How do you use metrics and KPIs to find market gaps?

1 What are market gaps?

Market gaps are the differences between the current state and the desired state of a customer segment. They can be caused by various factors, such as changing customer preferences, emerging trends, technological innovations, or competitive advantages. Market gaps can be expressed as problems, pain points, goals, or jobs to be done.

2 Why are metrics and KPIs important?

Metrics and KPIs are quantitative indicators that help you measure and evaluate the performance and progress of your product marketing activities. They can help you identify market gaps by showing you where there is high demand, low supply, or unmet expectations. They can also help you validate your product ideas by showing you how well they address the market gaps and deliver value to customers.

3 How to choose metrics and KPIs?

When selecting metrics and KPIs, there is no universal formula to follow. However, there are some general principles to consider. Your metrics should be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound) and should be aligned with your product vision, strategy, and objectives. Additionally, you should use a mix of leading and lagging indicators; the former predict future outcomes while the latter measure past results. Furthermore, it is wise to balance quantitative and qualitative data; quantitative data displays what is happening while qualitative data explains why it is happening. Lastly, a combination of internal and external metrics is recommended; internal metrics measure your product performance while external metrics measure your market performance.

4 How to use metrics and KPIs to find market gaps?

Metrics and KPIs can be used to uncover market gaps, depending on the product stage, market size, and customer feedback. For example, metrics related to market size and growth can reveal segments with high growth rates, low penetration rates, or high customer churn rates. Similarly, customer satisfaction and loyalty metrics can show segments with low satisfaction scores, high complaint rates, or low retention rates. Additionally, customer behavior and engagement metrics can be used to find segments with high usage frequency, low conversion rates, or high abandonment rates. Lastly, customer feedback and reviews metrics can help identify segments with high positive or negative sentiment, feature requests, or unmet needs.

5 How to use metrics and KPIs to validate product ideas?

Once you have identified market gaps, you need to validate your product ideas by testing them with real customers. To do this, you must define your hypothesis, choose your metrics and KPIs, design an experiment, run the experiment, and evaluate the results. This process is key for product marketing as it allows you to make data-driven decisions and optimize your product-market fit. Metrics and KPIs will show you if your hypothesis is true or false and help you decide if your product idea is viable or not. Ultimately, using metrics and KPIs to validate product ideas will ensure they deliver value to customers.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?