Ever launched an online product that didn't quite resonate with your target audience? You're not alone. Building successful online products requires a strategic approach. This blog delves into the world of online product strategy, exploring how data can be your secret weapon for creating products that users love and businesses thrive on. Here, you can get to know how to use Online Product Strategy & the crucial role of Data in the whole process.
Let’s take a scenario where you have a product idea and now you want to go ahead with it and take this idea forward.
Setting up an online business or a product will require some diligent planning. Here, I am listing out the general approach to come up with a strategy to come up with an online product.
Study the Market
First of all, you need to get data on the market for your product. Since, it is about creating an online product, it has to start with the basics.
Are you targeting a specific country(eg United States, United Kingdom, Kenya, Tanzania, UAE, India, Malaysia, Indonesia) or a region( eg North America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Middle East, Far East)? OR does the GDP per capita decide your market - do you target the lower GDP per capita countries?
Once this is decided, you need to check out the internet usage behavior of the population in your target market.
Depending on the target market, the internet usage coverage and pattern will vary. For example, in United States, the internet speed, coverage and quality will be better than the countries in Africa or the poorer countries in Asia.
Given that your product is an online product, for the sake of this article, if you want to launch the product in a country with high internet usage having very good internet infrastructure - the United States. So, in your target market, you need to get the data on what percentage of users use the internet to look for products to buy. (Worldwide, around 76% users were online for shopping every month)
Next drill down to the details in this market
Once you get this number, this broad user base needs to be broken down further to find out how many are interested in the product category that your proposed product will belong to.
Is your product made for a specific gender or for everyone?
Understanding the implications of the demographics of your customer base is critical, to say the least.
What will be the age group of your prospective customer base?
Is your product for kids, toddlers, adults, aged persons, males/females, working class, homemakers, etc,.?
Literacy rates - will your product require multilingual support?
From the population, get the languages spoken by the people and see if language can be an important factor in getting your prospective customers to come on board.
Based on the above demographics, you can focus on specific cities or states
Groundwork should be done in order to showcase city specific deals based on user data, specially in those cities where the major user base is present.
This will make the offers more contextual and relevant for the end users and improve chances of conversion.
This also opens up avenues for special campaigns during city specific events like an annual festival or event that the area/city is famous for. This will attract a large audience. Having specific campaigns for such occasions also will add to the increase of the usage of the product.
Dig deeper into the usage patterns
Find online usage and then go get more data points to study this in detail - browser used, laptop/desktop usage, mobile usage and corresponding growth rate for each cohort.For instance, if the mobile usage is increasing year-on-year, is the laptop/desktop usage decreasing or these are not very closely related?
If mobile is a major factor, then you need a breakup of the major mobile OS usage pattern
Breakup of iOS and Android phone users
For the initial launch, if you have a pressing deadline due to market consideration, you can go for the maximum impact features for the target user base depending on your data analysis findings that you can deliver in the given timelines while ensuring it has a broad reach as well.
Now, you know what your drilled down user base will be.
Next, take the data points from the internet usage.
Internet Usage Behaviour - How to use it to your advantage?
The high level internet usage data points are listed here. These will give you some idea about how to dig deeper into this information and use it for your product’s target user base identification.
Worldwide Internet Usage Breakup Data Points
People Using The Internet Worldwide - 5.35 billion
Female Population Using The Internet - 63.5%
Male Population Using The Internet - 68.8%
Average Daily Time Spent Using The Internet By Each Internet User - 280 minutes
Percentage Of Users Accessing The Internet Via Mobile Phones - 96.5%
Percentage Of Users Accessing The Internet Via Laptops And Desktops - 61.8%
Percentage Of The Total Urban Population That Uses The Internet - 78.8%
Percentage Of The Total Rural Population That Uses The Internet - 48.9%
On the same lines, you need to analysis Internet Adoption data points as a %age of population in your target markets -
This needs very critical analysis. Globally, this is the breakup of daily user actions online:-
Time Spent Using The Internet - 280 minutes
Time Spent Watching Television (Broadcast And Streaming) - 186 minutes
Time Spent Using Social Media - 143 minutes
Time Spent Reading Press Media (Online And Physical Print) - 101 minutes
Time Spent Listening To Music Streaming Services - 85 minutes
Time Spent Listening To Broadcast Radio - 50 minutes
Time Spent Listening To Podcasts - 49 minutes
Time spent using a Games Console - 62 minutes
For example, if your user base is bigtime into Social Media, you need to have your strategy to cater to this segment of the online users. Similarly, you can take pointers from such data points to define your strategy.
