– DIY Market Research: A Step‑by‑Step Plan When Money Is Tight

DIY Market Research: A Step‑by‑Step Plan When Money Is Tight

Audience: late 20s and early 30s creators, indie hackers, and early‑stage founders who already know their way around cameras, mics, and editing software.

Goal: in 10–14 days, replace guesswork with evidence, spending as little as possible while making decisions you can trust.

What “market research” means at your stage
– Reduce uncertainty around a few risky assumptions: who you’re for, what problem hurts, what they do today, what they’ll pay, and what message makes them act.
– Use scrappy methods that prioritize speed, behavior over opinion, and clarity over statistical perfection.

The plan at a glance
– Day 1: Define assumptions and research questions
– Days 2–3: Talk to 8–12 target users (qual interviews)
– Days 4–5: Run a 10–15 question survey (n=50–150)
– Day 6: Mine reviews, forums, search trends, and competitor content
– Days 7–10: Build a landing page and run a smoke test (organic + small paid)
– Day 11: Do lightweight pricing checks
– Day 12: Size the opportunity with simple math
– Day 13: Synthesize findings into a one‑pager
– Day 14: Decision: go, pivot, or pause

Stage 1 — Frame your assumptions (evening)
Output: a one‑page hypothesis sheet and a screener for participants.
– Write your top 5 risky assumptions:
1) Target: “Content creators aged 25–35 editing 5+ videos/month.”
2) Problem: “Export times and file management waste 3–5 hours/week.”
3) Category and rivals: “Premiere/Final Cut workflows, cloud storage, folder hacks.”
4) Willingness to pay: “$10–20/month.”
5) Activation message: “Cut your edit time by 25%.”
– Turn assumptions into research questions:
– “How often does this problem occur?”
– “What triggers it?”
– “What have they tried, and why didn’t it stick?”
– “What words do they use to describe the pain and the ‘win’?”
– Draft a simple screener (2–4 items) to filter the right people:
– “In the past month, how many videos did you edit?” (0–1, 2–4, 5+)
– “Which tools do you use most?” (checklist)
– “How often do you feel blocked by X?” (Never to Very often)
– Only accept people who match your core criteria.

Stage 2 — Listen first: 8–12 problem interviews (2 days)
Budget: $0–$150 for small incentives ($10 gift cards or a month free later).
Recruiting:
– DM past clients, followers, Discord/Slack communities, subreddits, alumni groups. Ask for 15 minutes, not 60.
– Use a short calendaring link with 3 time blocks.
Interview flow (15–20 minutes, recorded with consent):
– Opener: “Walk me through the last time this problem happened.” Anchor to a recent, specific episode.
– Dig: frequency, consequences (time, money, stress), current workaround, selection criteria for tools, who influenced the choice.
– Test language: read 2–3 headline ideas and ask, “Which makes you most curious? What’s missing or cringey?”
– Close with a referral ask: “Who else should I talk to?”
Tips:
– Avoid pitching; spend 80% on their story.
– Use your creator skills: do quick screen‑record ethnography if relevant (“show me your folder structure”).
Synthesis (1 hour):
– Create an affinity map: cluster quotes under pains, triggers, workarounds, desired outcomes, language.
– Score each pain 1–5 for intensity and 1–5 for frequency based on evidence, not vibes.
– Output: top 3 pains, the exact phrases people used, and the moments when they occur.

Stage 3 — Quantify with a quick survey (1 day build, 1 day collect)
Budget: $0–$50 for incentives.
Target n=50–150. You don’t need a perfect sample; you need directional clarity.
Distribution:
– Your email list and socials (IG Stories, X, LinkedIn, YouTube Community tab).
– Community swaps: offer to share others’ surveys in return.
– Add a raffle (“3 x $20 gift cards”) to boost completes.
Structure (10–15 questions, 3–4 minutes):
– Screener confirms fit.
– Problem frequency and intensity: “In the past 2 weeks, how often did X happen?” “How painful was it?” (0–10)
– Current solution: “What do you use now?” “What do you like/dislike?”
– Desired outcome: “If X worked perfectly, what changes?” (time saved, errors avoided, confidence)
– Purchase intent for a concrete offer: show a one‑sentence concept and a price anchor; ask “How likely are you to try in the next 30 days?” (0–10) and “Why?”
– Price probe (optional; see Stage 6).
What “good” looks like:
– A clear majority reporting the problem as 7/10+ pain and weekly+ frequency.
– 30%+ indicating they’d try in 30 days at a plausible price.
– Consistent language in open‑ended responses.

