Target group and the target group’s needs

Target group and the target group’s needs

Who exactly is your target group? What does the target group want to achieve? Greater insight into the needs of the target group will help you move forward.

Your initial discussions with customers have already enabled you to form an image of the target group and its needs. You now have to dig deeper into the challenges or obstacles that the target group thinks it encounters in achieving its outcome. By developing a more detailed insight of who the target group is, with associated goals and challenges, you avoid developing and adapting solutions based solely on your own preferences.

The target group

A target group may be an existing or new customer group that you want to reach with new solutions. How does the target group describe itself? How does it want to be perceived by others?

Jobs-to-be-done

What does the target group want to achieve? Jobs-to-be-done (JTBD) is a concept that can help you answer that question. JTBD is based on the fact that a customer does not purchase a product for the sake of the product, but for the value the product delivers in terms of getting a job done in a specific situation. Harvard Business School professor Theodore Levitt said: “People don’t want to buy a quarter-inch drill. They want a quarter-inch hole.”

Plus & Minus

Thus an understanding of the target group’s process – or journey – in getting a job done is crucial to be able to come up with solutions that the target group is willing to pay for. You have to understand what challenges and problems (MINUS) and what positives (PLUS) the target group experiences when they have a job to do or want to achieve something.

The actual competitive element lies in understanding what drives the positive experiences (PLUS) and the root causes of the negative experiences (MINUS). Therefore, when defining and specifying what the target group wants to achieve, it is important to focus on the emotional dimensions. If your existing or future solution satisfies functional, practical and objective expectations, it is easy for others to copy it. However, a solution is more difficult to copy if it reflects subjective customer expectations, i.e. feelings and emotions.