Channels to Test Customer Demand
Validate Your Ideas Before You Build
You’ve got an idea for a product, service, app, or startup. Time to build it right? Nope! Wrong. It can be a counterintuitive experience, but you can test the demand for your idea before spending tons of time and money on it.
I’ve been enjoying a YouTube series from no-code pioneer and Founder of Apps Without Code Tara Reed. She got over 200 emails from interested customers for a new app idea after a single post on a Facebook group. And after following up with that initial customer list, she earned over $2k before completing or launching her app. It got me thinking about other ways to find potential users, but my Google searches didn’t turn up the definitive list I was hoping to find.
So, here’s a handy list of channels you can use to drive traffic to a deliverable made to test demand. Shout it out if I missed anything in the responses or tweet me.
Channels
Your Network
- Phone/SMS
Communities
- Facebook groups
- LinkedIn groups
- Slack workspaces
- Reddit subreddits
- Twitch
- Forums
- Marketplaces (Etsy, Gumroad, Ebay…)
- Conferences
Ads
- Facebook ads
- Google ads
- LinkedIn ads
- Instagram ads
- Twitter ads
Posts
- Blog (Medium, your website…)
Crowdfunding Campaign
- Kickstarter, Indiegogo…
- Republic.co, StartEngine, Wefunder, SeedInvest…
Other
- Email List
- Guerilla user testing (at cafes, schools…)
- Craigslist (better for user testing)
Passive
- Google Adwords Keyword Planner
- Google Trends
- Competitor site traffic (comScore, Compete, Quantcast…)
- Audience testing services
Deliverables
- Charge money (the best test!)
- Landing page or website
- Email sign up
- Survey (stick to past behavior only)
- User testing
- Customer interview