Stage 4 — Observe behavior where it already lives (1 day)
Goal: learn from what people actually do and say in the wild.
– Review mining:
– Amazon/G2/Capterra/App Store reviews for adjacent products. Copy complaints and “wish I could…” statements.
– Social and forum scraping:
– Reddit threads, relevant Discords/Slacks, X/TikTok/YouTube comments. Look for recurring triggers and workaround hacks.
– Search and trend check:
– Google Trends for relative interest, autocomplete suggestions, People Also Ask.
– Competitor teardown:
– Note their value props, onboarding friction, pricing, what gets engagement.
Synthesize:
– Build a “Voice of Customer” doc with verbatim phrases. These become your ad hooks, H1 lines, and video scripts.
– Capture 5 must‑have features versus 5 nice‑to‑haves based on frequency of mentions, not personal preference.

Stage 5 — Test the offer with a landing page and a smoke test (3–4 days)
Budget: $20–$150 (domain + basic site + small ad spend) or $0 organic.
Build:
– One‑page site (Carrd/Notion/Airtable/Framer free/cheap tiers). Include:
– Problem statement using the audience’s own words.
– The promise/outcome (“Save 3 hours/week on edits with…”) with a short demo GIF or 30‑sec video.
– 3 bullets of how it works (benefits > features).
– Social proof proxies: quotes from interviews (“I’d switch for X”), pilot waitlist count, or your own credentials.
– Primary CTA: “Join waitlist” or “Get early access.”
– Create 3 headline variants and 2 visual variants.
Traffic sources (pick at least one):
– Organic:
– Native content on your best channel. End with a clear CTA and a trackable link.
– IG Story poll + link sticker; YouTube Community poll; TikTok “Would you use this?” with comments as qualitative.
– Paid:
– $5–$20/day micro‑ads on Meta/TikTok/X for 3 days, broad but targeted by interest and platform behavior. Use 3–5 hooks pulled from your Voice of Customer doc.
Metrics to watch:
– Landing page conversion to waitlist: 15–30% for a well‑defined niche can be solid; <5% suggests message/market mismatch or traffic mismatch.
– Click‑through rate from ads: aim for 0.8–2% on cold traffic; organic is often higher.
– Cost per interested lead: set a “would still be happy” target based on your business. For a $15/mo product, <$5 per qualified lead is a sensible early goal.
Next step if signal is strong:
– Email a short “thanks” sequence. Ask 3 questions: “What made you sign up?” “What would make this a no‑brainer?” “What are you using today?” Invite 3–5 to a paid pilot or alpha.

Stage 6 — Quick‑and‑dirty pricing checks (half day)
Two low‑cost options:
– Van Westendorp price sensitivity (in your survey or follow‑up):
– “At what price is this too cheap to trust?”
– “A bargain?”
– “Getting expensive but you’d consider?”
– “Too expensive to consider?”
– The intersection ranges give you a target band.
– Live “good/better/best” smoke:
– Three identical landing pages except price ($9, $19, $29). Randomize traffic. Track click‑to‑start or waitlist selection. You’re not charging yet; you’re measuring intent.

Stage 7 — Simple market sizing and viability math (half day)
Keep it directional:
– Top‑down sanity check:
– Search volume for core keywords + platform audience sizes to estimate monthly active “problem‑aware” people.
– Bottom‑up reality check:
– If you can get 200 qualified visitors/month from your own channels at a 20% waitlist rate and 25% of those convert to paying at $15/mo, that’s 10 new customers/month or $150 MRR. What would it take to 10x that (content cadence, partnerships, paid efficiency)?
– CAC:LTV straw‑man:
– LTV for a $15/mo product with 6‑month average retention ≈ $90. Your paid experiments should trend toward CAC <$30. Synthesize your learning into a one‑pager (half day)
Keep it decision‑ready:
– What we tested (methods, sample, dates)
– What we learned (top 5 insights with proof)
– What changed our mind (assumption shifts)
– Go/kill/pivot decision with rationale
– Next experiments with owners and dates

A realistic 2‑week schedule and budget
– Week 1
– Mon: Assumptions + screener + outreach messages
– Tue–Wed: 8–12 interviews, nightly synthesis
– Thu: Draft survey, pilot with 5 people
– Fri: Launch survey, start review/forum mining
– Budget used: $50 incentives
– Week 2
– Mon: Close survey, analyze; build landing page assets
– Tue–Thu: Run smoke test (organic + small paid); iterate headlines
– Fri: Pricing probe + sizing math + one‑pager + decision
– Budget used: $20 domain/site, $50 micro‑ads, $50 incentives = ~$120 total

Examples to make it concrete
– Creator tool for faster video thumbnails
– Interviews reveal the real pain is not “design skill” but “indecision + A/B testing time.”
– Survey shows 65% feel the pain weekly; 42% would try at $12–15/mo.
– Review mining shows constant mentions of “what actually gets clicks for my niche?”
– Landing page headline that wins: “Ship thumbnails in 10 minutes that your niche actually clicks.” 24% waitlist CVR; best hook mentions “templates trained on [niche].”
– Decision: build a pilot with 20 creators across 3 niches; price test $9 vs $15.

