11 Ways to Get Ideas for Innovative Products
đź“– Learning
Are you constantly scratching your head to find unique product ideas?
Do you want to find an idea that solves the problems of the people?
If yes, then in this article we will tell you the top 11 ways to get ideas for innovative products.
What Things Make a Product Idea Excellent?
- Take Inspiration From Your Own Life
- Ask Your Customers
- Browse Online Consumer Marketplace
- Use Social Media Platforms
- Hop Over on Quora and Reddit
- Analyze Product Trends and Discovery Websites
- Don’t Miss Out on Crowdfunding Platforms
- Follow Industry Leaders
- Use Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends
- Analyze Competitor’s Website
- You Don’t Need a Completely New Idea
What Things Make a Product Idea Excellent?
You need to come up with a product idea that makes the lives of your customers easier and compels them to buy regularly from you.
A good product idea has the following things:
Solves a Problem
A good product idea clearly defines a problem and also targets a specific audience group.
Has a Solid USP
If your product is not unique in terms of features, pricing, speed of delivery, etc. you won't be able to differentiate your product in the market.
For example, you might have to come up with coconut oil that has more medicinal benefits that cost a little bit less than other similar products. That's a good USP.
Generates Profit
A good product idea comes with a profit margin as well. Your business won't sustain if it doesn't generate profit right?
Has a Demand in the Market
Your product should have a demand in the market. If there is no demand, there is no use in making a product.
Compels Customers to Open their Wallets
A lot of products are launched in the market every other minute. But, do all the products bought by the people?
The answer is NO.
Your customers should be compelled to buy your product.
If your product is easy to use and has good aesthetics, long durability, amazing user experience, solid USP and solves the problem of people then you will surely have excellent sales.
With that understood, here are 11 ways to come up with a unique product idea.
1. Take Inspiration From Your Own Life
Before scouring the internet, try to analyze what problems you face on a daily basis. Maybe, the problem that you encounter is also being faced by other people.
Make a list of the problems that you or your family members or friends face and try to analyze if you can solve them.
2. Ask Your Customers
If you have existing customers or identified a target audience you can send them survey forms or conduct telephonic or one on one interviews to understand what problems they are facing.
Ask them what could be the potential solution to their problem.
They might not be able to answer this question but, that's fine because it is your job to come up with innovative product ideas.
You should also ask if they would pay money to resolve it.
If they are not willing to pay money then this problem is not worth solving.
On the other hand, if the problem is very serious and they are willing to pay the money you can start brainstorming product ideas.
Develop a prototype and give it to your customers and ask them if they liked your idea.
If the majority of the people say yes, you are on the right track.
3. Browse Online Consumer Marketplace
Hop over on popular marketplaces and see which products are rapidly selling.
See, what problem the product is trying to solve.
Then go to the review section and analyze what things people liked and disliked about the product.
You may find a major con in the product which you can solve quickly and make the product much better.
Popular consumer marketplaces which you can check are as follows:
- Amazon
- Flipkart
- Etsy
- Oberlo
- eBay
- Alibaba and AliExpress
- Walmart
- IndiaMART
Pro Tip: You will find gem product ideas in the 1 to 3-star reviews.
Most of the time people who give low ratings describe what went wrong with the product in great detail.
Read these reviews and you will surely understand what things you need to solve in an existing product or you may even get a new product idea.
Sushree Sangeeta Behera
4. Use Social Media Platforms
I don't need to explain to you the power of social media.
If you analyze them properly you can understand what people like and dislike.
You can quickly catch all the trends that are happening around the world in the form of interesting visuals.
Here, are some of the ways using which you can unlock the true potential of social media and find product ideas for your startup:
Search relevant hashtags related to your product and see what type of products you see on the feed.
Analyze the number of likes and comments on the post.
See what positive and negative things people are commenting on about the product.
Also, have a look at promoted posts.
If there are a lot of likes and comments on the post it means that people are interested in buying the product.
Although this doesn't mean that people are actually buying it.
People on Instagram like most of the things that they see on their feeds. So, take all of these stats with a pinch of salt.
