Venturing into new business territories requires more than just a good hunch. A full target market assessment should be your first point of action, including a target market analysis and competitor analysis.

If you start with a market assessment and make data-driven decisions based on the outcomes, it’ll directly impact your bottom line. Studies have shown that businesses that make a habit out of conducting market research are significantly more likely to increase their revenue over the last 12 months (76%), compared to those who only conduct market research sporadically (65%).

Market assessments go beyond finding gaps in the market. When done right, they can reveal strategic routes to take, help you reduce costs and optimize your messaging. So, how do you conduct a market analysis the right way? That’s exactly what we’ll cover in this article.

What is a market assessment?

A market assessment is a thorough analysis of key factors that shape market dynamics, including market size, market share, consumer behavior, and competitive landscape. It helps you gauge market potential, identify target customers, and anticipate challenges and opportunities. This knowledge empowers you to make informed decisions regarding product launches, strategic choices, or other business challenges.

In other words, a market assessment is made up of a range of smaller assessments of specific elements of a market, based on the goals of your research – but more on those later. Let’s look at which basics you should always cover, and how you can add on to them for a more in-depth market analysis.

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The basic components of a market assessment

• Market size: Before you can set any targets, start by determining the total volume or value of a market to get an initial idea of the potential scope that’s even available for your product or service. This helps you establish more realistic KPIs.
• Market share: Find out what your company’s proportion of sales is within the market to compare your brand’s strength and presence to competitors. You can do this not just in terms of sales, but also brand awareness and other brand health metrics.
• Target customers and potential customers: Identify the people that are in this target market, based on demographics and psychographics. Look at both customers who are already buying, and those who aren’t yet.
• Consumer behavior: Get to know what those consumers in this market are thinking and doing. Check their buying patterns, how they respond to new products and marketing and how they act in other steps of the customer journey.
• Competitive landscape: Learn who is currently operating in the market, what their strengths and weaknesses are, and how they are viewed by the consumers in this market.

Advanced components of market assessment

Once you’ve laid the foundation for your market assessment, it’s time to add building blocks that help you answer the specific questions you have.

• Market dynamics: How are economic changes, technological advancements, and regulatory environments affecting market conditions, and how should your business operations adapt?
• Emerging trends: Identifying up-and-coming trends and analyzing their importance for your long term strategy helps you stay ahead in the market, and mitigate the risk of jumping on a hype that’s about to pass.
• Segmentation analysis: Once you’ve got your target market mapped out, you can start segmenting based on more detailed behavioral, psychographic, and geographical segmentation. This can reveal unexploited niches and opportunities for personalized marketing.
• Value chain analysis: With this you can examine your industry’s value chain from raw materials to end-users to locate any inefficiencies, potential partnerships, or areas for innovation.
• Regulatory landscape: Getting an in-depth look at the latest specific laws and regulations governing the market that could pose barriers to entry or opportunities for disruption helps your business stay compliant, and competitive.
• Scenario planning: This involved creating detailed predictions about the future market conditions based on different assumptions about how current trends could evolve.

Want to know more about how you can make your market assessment a success? Check out the first-hand advice from these twenty trusted experts.

How to conduct a comparative market assessment

A market assessment isn’t simply about collecting data; it’s about getting specific knowledge that gives you a competitive advantage in your market. This will enable you to create a strategy that aligns perfectly with your business goals and the market dynamics. You get to know all the external factors at play, so you can tap into your business’s strengths. But how do you make sure you collect the right data?

For any market analysis, preparation is key. We’ll walk you through the must-do steps of conducting a market analysis, while keeping the focus on gathering actionable insights.

Step 1: Define the goal(s) of your market assessment

First, determine which questions to answer in your market analysis? Because a market assessment is best done when it’s targeted at solving a specific question, whether that revolves around industry trends, marketing shifts, customer buying habits or if you need a comparative market analysis.

The more targeted your research is, the more accurate and actionable the results will be. Here are some example questions you can draw inspiration from.

• How can we modify our product features to better address the unique challenges or preferences of the new market?
• Which customer behavioral trends can we leverage to design more engaging marketing campaigns?
• What new technological advancements can we integrate into our offerings to enhance product appeal in the target market?
• What specific strategies can we implement to enhance customer loyalty in a highly competitive market?
• Which distribution channels have untapped potential in the target market that we haven’t fully exploited?
• What are the specific risks of entering this market, and how can we design strategies to mitigate them effectively?

Step 2: Prepare resources and assemble your team

Here’s how you make sure every part of your resources, human or monetary, is put to good use:

1. Build a cross-functional team: Assembling a diverse team that spans various specialities within your organization makes it easier to really own this market assessment journey and make it as actionable as possible. At the end of the day, the actions you take based on the outcomes will affect the whole business — directly or indirectly. Involve not just marketing or product development, but also customer success, sales and product managers to see how you can make this research valuable for everyone. The more aligned everyone is, the better the results will be.
2. Equip them with the right tools: Even if this is your team’s first time doing a market assessment, the right tools will make sure you get relevant, accurate and actionable data in no-time. With a tool like Attest you can quickly send out surveys to your target audience. When the results start coming in, our platform’s visualization capabilities make it easy to find the answers you’re looking for, and to communicate your findings with the wider team.
3. Leverage dedicated expert support: At Attest, each client (no matter the plan!) gets access to a dedicated research expert. This personalized support helps you conduct a market analysis that is not only powered by sophisticated technology but also guided by expert human insights.

