How to identify a target customer?
My partner and I built a Slack app (getitdonezo.com) that we're billing as "supercharged Slack reminders". It's a very general tool, meaning there's no obvious target niche. Anyone could use it.
Our assumption is that this provides the most value to companies and teams that don't use task managers like Asana or Jira. So either HR/finance teams or non-tech teams.
I'd like to nail down a specific customer type or persona so we can start marketing to them, but I'm honestly not even sure where to start.
Has anyone done this before, and can you provide any advice or reading materials?
Hey James,
I think you should start by talking to people who use Slack as their main communication tool, to find out more about your customers.
Actually you should make sure that you're solving a problem they have. You're probably right, that not everybody will need something like your product. You will need a niche to start with. Is your product something that solves a problem for a specific niche? The only way to find that out is to talk to people.
I think there is a lot of reading material on Customer Research, but the best book out there is "The Mom Test" by Rob Fitzpatrick.
Thanks, this is helpful feedback. I just wish there was an easy way to query "SELECT * FROM organization WHERE communication_tool = 'slack' GROUP BY industry, headcount;"
Yeah, that would be indeed nice 😄 I bet somewhere out there may be a tool that can do exactly that. But nevertheless, start with people you know personally. Often, a quick chat with one person leads to a chat with another. Just keep asking: Can you introduce me another person using Slack? BTW, it shouldn't be too hard to find them, because it is Slack, everybody is using Slack, right? 😄