– Vegan high‑protein snack for travel
– Interviews show airport availability and sugar crash are the triggers, not gym sessions.
– Survey indicates strongest demand among people traveling 2–4x/month.
– Smoke test: two pages—“airport‑friendly clean protein” vs “no‑crash plant protein.” The former gets 2.2% CTR and 18% CVR, the latter 0.9% CTR and 8% CVR.
– Decision: target travel retail positioning; explore partnerships before DTC.

How to recruit fast without paying a fortune
– Warm networks: past clients, coworkers, cohort communities, alumni lists.
– Creator tactics: call‑to‑action in your next video, IG close friends list, pinned comment with survey link.
– Swaps: “I’ll post yours if you post mine.”
– Micro‑incentives: $10 gift cards, free month later, donation to charity, or early‑access perks.
– Screeners prevent friend bias; if your friend doesn’t fit, thank them and ask for referrals.

Measuring what matters (simple scoreboard)
– Problem intensity (0–10) and frequency (daily/weekly/monthly).
– Current workaround satisfaction (0–10).
– Message resonance: headline click‑through and qualitative “why.”
– Intent: 0–10 “try in 30 days,” email capture rate, and reply rate to your onboarding email.
– Unit economics directionally improving: cost per qualified lead and early CAC vs rough LTV.

Use your creator skills as force multipliers
– Record crisp remote interviews and cut highlight reels of quotes around each theme to align teammates or potential investors.
– Make 15‑second ad hooks from real phrases you heard; test them as Reels/TikToks/Shorts.
– Film a scrappy demo for the landing page; motion beats static for conversion.

Common pitfalls to avoid
– Asking hypotheticals (“Would you use…?”) instead of past behavior (“Tell me about last time…”).
– Sampling only friends or only one platform’s audience.
– Treating compliments as validation without a clear action (email, deposit, pre‑order).
– Pivoting based on noisy ad data with tiny spend; look for consistent directional wins, not one lucky ad set.
– Overbuilding before you test the message and price.

Ethics and housekeeping
– Always get consent to record. Open with how you’ll use the data and how to opt out.
– Keep PII minimal in surveys; make incentives fair but not coercive.
– Be clear if your landing page is a concept test; don’t charge until you can deliver.

Copy‑and‑paste templates

Outreach DM
“Hey [Name]! I’m interviewing [role] who [do X] about how they handle [problem]. It’s a quick, 15‑minute call—no pitch, just learning. If you’re up for it, here’s my calendar. If not, is there one person you’d recommend?”

Interview opener
“Can you walk me through the last time [problem] got in your way? Where were you, what were you trying to do, what happened next?”

Survey core
– In the past 2 weeks, how often did [problem] come up? (Never to Daily)
– When it happens, what do you do first? (Open text)
– What have you tried, and what’s the best/worst part? (Open text)
– If a tool delivered [desired outcome], how likely are you to try it in the next 30 days at [$X/month]? (0–10)
– Why that score? (Open text)
– Optional pricing (Van Westendorp’s 4 questions)

Landing page H1 options
– “Save [X] hours/week on [task] without changing your tools.”
– “The fastest way to go from [pain] to [desired outcome] for [audience].”
– “Stop [annoying workaround]. Start [clear result] in minutes.”

Decision rubric
– Go: strong pain (7+/10), frequent, 20%+ email capture on relevant traffic, early CAC path < 1/3 of LTV.
– Pivot: pain is real but for a different segment or with a different promise than you expected.
– Pause/kill: low pain or rare; weak message no matter how you spin it; can’t see a path to viable CAC.

If you follow this plan, you’ll finish with
– Evidence‑based clarity on who you’re serving and what they value.
– A message that pulls, not pushes—written in your audience’s words.
– Early indicators on pricing and a first estimate of unit economics.
– A shortlist of the next 1–2 experiments that actually move the idea forward.

If you want, tell me your product idea and primary channel (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, newsletter, etc.), and I’ll tailor the exact scripts, headline variants, and a 3‑day content plan to drive traffic to your smoke test.