Step 3: Develop a research plan

You’ve got your end goal, you’ve got your crew, and you’ve got the tools. Now it’s time to map your research strategy with military precision. Here are some things to lay out in this research blueprint:

Data collection:

• Primary research: Find the most suitable methods to gather first hand data. Decide if you will use surveys, focus groups, interviews, observations or experiments, depending on the goals of your research, and your available resources.
• Secondary research: Choose which existing data you’ll get from market reports, industry publications, and online resources.

Timeline:

• Set milestones: Break down your research plan into manageable phases, and assign realistic deadlines for each.
• Track progress: Set up a system to monitor your progress against the timeline to make sure you stay on track and can adapt as needed.

Target audience and sample selection:

• Identify your target audience: Which part of your target audience is most relevant for your research? This could be potential customers, people who have bought from you in the past or a mix of both. Clearly define who it is you need answers from before you send out any surveys.
• Select sample size: Make sure you have a representative sample from your target audience to participate in your research. The sample size should be big enough to yield statistically significant results and base your business decisions on.

Step 4: Conduct goal-oriented market research

This step is where your planning hits the pavement. Depending on your objectives, you’ll tailor your market research methods accordingly. Here’s how to make sure your market research delivers the insights you need:

• Mix primary and secondary research: Augment primary research data with secondary research to complete your market overview and test whether or not your findings are in line with other research.
• Segment your research efforts: Target specific segments such as demographic groups, geographic areas, or consumer behaviors to uncover detailed insights that broader analyses might miss.
• Balance qualitative and quantitative data: Use quantitative research to quantify behaviors and opinions and combine this with qualitative research to get to know the reasons behind consumer decisions.
• Stay flexible and responsive: If initial data brings new insights or challenges your assumptions, be ready to adjust your research direction.
• Maintain high standards for data integrity: Keep a strict check on how you collect, store, and analyze data to ensure its accuracy and reliability.

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Step 5: Analyze data and identify opportunities

Now that you’ve gathered a mountain of data, it’s time to sift through it to find the gold. These best practices help you analyze with practical precision:

• Visualize your findings: Use charts, heat maps, and graphs to bring the data to life. This helps you spot trends and outliers you’ll probably overlook in a spreadsheet.
• Compare with benchmarks and competitors: Measure your findings against industry standards and what your competitors are doing.
• Explore relationships in the data: Look for connections between different data points, even if they seem random at first. These links can reveal what influences customer behaviors and preferences.
• Apply predictive techniques: If you can want a leg up in planning, use predictive analytics to forecast future trends.

Step 6: Create actionable strategies

Here’s how to make sure your strategies are not just plans on paper but driving forces for real growth:

• Determine immediate and long-term actions: To keep momentum while staying aligned with your strategic business goals, break down your insights into actions that can deliver quick wins and those that build long-term value. Prioritize and plan accordingly.
• Collaborate with executing teams during strategy formulation: Develop these strategies with input from the teams that will implement them. This helps in creating plans that are realistic and keeps teams committed to the vision, rather than just being puppets in a play.
• Run pilot tests: Before going full-scale, test your strategies in controlled environments. This could be a specific geographic area or a demographic segment, depending on your strategy.
• Benchmark against KPIs: What gets measured gets managed. Establish clear, measurable key performance indicators for each strategy.
• Regularly review and refine: Make it a habit to have periodic reviews for your strategies. This helps them remain effective and aligned with market dynamics, and enable you to pivot or scale efforts based on performance and feedback.

Take the first step towards better market insights. Get started with a demo for Attest today, and have results within days.

Why is a market analysis essential before you expand?

Before entering a new market or when adapting to market shifts, it’s crucial to have a clear picture of just why a market analysis is so valuable. Here are just a few reasons you should never skip market research when seizing potential business opportunities.

Navigate risks and seize opportunities: Even with research done, there’ll be risks in market expansion. But understanding these risks beforehand helps you create robust strategies and prepare for potential challenges. At the same time, you can also act quickly on openings for growth.

Refine operations for new markets: What works in one market, won’t necessarily work in another. Market analysis can show you exactly how to tailor your operations to new market demands.

Build stakeholder confidence: You’ll need reliable data to build your case when presenting expansion plans to stakeholders. A thorough market analysis can help you to demonstrate growth potential based on solid data, which can be key in securing the necessary backing and investments.

Stay competitive and future-proof your business: You’re entering the market once, but you’ll have to stay relevant forever. Continuous market analysis is vital for keeping pace with market trends and competitor actions.

Tools for market research and marketing analysis

• Market research/survey tools: Capture direct consumer feedback; Attest offers deep survey capabilities and analytics. Explore our market analysis service.
• Research databases: Access extensive industry reports and market data. Reliable resources include Statista and IBISWorld.
• Analytics and data visualization tools: Analyze and visualize data effectively with tools like Tableau and Google Analytics.
• Social media monitoring tools: Track online brand mentions and trends using platforms like Hootsuite and BuzzSumo.
• Competitive analysis tools: Monitor and analyze competitors’ strategies with tools such as SEMrush and Ahrefs.

Understand how your target market ticks

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The post Market assessment: steps for conducting a market analysis appeared first on Attest.

Once you’ve expanded your market share in your company’s home country and built a loyal customer base, chances are that you want to continue growing – but launching new products in your home market doesn’t seem the right way. Because why change a winning formula?

