a great idea (more people = more opportunities for traction, right?), there’s a catch. If you think everyone will want your product, if you develop a product for everyone, then you haven’t really optimized your product for anyone.
People have different capabilities
I recently had a chilling experience that I think I’m ready to talk about. It was a day like any other, when my mom yelled “Sam, can you come here? I’m having a problem.” The problem: she didn’t know how to “pick up” on video chat.
While that “problem”, to me, seemed easily solvable, to her it did not. As a Gen Z-er, I can easily pick up a video chat. But as a member of the “raised pre-iPhone” demographic, my mom has had “less reps” with the functionalities and design patterns that are well engrained in my day-to-day. So a product that works well for her probably looks a bit different than a product that appeals to me.
People have different needs
Now, let me offer another example (mom, if you’re still reading, it gets better for you here):
My mom loves to read, I do not, but I really enjoy watching travel videos (very cool, no?). Now imagine your idea is for an online “book club” type of community where people virtually meet once a month to discuss their favorite books, shows, movies, etc. On my travel videos side of the site, we want the functionality to live stream Youtube videos, Instagram reels, etc. as a group. While on my mom’s book side, they may find those integrations useless, but really want a wiki of author bios and related reads.
A common thought is that you would simply design different versions of your product for different use cases. This type of thinking kills (startups). Thinking you will create a product that appeals en masse, leads to poorly scoped timelines and resource allocation, feature bloat and design complexity, and ultimately poor adoption.
People have different motives
This one is obvious, but essentially people are solving for different things.
Let’s defer back to our example above for a minute:
My mom’s motivation to join an online book club community may be that she just really wants to hear what others are reading and doesn’t have a good way to get that currently. She may adopt this solution short-term, but it doesn’t actually cater to her needs. While me, on the other hand, who spends all my free time blogging, is really looking for that blissful 30-minutes / month to hang out with some “friends”. My mom needs a reading list, I need a community.
Seems like a lot to keep straight, huh? Luckily, having well defined target user groups fixes all of these issues. Let’s dive in.
Know your target user
What is a user group?
A user group is a specific group of individuals who have certain things in common, which lead to shared experiences, and therefore shared problems. Defining a user group is important because it allows you to better target the specific pain points and needs of a certain “type” of user with a common use case. Commonalities in user groups can include demographic markers such as age, gender, location, education or income level.
They can also be practical factors such as frequency of use case (e.g. “frequent travelers on business trips”), or more abstract factors like shared behavioral patterns or goals (e.g. “college students trying to lose weight”).
Examples of other core user groups include:
- People with the same profession (e.g. pediatricians, high-school teachers, electrical engineers)
- People in similar life-stages (e.g. college students, parents, retirees)
- People with a common interest (e.g. gardeners, skiers, coin collectors)
Specificity in defining a user group
Best practice is to be as specific as possible about your target user group and then gradually expand the group or merge groups as you validate that the collective group experiences the problem in the same way or the scope of the problem changes. I find it’s best to start this process with a core user group in mind (e.g. “travelers on business trips”) that’s broken into smaller user groups with qualifiers (“frequent travelers on business trips”, “first-time travelers on business trips”, etc.).
Let’s look at an example:
My current user group is “frequent travelers on business trips” and their problem is “experiencing long wait times at baggage claim”. I hypothesize that the “pain” of this problem is greater due to packed schedules on business trips. Because I assume that all business travelers have packed schedules on business trips, my new user group becomes “all travelers on business trips”.
The key here is that a user group not only has commonalities, but that these commonalities lead to the same problem experience. Having multiple target user groups is okay, but each user group will likely have varying needs, experiences, and levels of pain around the same problem. For this reason, it will be essential to do focused research on each distinct user group.
Choosing your own target user group
Your target user group can be a group you personally identify with, a group you are familiar with, or a group that you need to do some research on. Most important here is identifying groups with a problem that your team has the passion to solve.
When choosing a user group to target, it is best practice to ensure this is a group you will be able to connect with throughout your product development process. For example, “astronauts living full time in outer space” may seem like an exciting user group, but unless you also live full time in space, you may run into issues during user research.
To find the right target group for your product, consider doing research on different user groups, thinking through who is affected by the problems your team is interested in solving, or simply starting with a target group that you personally identify with or have experience with.
By carefully defining your target users, you can ensure that all stages of product development are focused on real-world problems, rather than broad assumptions. Additionally, by working closely with target users from the start of your development process, you can gain valuable insights into what they need from your product. Ultimately, this will help you create a great solution that drives long-term success for your business.
