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Before I invest my time into starting an online business and creating content, a product, and my marketing pieces, I’m going to take a closer look at the market to determine if the business is worth pursuing. I want to create an educational website that sells online courses within the real estate niche. I’ll use the criteria in the following plan to evaluate the market and determine if the real estate niche within the online education industry is likely to succeed.
I want to avoid a dying industry and industries that appear to be stagnant. The best probability of success is in a market that is growing. I’ll research the industry and try to obtain data within the niche to determine if this is the case, but if there isn’t good data for real estate education specifically, I’ll accept a growing online education market in general. I may need to pick a different niche or market if it’s not.
Next, I’ll consider the target audience to evaluate the product I’m interested in selling. I want to know if buyers would need my product. A product that is most likely to be deemed necessary, rather than just desirable, by a buyer is one that provides a solution to a problem they are highly motivated to change. Since people are more strongly motivated by the urge to relieve something that causes physical or emotional pain rather than seek rewards, I’m making a strong pain point a requirement if I am to pursue this business.
I’ll then take a look at my options for targeting this persona. If they’re difficult to find or hard to target, my paid marketing efforts may take a while to dial in, which would require a much greater budget for ad spend. It’s easier to succeed if I know where to find my target audience. I’ll consider this before making my decision and use my intuition to determine if this would be too difficult or not.
If my target audience has a strong motivation to relieve the pain they’re experiencing, has become aware of their options for solutions, and decided they would like to purchase my product to resolve their problem, but can’t afford it, my marketing efforts and time spent creating a valuable product offering will have done their job while still not making a sale. The buyer would likely return to the provider stage of the buyer’s journey and look for a cheaper alternative even if a competitor’s product provides less value or they have to try to solve the problem with a cheaper solution from an indirect competitor. A lack of purchasing power can make my product obsolete. It’s difficult to sell resume services to the unemployed or a mansion to someone struggling to pay rent for their studio apartment. I’ll have a greater chance of success ruling this out before I start the business.
Since I am starting a new business, choosing a market is an important first step to have the best chance at being successful. By answering the following questions, I’ll know if I have a market worth pursuing:
To answer this question, I gathered data on [Public Data Website].
To answer this question, I gathered data on [Public Data Website].
To answer this question, I gathered data on [Public Data Website].
To answer this question, I gathered data on [Public Data Website].
| Buyer's Journey | What's on their mind? | Answers |
|---|---|---|
| Unaware Stage | What triggering event(s) make them aware of their pain or problem? | |
| Awareness Stage | Pain or Problem Aware: What questions are they asking as they learn more about their problem? What are they searching online? What are they hearing and seeing that's influencing their decisions? | |
| Consideration Stage | Solution Aware: What questions are they asking as they determine the best solution for them? What are they searching online? What are they hearing and seeing that's influencing their decisions? | |
| Decision Stage | Provider Aware: What questions are they asking as they decide which provider to use? What are they searching online? What are they hearing and seeing that's influencing their decisions? |
A great hook grabs your target audience’s attention, inspires questions, and leaves them wanting more. Lets take a look at how the hooks I created in video scripts, ads, email subject lines, video titles, and more helped increase viewer retention, click through rates, and open rates to convert more leads and gain more views on my content pieces.