One of the routes to take leads you to expansion in a foreign market – a place where your competitors may not have ventured yet, and where the demand for your product is growing. That would give you enough time to get settled in before everyone else starts their market expansion.

Crossing borders with your business is exciting, but it requires thorough preparation and research. Your team needs to familiarize itself with the cultural differences, consumer behaviors, and market trends there.

The first thing on the packing list for your market expansion plan should be thorough market research. You can build a data-driven expansion strategy and make the most out of entering this new market. You need to figure out your target market, identify key customer segments, and align your business practices and positioning strategy with local preferences is going to be top of your to do list.

Let’s go in with an open mind, and explore how you can navigate the challenges of international expansion, and develop an effective strategy that helps you thrive foreign markets.

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Why should you expand into a new market?

Expanding into new markets isn’t a shortcut to increasing sales. In reality it’s a big investment that requires a solid strategy, plenty of time, resources and research. So why do it?

When done thoughtfully, entering a new market can unlock opportunities for your brand that go far beyond revenue growth (although that’s a big benefit). You increase your company’s resilience in a world that is never done changing. You build brand awareness across the globe. You may even find new paths for innovations. And the list goes on:

• When you enter new markets, it’s a chance to diversify your revenue streams. This means your business can mitigate some of the risks that are associated with relying on a single market or region to sell in. The more diversified your revenue streams are–and that can be in terms of international expansion too, not just more products–the less vulnerable your business becomes.
• After you’ve learned the ropes in your initial target market, you can use that knowledge to get the first-mover advantage locked in elsewhere. Chances are you aren’t going to do everything right, right away. But by being the first mover, you can build a name and awareness around your brand which will help you in the long run.
• Venturing into new markets can also be beneficial for your marketing efforts in your current market. It gives you a competitive advantage over those who are confined to their existing markets. Not just because you build brand awareness globally, but also because you learn new things in those new markets that you can apply in your initial target market as well.
• Expanding into new markets is a great way to fuel innovation. Exposing your team to foreign markets with different business practices forces them to think outside their box and gives them insights they can apply to existing products and growth strategies.
• Global expansion is also great if you’re hoping to tap into a broader talent pool to fuel your business growth from within. It makes it easier to attract highly skilled individuals from other countries if they are familiar with your product.

When you take your business abroad, it’s crucial to know what trends are happening there. For the US, we’ve done the research for you. Download these consumer trends here.

How to expand into new markets

Before you try to break into any new markets, preparation is key. If you want to successfully expand into other markets, you need to get your international market research right, define goals and pick the best strategies for your adventure. Below, you’ll read what steps you shouldn’t skip if you’re aiming at business growth.

1. Define the strategic focus of your expansion

As we’ve mentioned before, simply hoping to get more sales out of expansion isn’t enough of a goal. Define it more clearly, so you can pick more focused strategies. For instance: are you trying to get a head start over your competitors in a specific foreign market? Or is it because you want to reach new customer segments that you can’t reach in your own country? Whatever the reason is, make sure it’s the focus of everyone working on this expansion.

2. Conduct market research with precision

The foundation of any successful market expansion is thorough market research. Research that’s centered around your strategic focus, and that goes beyond surface-level data.

To spot the best market opportunities and to get to know your soon-to-be customer base inside and out, you’ll need a strong partner. With Attest, you get access to useful tools like multi-market research which allows you to analyze market trends across different regions simultaneously. This gives you a nuanced and practical understanding of how local economic conditions, consumer behaviors, and cultural differences might affect your product’s reception.

3. Get to know local competitors

There will likely already be companies in the market that you’re expanding in, so it’s time to get familiar with competitor research.

Walk through the process of buying from them as if you were a customer. What’s the experience like, the prices? What product gaps can you spot in the market, and what innovations have they applied that you can learn from? Look at all this information through the lens of a local: is this ideal for the customer base in that country, or could you do better?

4. Get consumer insights – by starting from scratch

Avoid the trap of assuming that your target audience in a new country will behave similarly to your current customers. At first glance, they may be super similar. But under the hood there are likely to be significant differences in preferences, expectations, and purchasing behaviors.

When you start researching your new market’s consumers, go in with an open mind, and don’t immediately try to compare them to what you already know from your home market’s customer segments. This prevents you from overlooking crucial information and helps you build the most realistic buyer persona possible.

5. Set yourself a clear framework for success with KPIs

If you want to set your team up for success, make sure you formulate key performance indicators (KPIs) that are specifically tailored to your expansion goals. You should have clearly defined objectives (and strategies to get there) for metrics that go way beyond sales and market share, such as customer satisfaction, brand awareness, and operational efficiency. Using these as your north star helps your expansion plan stay on track.

6. Develop a robust go-to-market strategy

Your go-to-market strategy should take learnings from your first go-to-market venture in your home market, and everything else you’ve learned about the market you’re entering through your market research.

Are you going to partner up with local businesses? Will your focus be OOH or targeted digital campaigns? What’s the best PR and brand positioning strategy for the country you’re going to? All this and more should be included in your go-to-market strategy to ensure a successful expansion that your business benefits from in the long run.

Eager to learn more? Check out these examples of a brand growth strategy from real brands.

How Attest can help with new market expansion and robust market research

If you’re looking for some real-world inspiration from brands like yours who have successfully expanded into new territory, we’ve got you.

