Last month, a company came to us wanting help with the online aspects of launching a new consumer product. The product, which is entering a somewhat mature market segment, was just recently developed. It’s solid; the developer had done his research. And though the company faces real competition, the product has a number of unique selling points that will make it attractive – to the right buyers.

When we first spoke with the client, he wasn’t certain precisely how we would be able to assist, aside from finding where the potential customers, a niche audience that he had already identified, are gathering online. Once we started researching, and talking more with our ambitious entrepreneur, we learned that the company had yet to finalize agreements for online sales channels. And they were wrestling with the selection process. Interesting …

Sifting through online conversations, we pinpointed those communities where the product’s prime, would-be buyers, were meeting and discussing issues related to the product, competing products and sales channels. We were able to make some very valuable determinations about the most popular online retailers for our client’s type of product among the core targeted consumers. Specifically, we delivered a list of top online retail outlets for this product, this specific audience.

Settling on online retail channels can be a difficult and complicated task in many respects. What may seem the most obvious choice is not always the wisest selection, particularly when the product in question is targeting a niche audience. By listening to what our client’s would-be customers were saying directly and indirectly about various retail channels, we were able to supply some very valuable insights to influence our client’s decision.

As an aside, we were also able to share specific features that consumers repeatedly identified as most important in this type of product; we also reported specifically on what consumers liked and didn’t like about the competing products… the kind of information that can determine whether a marketing campaign resonates or bombs.