
Customer Discovery Tools and Tips
Congratulations! You have an absolutely BRILLIANT idea for your startup – or you have built a magnificent business already – and you’re ready to let the world know about it, to invite Users to discover what you’re building and give you feedback to help solidify your roadmap.
So now the question is: how do you find your audience in order to open dialogue and start tapping into the real world needs and desires of your ultimate Users?
By identifying your target audience properly (and thoroughly), you will have the benefit of understanding the language, images, video, color, tools and processes you need to include in order to provide your User with the experience they are after.
For a startup, that understanding of your audience will help you build effectively, and put you in a position of acquiring Users efficiently to demonstrate to investors the fact that your startup is delivering value that resonates in the marketplace.
If you are an established business, your customer discovery process might help you with branding, positioning, messaging or new product rollouts.
Below are a number of tips and resources to help you find people to reach out to…some take a bit of investment, all take a bit of time.
Identify Valuable People on LinkedIn
By using LinkedIn’s awesome, powerful Advanced Search features, you can quickly identify people who may be interested in what you are building. In this brief video, you’ll see the simple steps for doing an “Advanced Search” with filters applied – then, how to leverage a browser tool like the one authored by Hunter.io to harvest email addresses for people of interest who you find if you are unable to connect with them through your LinkedIn account.
By using filters to hone in on your target audience, you will likely find valuable connections to make with people who can provide feedback as you build. Just remember to try running multiple searches and applying a variety of filters in criteria – adding different keywords, different job titles, seniority levels and so on can yield vastly different results to expand your pool for outreach.
Tap Into Facebook Groups for Connections
Search the Twitterverse for Connection Opportunities