Baby Brezza, a leader in baby feeding appliances, was building their strategy for breaking into the diapering category – but the market outside the U.S. was new to them. Instead of relying on guesswork or making assumptions about parenting practices abroad, they used Attest to survey mothers in multiple countries. They did their research in France, Germany, Italy, the UK, Australia, Korea, and Taiwan, which gave them plenty of information on the true potential of their new product.

All that research took only a week, but the results are long-lasting. It cut down the time to market for their international launch, something that typically takes a couple of years, down to just 12 months.

If your business is looking for a similar solution and you want to get detailed insights before expanding into new markets, take a look at how Attest’s market analysis tools can empower your market expansion strategy.

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Make sure you know your expansion markets inside out before you make any costly marketing or commercial decisions!

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The post Expanding into new markets: strategies for growth in 2025 appeared first on Attest.

When you know your target audience inside and out, from where to find them and how to talk to them, you’ll be able to produce marketing campaigns that drive significant results, whether you’re after brand awareness or cold hard sales.

But getting your target audience right isn’t a question of stacking some demographic filters on top of each other – we humans are far too complex for that.

Just think about die hard Apple users, and those who swear by Android. On the surface, they seem like very similar people, yet there is something that makes them different.

In this guide, we’ll help you find those differences and walk you through the essential steps to identify your target market and how Attest can help streamline this process.

Get started with the target market survey template

Here’s your head start to help you pinpoint your target market! Our research experts have written this target market survey template to help you figure out who your most valuable customers are

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What is a target customer?

A target customer is a specific type of consumer at which a company aims its products and services. Your target market is the sum of all those people. Inside your target market, there will be several market segments of people you can group together.

Having a clear understanding of these segments is crucial — just think back to Apple versus Android. The more defined these segments are, the more focused all your marketing efforts can be.

Many brands get stuck at defining a larger target market, without zooming in on the customers they try to reach, which makes their target market as a whole more blurred and less defined. They’ll find that reaching the right people is difficult. The best way to deal with that, is to identify a niche market, rather than trying to appeal to everyone.

Why targeting a niche market is crucial

Finding your niche is essential if you want to spend your marketing budget wisely. There’s a common misconception that having a clearly defined niche means you only target a really small target audience, and that that could affect your sales potential. But that’s not what niching down about – it’s about having a super clear definition of who is and who isn’t your target audience.

Targeting such a specific target market rather than a broad audience helps to:

• Increase marketing efficiency: You can focus your resources on segments that are more likely to convert, rather than wasting money on marketing to the masses.
• Run better marketing campaigns: Your marketing messages become a lot more impactful and more clear when you know exactly who you’re speaking to, where, and in what tone.
• Improve your product development: When you know exactly who you are creating a product for and what they need, design choices will be a lot easier to make.
• Boost customer retention: Customers who feel like a product – or even a whole brand – was made for them, are more likely to stick around.

Not everyone is your target customer

That’s good news! There’s not a single product out there that everyone uses, unless oxygen would be sold in supermarkets. At the same time, it’s important to recognize that not everyone who buys from you is your target customer.

A customer can fall out of your target audience, just like a target customer isn’t guaranteed to buy from you.

When some customers may fall outside the ideal customer profile (ICP) you’ve identified for your business, it’s important to take note of it and start collecting data on it. Over time, you can then learn whether there’s cohesion in their profile and if it makes sense to group them in a new segment, which is one of the benefits of consumer research.

It boils down to not just formulating who your target customers are, but seeing if this is reflected in who’s buying from you, and perhaps changing your definitions based on that. This strategy allows you to focus your efforts on the most valuable segments.

What is target market segmentation?

Let’s take a closer look at how to define the segments within your overall target audience. Market segmentation means you will divide your broader market into smaller, more defined categories based on various criteria such as demographic data, geographical location, and psychographic segmentation. These differences can seem small and insignificant, but can make a whole world of difference in the way people research or buy products.

Some profiles may look exactly alike. Take two 28-year-old working women, who both live alone in the city of New York. They go to the same gym, they both take care of their health with supplements, and they are both vegan. Easy-peasy, or is it? If one of them has sworn off social media a year ago and the other one is vigorously scrolling on Instagram between her sets at the gym, there are different ways you will be able to target these women – which could group them in different segments.

Only when you get that up close to your target market to create meaningful segments, can you truly start addressing their unique needs and preferences. This is especially important if you have multiple target markets.

Key criteria for market segmentation

What kind of criteria to choose for your market segmentation will depend on your product, your goals and other strategies. But the more you know, the better. Here’s how to identify target market segments:

1. Demographic segmentation: The basics, such as age, gender, income level, education level, and marital status.
2. Geographic segmentation: Where are they based? What’s the weather like out there?
3. Psychographic segmentation: Dividing the market based on lifestyle choices, values, interests, and attitudes.
4. Behavioral Segmentation: Segmenting based on consumer behaviors. How do they shop? Which social media do they use? Which brands do they love and hate?

Benefits of market segmentation

When you segment your market, you’ll be able to create customized campaigns and tactics to reach all your different target audiences with precision. Here’s how that helps your brand:

• It focuses your marketing efforts: If a specific group needs a little more attention to boost sales, you can work on that, rather than creating a campaign that targets everyone. It also makes your marketing message more relevant and personalized.
• It optimizes your marketing budget: Since you can only spend every dollar once, segmentation helps you use resources more efficiently by targeting segments that are most likely to convert.
• It improves customer satisfaction: When you market products and services that meet the specific needs of different target market segments, people will feel more seen and heard.

