The Smallest Viable Audience: Finding Focus and Delighting Customers

The Smallest Viable Audience: Finding Focus and Delighting Customers

In the world of business and entrepreneurship, there is often a prevailing belief that success comes from reaching as many people as possible. The idea of appealing to a broad audience, of being anyone for everyone, is often touted as the key to success. However, this mindset ignores a fundamental truth – that true success lies in being the sort of provider that people would genuinely miss if you were gone.

This concept, known as "the smallest viable audience," challenges the notion that success is about getting found by everyone. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of focusing on a specific group of customers and creating an experience that they would actively seek out. It's about becoming indispensable to a select few rather than trying to please the masses.

To achieve this, you must first choose your customers – who is your product or service for, and what is it for? By identifying your target audience, you can then create an offering that delights and connects with them on a deep level. The goal is to build something that brings genuine value to their lives, something that they would be compelled to share with like-minded peers.

Specificity is key to finding your smallest viable audience. It's not about absolute scale or reaching the largest number of people possible. Instead, it's about being crystal clear on the unique value you bring and setting a high standard for the work you produce. When you focus on building something exceptional, something that resonates with your target audience, you create a foundation for success.

But how do you identify your target audience and create a product that truly meets their needs? According to Brian Balfour, a renowned entrepreneur, the road to a $100M company doesn't start with the product itself. Instead, it begins by understanding the market and the problems experienced within that market.

Balfour suggests breaking down your market into four key considerations: category, target audience, problems, and motivations. By understanding the category your product belongs to, the specific audience you're targeting within that category, and the problems and motivations they have, you can then create a core value proposition that directly addresses those needs.

The core value proposition is the heart of your product or service. It is the unique selling point that sets you apart from the competition and solves your audience's problems. By expressing this value proposition in the simplest terms possible, you create a hook that captures your audience's attention and draws them in.

Another crucial factor in achieving market product fit is time to value. How quickly can you deliver value to your target audience? The faster they can experience the benefits of your offering, the more likely they are to stick around and become loyal customers. Additionally, it's essential to consider the stickiness of your product – what will keep customers coming back? What are the natural retention mechanisms that will encourage them to remain engaged?

Finding market product fit is not a linear process. It requires multiple cycles of iteration, starting with a market, building an initial version of the product, assessing who gets value from it, and then refining both the market and the product. It is an ongoing process that evolves over time.

To gauge the strength of your market product fit, Brian Balfour suggests using a qualitative measure called Net Promoter Score (NPS). If you are genuinely solving your audience's problem, they should be willing to recommend your product to a friend. However, it's important to note that qualitative information carries a higher risk of false positives, so it should be taken with a grain of salt.

Two quantitative measures that can provide insights into market product fit are retention curves and direct traffic. For the majority of B2C and B2B products, flat retention curves are desirable, indicating that customers are staying engaged over time. Direct traffic, on the other hand, is a result of word-of-mouth recommendations. If you are truly solving your audience's problem, they are likely to share your product with others, generating at least some level of direct traffic.

In conclusion, the concept of the smallest viable audience challenges the idea that success comes from reaching a broad audience. Instead, it emphasizes the importance of focusing on a specific group of customers and creating an exceptional experience for them. By understanding your market, identifying your target audience, and addressing their problems and motivations, you can create a product or service that truly resonates. Market product fit is an ongoing process that requires continuous iteration and refinement. By combining qualitative, quantitative, and intuitive indicators, you can gauge the strength of your market product fit and ensure that you're on the path to success.

Actionable Advice:

• 1. Focus on building a great product or service that brings genuine value to your target audience. By providing something exceptional, you become indispensable to them.

• 2. Continuously iterate and refine your offering based on feedback from your target audience. Market product fit is not a one-time achievement but an ongoing process.

• 3. Use qualitative measures like Net Promoter Score, retention curves, and direct traffic to gauge the strength of your market product fit. Combine these with quantitative and intuitive indicators for a comprehensive understanding.