Innovation is a high-risk game, and even the biggest players get it wrong sometimes.
Will your new product resonate with your audience?
In this article, he will share his insights and best practices for this innovation strategy.
Sudden death
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He funded these companies himself, which basically meant there was no funding.
Back then, resources were scarce, he says.
And the cost of being wrong was sudden death.
A test campaign to validate if he was on the right track, or better off launching something different.
Randall created low-cost ads for his products before actually building them, to gather authentic customer data.
Why not just trust the experts?
Before going into this test-before-you-launch strategy in more detail, lets discuss a few other methods often used.
The first is trusting an experts opinion when launching a new product.
In other words, someone perfectly capable of predicting a hit or miss, right?
Unfortunately not, says Randall.
While their insights can surely be of use, they arent accurate enough to base a product launch on.
Only people willing to pay actual money can provide you with valuable feedback, says Randall.
What about focus groups?
Another way to test your products viability is through focus groups.
The problem with focus groups is that people are horrible predictors of their own future behavior.
Just look at gym memberships, Randall says.
But in reality, most people stop going throughout the year so the subscription becomes a waste of money.
In other words, talk is cheap.
A focus group study may indicate consumer interest in your product, but its in no way a guarantee.
The only way to test your product idea is through real customers willing to pay actual money for it.
Creating these ads is rather cheap, can be executed quickly and doesnt require coding or other hard-to-acquire skills.
So how does it work?
This shouldnt take more than five minutes.
Adobe has agreat selectionof stock images and design templates, which are fool-proof.
Now, pick the ideas that you feel are the best, and test them.
Keep it simple to start, so you’ve got the option to quickly validate and iterate.
You dont have to be a web guru to do this right!
Step 3 Dont mislead your audience
You are advertising a product that doesnt exist yet.
Thats OK, as long as youre not making any false claims.
Are people really excited about the product or do they just like your brand?
So when I run tests, I dont do them under Adobes name.
This means executive stakeholders dont need to be involved, saving time and money.
This keeps the cost low, and the speed of execution high.
Step 7 Accept your data isnt perfect
Get ready people will poke holes in your data.
Your tests only target a small number of people, meaning the results will not be perfectly accurate.
But as mentioned, thats impossible to obtain at this point in product design.
Its all better than opinions and speculation when it comes to eliminating risk.
Those who understand their customers can be more speculative, creative, and exploratory.
Thats where Id like to see people ultimately end up, Randall concludes.
I want them to have this feeling of, I am allowed to have somewhat crazy ideas.
It might scare you, but I can promise you it works.
Story byAnouk Vleugels
As Publisher, Anouk is responsible for TNW’s overall media strategy.