If you want to start defining your key market segments, check out our market analysis template.

Target market analysis: How to identify your target audience

If you want to get clarity on who your target market is — whether you’re starting out as a new business, or pivoting an existing one — the best strategy is a systematic approach, and we’re here to help. Follow these steps to find your target audience and refine your niche marketing through market research,

1. Identify your customer base

This step is important for existing businesses. Identify your customer base by analyzing your current customers and understanding their common characteristics. As we mentioned, your prospective customers and actual customers might not be exactly the same. You can use tools like CRM systems and sales data to segment and profile these customers. Have a look at:

• Customer demographics: Age, gender, income, education and other demographic information.
• Purchase history: What products are they buying, and how frequently?
• Customer feedback: What are your current customers saying about your products?

2. Gather consumer feedback from surveys

With surveys, you can further solidify your knowledge of your target audience. Use these to learn what your potential customers think about your product or service and what improvements they would like to see, or find out what marketing campaigns resonate with them.

Getting this direct data from your target audience enables you to make data-driven decisions for your business. It takes the guesswork out of marketing and product development, and helps you build stronger relationships with the people in your target markets.

Get started with the target market survey template

Here’s your head start to help you pinpoint your target market! Our research experts have written this target market survey template to help you figure out who your most valuable customers are

Get the template

3. Conduct focus groups

A great way to know your target audience and the differences between segments is to sit them together in a focus group. This will allow you to gather first-hand qualitative data about your potential customers’ preferences, behaviors, and pain points, and see how they think and interact. This can provide deep insights that surveys alone might miss. In focus groups, you can explore:

• Customer opinions: What do your potential customers think about your product or service?
• Behavioral insights: How do they use your product, and what features do they find most valuable?
• Unmet needs: Are there additional features or improvements that they would like to see?

You’ll get a more nuanced understanding of consumer behavior and shared characteristics, which is key for creating tailored messaging and products. Focus groups also provide a platform for real-time feedback, enabling you to ask follow-up questions and dig deeper into specific topics.

4. Create customer profiles

Start by developing detailed customer profiles or buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. Pay close attention to details and key characteristics such as age range, income level, family status, and even core values. Having a visual representation of who your target audience is will be helpful for everyone on your team, whether that’s customer support, market, sales or product development. They’ll then know exactly how to create products that meet their needs, give stellar customer support and create more personalized marketing campaigns.

5. Optimize your business strategy based on your (new) niche

Once you know who your target customers are, it’s time to cross reference that with your existing strategies. Or, if you’re launching a new business or project, start building your strategy from the ground up, with the right target audience in mind, every step of the way.

For existing businesses, this might mean you have to update your product features, pricing, or distribution channels based on what you learn from your market analysis.

6. Use a mix of primary and secondary data

Good research hygiene means combining primary data (directly from your surveys, focus groups, and customer interactions) with secondary data (existing data from market reports, studies, and competitor analysis) to get a holistic and balanced view of your market.

The more mixed your data sources are, the easier it will be to cross-check its accuracy, and the more detailed your research outcomes will be.

7. Start marketing

Let the fun begin! Once you have identified your target market, you can begin marketing to specific segments. Based on the outcome of your research, you can choose to put your marketing focus on content marketing, social media, email campaigns, OOH or anything else that popped up during your consumer research.

How having a specific target market helps real-world businesses

The brief calls for another lift of the benefits of having a clear ICP, but we’ve been over that already a couple of times. Instead, choosing to focus this part on an Attest example.

Case Study 1: Ocean Bottle

After five years in business, Ocean Bottle realized they had lost track of who their target customers were. They had started out focusing on direct-to-consumer sales but had then expanded into the B2B market. Sales were great, but they did lose the connection to their original target market. They noticed the marketplace was getting more and more crowded and competition was coming in hot, so they decided it was time to go back to basics and refine their marketing strategy, this time including both their existing and potential customers.

Using Attest they were able to develop detailed buyer personas, based on a mix of consumer behavior that they researched, and the existing data they had.

The results showed their existing customers were older than expected. They also identified new niche markets among users of competitor products. With this insight, they refined their targeted marketing by focusing on two key personas: ‘Progressive Peigh’ and ‘Active Ash.’

All of this leads to better marketing messages, an optimized marketing budget and even a new product range that is completely tailored to their ICPs.

If you want to read the full case study, check it out here.

Case Study 2: Little Moons

What made Little Moons take a closer look at their target customers? For them, it was going viral. The brand exploded on TikTok, leading to a surge in sales. Which is great, but Little Moons wanted to be smart about it, and find out who was actually buying all their ice cream, and whether these people would consistently pay the premium price of nearly £5 per pack.

Using Attest, Little Moons was able to identify their most valuable target market quickly. They aimed to discover who the bigger spenders on premium ice cream were and which brands they were competing against.

Just like ocean Bottle, Little Moons found out that the customers they had been selling to were actually older than they had anticipated. Their key target audience wasn’t the younger social media crowd, but well-off people aged 30 and above that had the disposable income for regular purchases, and a little ice cream treat every now and again.

Knowing this, Little Moons has been able to adjust their marketing strategy and consistently target this demographic, with the right messaging and right product prices. They’ve now not only gone viral on TikTok, but also secured global PR and press coverage, which has helped them to reach even more new customers and increase sales. Here’s the whole case study.

For more insights on gathering consumer data, read our article on how to gather consumer insights.