Search Engine Space
I reckon there is no need to stress on the importance of using the Search Engine space to your advantage.
As everyone knows, Google is the undisputed leader in the Search Engine Space making up more than 96% of the search market
So, it is pretty evident that optimized SEO from a Google Search Engine perspective is vital for this product since product visibility is a major factor for any new entrant in the market.
The basic expectation should be: your product should be among the top rank organic search results in the Google Search pages.
There needs to be a focussed Search Engine Marketing plan in place in the Google Search pages in addition to Organic Search Optimization.
Possible search keywords for the product need to be analyzed and mapped to the SEM Plan.
Max CPC for these ads needs to be properly arrived at and continuously monitored.
SEM Ads should be relevant.
Given the need for high visibility, SERP Decorations should be used so that these ads stand out visibly in the Google Search Page.
The ads should have appealing content with a very compelling Call To Action.
Given that it is for a new product, the ads for the initial period should also contain some attractive offer as well.
Product awareness needs to be increased by targeting top 2-3 social networks through social media advertising(leaving out Whatsapp since it would be too intrusive).
The granular breakdown of the user base gives what these users do in social media.
Across the world, ~61% users use the internet to look for information, ~43% of these users look for things to buy. ~42% of these users use it to ‘fill spare time’ or do some general browsing.
These user segments can be targeted in these 4 networks as potential customers.
Social media sites allow targeting a segment of the user base easily.
Apart from organic search optimization & SEM, Display Ads are an excellent way to bring about product awareness in the population.
As seen, around ~43%% of internet users spend time looking for products and brands.
Display Ads will help target these ~43%% users in order to bring about product awareness and bring in these potential customers in the product user base.
These ads need to be creative & attractive to these users in order to bring in new customers.
This is another way of increasing product awareness and adding new customers to user product user base
Attracting the Mobile Users
As you saw above, 96.5% of the internet users use their mobile phones to access the internet.
The mobile users are increasing progressively.
So, they are a major factor in determining your product strategy.
Android makes up 70% of this user base
Mobile users spend an average of 5 hours on the internet on a daily basis.
Taking this data pattern into account, the website for the product should be optimized and designed with proper user experience keeping the mobile user in mind.
This means that the website should be mobile-friendly.
Keeping this in mind, the page load speeds should be super fast.
The website should work on all types of mobiles.
If Android is considered for the MVP, it should work on all types of Android mobiles.
The UI should have a responsive design so that it adapts itself according to the size of the user’s screen.
The CTA’s should be center-aligned and prominently visible. Text and buttons etc should be large enough so that they are easily visible to the users.
The SEO aspects for mobile sites also need to be catered to.
Compared to desktops/laptops, when users search on mobile, the search terms are usually shorter and simpler.
Hence, proper keyword analysis for the mobile user base needs to be done in order to keep the user engaged.
Moreover, the search ads for mobiles should be distinct from the ads for the desktop/laptop traffic.
Similarly, for the display ads, these should be designed for different sizes of mobiles
Text should be clearly seen in all screen sizes and there should be a clear and prominent CTA.
Given that the mobile user base is increasing pretty fast, it would make sense to plan for a Mobile App in the Post MVP stage - after assimilating the performance of the product in the initial post launch phase starting with an Android App( since the Android user base is ~70%) and then taking up the iOS App at a later point in time.
