Who to sell to and where to sell? If you can’t answer this, all subsequent plans can be wrong from the start. Many businesses, when preparing to launch a new product, are often very confident in their preparation: from packaging design to product name, from promotional videos to communication campaigns. But when asked the two seemingly simplest and most core questions: who to sell this product to and where to sell it, most of them answer in a roundabout, emotional way, or so general that they can’t implement anything specific. And that is the beginning of a series of deviations in positioning, price, distribution channels, and even brand storytelling.
Who is the product for? Not a question to answer for fun
I have asked many business owners: Who is your product for? The most common answer is: for everyone, anyone can use it, regardless of age or gender. It sounds comprehensive. But in fact, it is the answer of someone who has not yet figured out who will actually buy it.
A product cannot be for everyone. If you say it is for everyone, you can’t create specific content. You can’t choose the tone of voice. You can’t choose the advertising channel. You can’t decide on the price. You can’t decide whether to put it in a supermarket or a specialty store. And most importantly, no one can see themselves in it.
Customers today don’t buy a product. They buy the feeling that it is for them. From the packaging to the presentation. From the way they respond to messages to the card in the gift box. If the product doesn’t have a clear buyer persona, you can’t design the experience for them. It’s all guesswork. And people don’t pay for guesswork.
Where to Sell Is Not Just a Place, It’s a Behavioral Space
Where to sell is not just about selling online or selling in stores. Where to sell means being where the buyer is likely to make a decision. A fast food brand for office workers will not sell well in suburban residential areas. A bottle of high-end herbal shampoo will not work if it is only sold in a grocery store. A ready-to-drink coffee is beautiful but if it is only on the shelf in the corner of the store, no one will see it.
Where to sell also includes how to sell. Online buyers will not have the opportunity to see the list of ingredients. So are you sure that the images and descriptions on the website are convincing enough? People passing by a small shop in the alley are not easily attracted by beautiful packaging. So do you need a memorable sign rather than a design that only looks good on photos?
Many businesses choose their selling points based on emotions. Open a shop on a street that looks fancy. Send products to the supermarket system just because they see others doing the same. But if you do not study the buying behavior of the target customer group, that presence is invisible.
Not knowing who to sell to and where to sell: everything else is out of whack
Without knowing your target audience, you can’t price correctly. Too high for the masses. Too low for the high-end. Without knowing the specific point of sale, you’ll design the wrong packaging format. Make a big box and display it on a narrow counter. Make a long promotional video that won’t work on a short platform.
Not to mention, you will tell the wrong story. Write content that doesn’t resonate with your buyers. Choose images that don’t suit your aesthetic taste. Run ads on the wrong channels. And most importantly: you don’t know what data is right to measure effectiveness. Because everything starts with a vague perception.
People who understand customers can make a mistake once but can fix it. People who do not understand customers make mistakes continuously without knowing the reason
I once met an investor who was very meticulous in production. Each type of jam in the gift box was made according to the traditional process, the taste was very special. But when asked: who is this product for – he replied: I think everyone needs to give Tet gifts, especially businesses.
But his product had no custom logo, no card printing options, no scheduled delivery. The packaging had no ingredients, no batch expiration dates, no hotline for feedback. A large company that needed to give gifts to customers could not afford something that had no clear credibility. While an individual would not pay the price of a high-end gift box without a strong brand.
The result: no one bought. And the reason was not the product. It was that the product did not know who it was targeting, did not know where it should be.
If you can’t answer these two questions, don’t make a product yet
You can spend six months making packaging. But if you don’t know who it’s for and where it’s for sale, you’re making a display, not a marketable product.
The market isn’t cut and dried. Consumers aren’t picky. But they are clear. They don’t buy things that don’t tell them anything. And they don’t make decisions where the product isn’t clearly visible.
So before you talk about design, about production, about marketing, sit down and honestly answer two questions: who will this product be sold to and where will it appear. If you can answer them, the rest will be just a detailed calculation. If you can’t answer them, everything else will be just assumptions.