Identify target customers & market segments with Attest

With Attest’s platform, you have everything you need to truly understand and connect with your target market. Whether you’re looking to create detailed customer profiles, explore how different market segments respond to your products, or test out new concepts with pinpoint precision, Attest has you covered. Plus, with expert support just a click away, you’ll never be navigating these insights alone.

Explore how Attest’s consumer profiling service can help you identify and understand your target market.

For more information on tracking brand performance, check out our article on brand tracking.

Get started with the target market survey template

Here’s your head start to help you pinpoint your target market! Our research experts have written this target market survey template to help you figure out who your most valuable customers are

Get the template

The post How to identify your target market appeared first on Attest.

Before you decide to work flashy advanced features, ask yourself (and preferably, your customers):

• What features do users love, and which ones do they just tolerate?
• Which current features make the user experience more complicated?
• What frequent customer complaints can you address in the next update?
• How do competitor products solve issues that your users face?
• Which improvements will most significantly impact customer satisfaction and loyalty?

Having those answers in mind when you start working on your product offerings, will make sure that they actually provide more value, and that you allocate your resources wisely. Let’s take a closer look at how you improve an existing product successfully, with the user journey in mind. Of course, we’ll also show you some classic examples of business that have nailed the improvement process.

What are the types of product improvements?

Like we said before, if you make product improvements, it is not always about adding a new feature. Below, you’ll find some more product improvement ideas that can improve existing products in a way that’s aligned with what your users really want and need.

Add new features or develop new products

Before adding new features to your products, think about what will truly make the user’s life better.

That means identifying unaddressed pain points, but also revisiting pain points previous versions of the product do touch: are they still the best solution? Can we do more?

Innovate not just for the sake of it, but to fill a real gap or offer a significant improvement over existing solutions. Adding new features should always aim to solve specific problems or improve user satisfaction.

Improve existing products

Look at your current products with a critical eye.

Identify underperforming features, big or small. Sometimes, simplifying interfaces, increasing efficiency, or enhancing durability or even revamping product branding is what keeps your product relevant and satisfying for your customers.

Improving existing features before adding any new features can lead to a better user experience and higher customer satisfaction because it shows customers that they’re heard and understood, and that your team isn’t just showing off innovations.

Increase the frequency of improvements

When it comes to apps or software, it’s not just about if you improve your product, but how often.

Regular updates can keep your product fresh and show your users that there is constant progress, which will give them a reason to stay engaged with your product.

But don’t overdo it—find the right balance so you keep users engaged without overwhelming them, and give them a chance to get acquainted with any changes you make to the product.

Improvements based on consumer feedback

How great is it to see that a product you’ve liked using has implemented a piece of feedback or a feature request that you thought of?

Just image what that does to customer retention. And then, go make it a reality. Because consumer feedback is pure gold, even the ones that are pointing out tiny little details – those could be the quick wins that make all the difference.

Customers will tell you what’s working and what’s not, all you got to do is ask. Use this feedback not just to fix problems, but to innovate in ways that resonate with your users.

Make sure you’re regularly digging for user feedback through various channels like surveys and in-app messages to make sure your improved products are in line with their expectations.

Catch up with new technology

If you want to keep your competitive advantage laser sharp, make sure to stay in tune with what the market is offering.

Stay relevant by keeping up with technological advances. Integrate new tech or materials to improve your product’s performance or appeal. Adoption improvements related to technology can offer significant competitive advantages.

Connect to other products

Don’t look at a product improvement as something you do one product at a time.

Sometimes all that’s missing is a link with another product. Make sure your product works well with other products or platforms your customers use. Compatibility can make your product indispensable and extend its lifecycle. Obvious integrations with popular platforms can boost user satisfaction and retention and give you new customers quickly, without necessarily having to set up a campaign for this new target group.

What NPD questions should you ask?

Check this set of questions from our research experts on what questions you could ask about your future products. This is a food and beverage example, but the theory behind is useful for all B2C brands…

See the survey questions

How to set up continuous product improvement for your brand

Product improvement isn’t a one-time project per product; it should be a core part of your company’s innovation strategy, whether it’s for new product development or regular updates.

Use market research, consumer insights, and competitive analysis to inform your strategies. Here are some steps you shouldn’t skip.

Get stuck in with advanced analytics

Use advanced data analysis tools to understand market trends and consumer insights.

These tools don’t just give you a better view of what’s going on in the market currently, they can also help you predict future trends and guide your product improvements.

With predictive analytics, machine learning, and AI you can make sure your teams are always one step ahead and can jump on feature requests quickly.

For instance, by analyzing large datasets, you can identify subtle shifts in consumer preferences before they become mainstream trends. This proactive approach allows you to stay ahead of the curve, and you make sure your product improvements timely and relevant.

• Integrate AI and machine learning for more precise trend analysis.
• Use real-time analytics to monitor changes in consumer behavior instantly.
• Combine multiple data sources for a comprehensive view of market trends.

Synthesize customer feedback into actionable insights

Use advanced sentiment analysis to uncover the emotional undercurrents in customer feedback and make deliberate improvements to change that sentiment for the better. This helps you address not just obvious flaws but also subtle aspects of the user experience.

Look beyond standard surveys; leverage text analysis on social media mentions, reviews, and customer service interactions. By understanding the emotions and motivations behind customer feedback, you can tailor your improvements to address deeper, often unspoken needs.

