Product-Channel Fit
Finding the right distribution channel for your product.
Over the years, we’ve heard of Product-Market Fit; which is the point where you have found a market that has developed a strong demand for your product.
An example of a product with Product-Channel would be Uber (or whatever ride-hailing company exists in your City). I tend to use Uber or other ride-hailing companies as examples because they’re widely applicable. If Uber were to cease to exist today, a lot of people would notice because of their reliance on Uber. There is a high demand for the service. We can say they have PMF (in some markets).
What I’m hoping to clarify in this post is the simple fact that product-channel fit (PCF) precedes product-market fit (PMF). There is no PMF without PCF.
So, if PMF is defined as finding the perfect market for your product, then what is PCF? PCF is when you have found the perfect distribution channel for your product. Your distribution channel is simply the avenue in which you market or sell your product. It could be social media, TV ads, Magazines and much more.
For example, if you run an online clothing store for men's clothing with customers around the world, there are certain channels that wouldn’t be advisable to market your store. LinkedIn, for example, wouldn’t be considered a great distribution channel for you. But if you don’t know this, you would spend money marketing to people on LinkedIn. Despite the fact that some of your customers might be on there, people don’t go on LinkedIn to shop. They go to network and brag about what they have accomplished. It’s like trying to sell diesel at a tech conference. Sure, people at the conference use petroleum products, whether in their cars, generators or other appliances, but that’s not why they’re there.
Another example; say you have an app catered towards new nursing mothers. Your app assists new mothers with helpful content and a community on how to navigate motherhood in the first few months. In order to reach your customers (new mothers), you’ll need to figure out your distribution channel. Depending on where you live, your distribution channel might be something like Facebook groups and/or Instagram. The question you want to answer is, “where can I find a cluster of new mothers?”. Wherever they are is where you’ll need to double down your marketing efforts.
So, how do we find Product-Channel Fit?
As we’ve discussed, in order to find PCF, you’ll need to figure out who the customer is. Sometimes, your distribution channel is fully offline. Say you had an app for high school students; your distribution channel will be schools, going through the administrative office to get you on the intranet. When you decide who your typical customer is, then find out where a lot of them are.
Takeaways
- Your product may not reach mass market if you don’t have product-channel fit
- You will waste valuable resources (time and money especially) if you don’t have product-channel fit
- Just because your customers are on a certain platform does not mean they’ll be willing to buy your product on that platform
To find product-channel fit, you’ll need to:
- Figure out who your customer is
- Find out where they are (a lot of them)
- Leverage the channel that best suits them
End.