KPI’s & Metrics
The product should have an elaborate Analytics system like GA4( Google Analytics 4) or similar tools
Note: GA4 handles the cross-device touchpoints and maps the customer journey. It also provides actionable insights.
Analytics is vital for any product in order to understand how the product is doing at present and provides information on where things can be improved.
To start with, the following can be the sample metrics for the product:
Organic users landing on the website
SEM users landing on the website
Display Ad users landing on the website
New user conversions
Users with accounts in the product
Impressions
CTR
Conversions for new users
Conversions for the existing users based on user funnel ( Organic/Direct, Paid, Banner Ads)
Abandoned Carts
Orders
Sales
AOV ( Average Order Value)
Commission per order
Number of new users added
DAU’s
MAU’s
More metrics will come up as your product evolves.
UX
Based on the user and user funnel, the user experience should be tailored accordingly.
For example, for a new user, the user comes from a Google Search page by clicking on an organic search result for products belonging to the same category as your product, the user should be taken to the corresponding page where user context specific products are shown.
The user can then be more inclined to buy the product.
To keep the user experience smooth, allow the user to buy it either by creating an account with the product site or using the ‘guest’ option(Here, the email id is captured so that the deal can be emailed to the user).
This way, the user information is captured and at the same time, the user is not forced to create an account.
It has been observed that creating an account can act as a possible blocker in the user shopping journey.
Analytics will also capture user’s preferences in terms of merchants, most used deals, favourite categories, events, etc.
Based on this information, for existing users, once they login, the product should display deals, merchants and offers based on the user’s usage history.
This way, the user sees content that she/he is most interested in.
Based on the user search history, the related offers can also be displayed.
Any abandoned carts should also be brought to the user’s attention when she/he logs in.
In terms of login, to keep the user’s login process simple, login through social media or Google should be allowed -
Customer Support & Legal Aspects
Customer Support aspects should be diligently covered.
There should also be a support email so that the customer can raise such issues for resolution.
There should be a lifecycle and SLA defined for issue resolution.
In case of the scenario where the customer has to be reimbursed, those aspects and resolutions need to be clearly defined.
From a legal perspective, there should be unambiguous Terms & Conditions, Exclusions etc for your product.
Sales, Marketing, Customer Support, Legal Team should be in place before launch.
A/B Test Strategy
Lastly, have an A/B Test Strategy in place. A/B testing is a powerful tool in product strategy because it allows you to make data-driven decisions about features and functionalities. Here's a quick breakdown of how it helps:
A/B testing lets you compare different versions of a product element (e.g., button design, pricing options, landing page layout) and see which one performs better with real users. This data reveals user preferences and guides product development towards features that resonate.
By testing variations before full rollout, you minimize the risk of launching a feature that users dislike. A/B tests help identify the most effective approach before committing resources to a large-scale implementation.
By iteratively testing and refining elements based on data, you can continuously optimize the user experience. A/B testing helps ensure your product is user-friendly, intuitive, and facilitates desired user actions.
By testing and implementing features that resonate with users, A/B testing can lead to increased conversions, whether it's sign-ups, purchases, or desired user actions within the product.
A/B testing replaces guesswork with concrete data. It provides objective evidence for product decisions, leading to a more strategic and data-backed approach to product development.
A/B testing helps product teams build products that users actually want and use, ultimately driving product success.
Conclusion
Data isn't just a buzzword; it's the fuel that ignites successful online products. By incorporating data analysis into your online product strategy, you gain a deeper understanding of your users, optimize their experience, and ultimately drive growth.
As new tools and techniques emerge, stay curious, keep learning, and embrace the power of data to continuously refine your online product strategy. If you're looking for further guidance or have questions, feel free to leave a comment below! Let's keep the conversation flowing and empower each other to build data-driven online products that thrive.
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