• Employ text mining tools to analyze large volumes of qualitative data.
• Focus on emotional drivers behind customer feedback for deeper insights.
• Regularly review and update your feedback analysis techniques to stay current.

Improve the experience, not just the design

Focus on how people use and feel about the product.

Simplify the user interface or enhance customer support to make the product experience smoother and more enjoyable. Think about the entire customer journey.

For instance, optimizing onboarding processes can drastically improve first impressions, while ongoing customer support enhancements ensure long-term satisfaction. Use journey mapping to pinpoint pain points and opportunities for delight.

• Use customer journey mapping to identify and fix pain points.
• Implement user feedback loops to continuously refine the experience.
• Prioritize features that enhance usability and customer satisfaction.

Conduct iterative usability testing

Implement a cycle of rapid prototyping and testing.

Use A/B tests to experiment with different improvement options and ensure real usability enhancements. Move beyond basic A/B testing and incorporate multivariate testing to explore how multiple variables interact.

Additionally, consider usability testing in real-world environments to see how your product performs in the wild. This iterative process ensures that each change is genuinely beneficial and user-approved.

• Combine A/B and multivariate testing for more comprehensive insights.
• Conduct field tests to understand product use in real-world scenarios.
• Iterate quickly and integrate findings into the next development cycle.

Develop a segmentation strategy using behavioral data

Classify consumers based on usage patterns and engagement levels.

Tailor improvements to user habits for more relevant updates. Instead of relying solely on demographics, dive into psychographics and behavioral data to create dynamic segments.

Understand what drives different user groups and customize features or content to match these motivations. Behavioral segmentation allows for highly personalized user experiences, increasing engagement and satisfaction.

• Use behavioral data to create dynamic, real-time segments.
• Personalize features and updates to match user behavior and preferences.
• Regularly reassess segments to keep them aligned with current user trends.

Establish dynamic goals linked to real-time feedback loops

Set improvement goals that evolve based on ongoing consumer data. Continuously adapt and refine product features to align with user expectations. Implement real-time analytics and feedback tools to monitor user interactions as they happen.

Use this data to set dynamic, flexible goals that can shift as new trends and user behaviors emerge. This approach ensures that your product remains relevant and continuously aligned with user needs.

• Use real-time data to adjust goals and strategies dynamically.
• Incorporate user feedback into regular sprint planning sessions.
• Set flexible goals that can adapt to changing user needs and market conditions.

Implement agile development cycles

Use agile methodologies in your product development process. Let feedback and data analysis directly influence development stages for quicker market adaptation.

Agile isn’t just about speed; it’s about responsiveness. Implement sprints that incorporate continuous user feedback, and ensure cross-functional teams work together seamlessly. This approach not only speeds up development but also aligns it closely with user needs and market demands.

• Incorporate user feedback into each sprint cycle.
• Facilitate cross-functional team meetings to ensure alignment.
• Use agile retrospectives to continuously improve the development process.

Foster a culture of continuous innovation

Encourage a company-wide culture of constant innovation and improvement. Make it a strategic priority to seek out and act on advanced insights. Promote a mindset where every team member feels responsible for innovation.

Regularly hold innovation workshops and hackathons to encourage creative problem-solving and fresh ideas. Foster an environment where experimentation is encouraged, and failure is seen as a step towards success.

• Organize regular innovation days or hackathons.
• Encourage cross-departmental collaboration to spur new ideas.
• Celebrate both successes and failures as learning opportunities.

Collaborate in cross-functional teams for holistic improvements

Bring together teams from R&D, marketing, customer service, and analytics. Ensure improvements are informed by diverse perspectives. Cross-functional collaboration breaks down silos and ensures a holistic approach to product improvement.

For instance, customer service can provide insights on common issues, while marketing can offer perspectives on consumer trends. This comprehensive approach ensures that product improvements are well-rounded and address multiple facets of user experience.

• Schedule regular cross-functional team meetings to discuss improvements and review results from your market analysis.
• Use collaborative tools to share insights and track progress.
• Ensure all departments have a voice in the product development process.

Examples of product improvements that paid off

Think of a product you started using years ago, and still use to this day. What changes did it go through? Is there a particular feature that made you stick around, or the fact that a new feature was released regularly? There are more ways than one to get product improvement right.

Here are some examples of how big names used continuous product improvement to attract new customers, while also keeping existing users happy.

Fitbit

Fitbit evolved from a simple activity tracker to an all-encompassing health and wellness tool. Early models tracked basic metrics like steps and calories burned. Today’s models incorporate advanced health monitoring tools such as heart rate sensors, sleep tracking, and even stress management features. Fitbit’s strategy to integrate advanced health metrics diversified its offerings and solidified its reputation as a leader in wearable technology.

What can we learn from Fitbit’s product improvement journey?

• Continuous innovation: Fitbit didn’t stop at basic tracking but continuously added valuable features that addressed broader health and wellness needs. They didn’t just focus on big changes: with small, subtle improvements, they solidified their proposition and made it a widely-loved product.
• User-centric development: by focusing on what users wanted, rather than following fleeting trends in the market, Fitbit was able to maintain relevance and loyalty in a competitive market.

Google Maps

Google Maps started as a straightforward navigation tool. Over time, it expanded to include features such as place reviews, real-time traffic updates, and location history. This expansion into community-driven features transformed it into an essential travel and local exploration tool. It now even comes with built-in AI.