Facebook groups are a great way to connect with like-minded people in your niche. Join as many relevant groups as possible.
You can directly engage with your target audience on Twitter and understand their needs and wants.
You can ask a question related to your product on Twitter and see what people are commenting on it.
Although, don't disclose your entire product idea on Twitter or any other platform.
People can steal your idea!
People usually underestimate the power of Pinterest.
But, let me tell you that it is the 14th largest social network in the world and has 431 million monthly active users.
As you will see visual content on Pinterest it would be easy for you to get unique product ideas.
5. Hop Over on Quora and Reddit
Online forums like Quora and Reddit are great places to get new product ideas.
Since there are real people on these platforms with real problems you will get new perspectives.
Just type in your keyword related to your product or business in the search bar and unlock interesting discussions, questions and even solutions.
6. Analyze Product Trends and Discovery Websites
Product trend and discovery websites like Trend Hunter, TrendWatching and PSFK allow you to get data-driven insights into consumer trends, products, consumer experience and more.
You can find trend reports on pretty much every industry. Since these websites have vast information, don't waste tons of time on these websites.
7. Don’t Miss Out on Crowdfunding Platforms
Crowdfunding is a process of raising money for your product from online platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
On these two platforms, you can see how much each project has raised which allows you to get innovative product ideas that are profitable.
8. Follow Industry Leaders
If you have already decided on the industry and niche you would like to be in you can follow industry leaders or emerging entrepreneurs to discover unique insights and product ideas.
9. Use Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends
Type in your product keyword in the Google Keyword Planner and see how many people are searching for this keyword.
Higher the volume, the higher the trend of the product.
You can even use other tools like Ahrefs, SEMrush or Ubersuggest.
Google Trends will tell you how the trend of the keyword was from the past 30 days or even from the past 18 years.
You can even find in which countries and cities the keyword is trending.
This allows you to understand the demographics of your potential target audience.
You can even find search terms that are trending globally and regionally.
10. Analyze Competitor’s Website
Once you know about your product niche and industry you can visit your competitor's websites and analyze what products they are selling and what are their upcoming launches.
You can understand their USP and pricing model.
Try to make a list of all of your competitors with their unique characteristics and then analyze what is common in all of them and what you can do differently.
11. You Don’t Need a Completely New Idea
It's not necessary to invent something completely new.
You can make existing products better or combine two different products with different purposes that solve a single problem.
Ray Kroc, founder of McDonald’s stole the idea of selling burgers from two brothers Dick and Mac McDonald who had started a hamburger stand in California.
The two brothers had invented a cooking operation like an assembly line in a factory which allowed them to make burgers within minutes.
Due to this unique cooking method, people were able to order from the window and have their food in minutes rather than waiting in a big queue.
Kroc used the franchise system to turn McDonald's into a successful global franchise and forced the brothers into selling to him.
In 2015, Facebook was in big trouble when they were losing its users to Snapchat due to the popular Snapchat Stories feature.
In August 2016, Instagram replicated the same idea and released Instagram Stories. What a unique name!
As you can see from the above examples, you don't need to make something completely new but, make sure it has a unique USP that beats all of your competitors.
Conclusion
So, here are all the ways through which you can discover product ideas. This is a very crucial stage in your product design journey.
Always remember that your product should help people solve their problems. It should make the life of your customers easier and happier.
Make sure that your product idea has demand in the market and people are willing to pay money for it.
This is just a start!
From validating the product idea to prototyping, testing, manufacturing, funding and finally selling the product there are so many things that you need to consider while designing a product.
FAQs
How do you come up with innovative product ideas?
There are more than a single way to get innovative product idea. Some of them include learning the latest trend, knowing the need of the hour, enhancing an already existing product into something better, etc.
What are the five important sources of new product ideas?
The idea can be derived from many places. Some of the most common five sources are customers, competitors, trends, changes in industry or market structure and influencers.
Where do companies get ideas for new products?
Some of the common ways through which companies get their ideas for new products are market search, customer feedback, brainstorming, customer demand, etc.
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