What the development of Google Maps teaches us about product improvement:

• Community engagement: Don’t just look for ways to improve your product within your business. Incorporating user-generated content like reviews and photos made Google Maps more interactive and trustworthy, and built social proof into the product.
• Integrated services: It’s all in the details. What’s the point of getting from A to B when you get there and the restaurant is closed? Combining navigation with services like restaurant reservations, opening times and ride-sharing streamlined the user experience, making it a one-stop app for travel and exploration.

Dyson

Dyson’s vacuum cleaners were great to begin with, but evolved with cyclone technology for better suction and bagless dust management. Then Dyson applied a similar strategy to their hair dryers, by using controlled airflow to prevent heat damage, and going completely viral for changing the shape of the well-known hair dryer. Their focus on innovative solutions to common problems sets new industry standards and improves everyday life through technology.

The key takeaways from how Dyson does product improvement

• Market leadership: Instead of focusing on new products, they wanted to become the best of the best in the categories they were in, with products they were good at. By continuously pushing the boundaries of product performance, Dyson established itself as a premium brand.
• User-focused design: focusing on user pain points—like the inconvenience of vacuum bags or heat damage from hair dryers—Dyson created products that deliver tangible benefits and improve everyday life. They didn’t think within the guardrails of waht existing products looked like, and that’s what made them stand out.

Follow in Dyson’s footsteps…

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Best practices and product improvement tips to keep you on track

Prioritize user-centric design

Always start with the user. Use design thinking methodologies to solve real problems, rather than just implementing new features or slightly tweaking an existing feature. Regularly update your user personas and journey maps to reflect current customer behaviors and expectations.

This approach keeps your product development research and process focused on real-world needs and prevents feature bloat. Collect user feedback through surveys and in-app messages to ensure you’re addressing the right issues.

Leverage qualitative data

While quantitative data tells you what is happening, qualitative data explains why. Incorporate customer interviews, usability tests, and ethnographic studies to gain deeper insights into user satisfaction and pain points.

These methods allow you to uncover hidden issues and understand the emotional and practical reasons behind user behavior, leading to more meaningful improvements. Pop-up surveys and in-app announcements can help gather this valuable feedback.

Implement A/B testing rigorously

Design A/B tests that provide actionable insights and directly relate to your key performance indicators. Test not only major features but also minor tweaks.

For instance, A/B testing different versions of a call-to-action button or a new layout can provide valuable data on what drives user engagement and satisfaction. Always make sure that your tests are statistically significant to draw reliable conclusions. Validate ideas through continuous testing.

Integrate cross-functional feedback early and often

When looking at market research for new product development, always involve teams from sales, customer service, and marketing to get diverse perspectives on how product changes might affect different aspects of your business.

This collaboration helps ensure that improvements align with overall business goals and customer expectations. For example, customer service teams can provide insights on recurring issues, while marketing can help tailor product features to better match consumer trends. Cross-functional collaboration ensures all aspects of the user experience are considered.

Adopt a phased rollout strategy

Introduce improvements in stages to minimize risk. Start with a small segment of your user base to collect data on the impact before a full rollout.

This phased approach allows you to gather feedback and make necessary adjustments, reducing the risk of widespread issues and ensuring a smoother overall transition. Use in-app messages to inform users about newly added features and collect feedback.

Encourage a culture of continuous improvement

Foster an environment where feedback is actively sought, valued, and acted upon. Encourage your team to regularly challenge the status quo and brainstorm innovative solutions. Create channels for employees at all levels to contribute ideas and feedback.

This culture not only drives product innovation but also boosts employee engagement and morale. Highlight success stories to demonstrate the value of continuous improvement.

Monitor industry trends and competitor moves

Stay informed about what’s happening in your industry and what your competitors are doing. This can help you anticipate market shifts and adapt your product strategy proactively. Use tools like SWOT analysis to assess your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the context of the competitive landscape.

Regularly review industry reports, attend conferences, and engage in professional networks to stay ahead of trends. This proactive approach keeps you prepared for potential improvements.

Leverage co-creation with customers

Involve your customers in the product development process through co-creation sessions. Invite them to share their ideas and feedback on prototypes and new features.

This direct involvement can lead to more user-centric products and fosters a sense of loyalty and investment in your brand. Co-creation can also reveal optimal solutions that might not emerge from internal brainstorming sessions alone.

Improve your product with data-based decision-making

Leverage detailed market insights to ensure each improvement aligns with actual consumer needs and market demands. Ground your decisions in data to enhance product quality and boost customer satisfaction and retention.

• Regularly update your market research.
• Use product research surveys for specific feedback.
• Analyze customer usage patterns with analytics tools.

For ready-to-use tools to gather and analyze data, explore our concept testing and product research survey template. This resource streamlines your research process, making it easier to collect and act on valuable consumer insights.

Open the concept testing template

Find out what your target customers think about your new products with this expert-written concept testing survey template.

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Marketing

Video Panel: The Future of Data & Creativity

Start Watching

Jan 6, 2020

Join Chief Creative Officer Ranzie Anthony and business consultancy Founder Chrissy Totty as they chat with David Benady, seasoned marketing trade press journalist.

These three explore what the future of data and creativity is for marketers, how the two can and should work together to inform each other, and what good looks like. Expect a spirited debate, new ideas, and a little bit of controversy.

Ranzie Anthony

Chief Creative Officer

Athlon

Chrissy Totty

Founder & Lead Consultant

The Big Thinks

David Benady

Marketing Trade Journalist

Freelance

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