How To Do Market Research For Digital Products

If you’re working on a new digital product — maybe an app, online course, eBook, or membership site — one thing matters more than anything else: knowing exactly what your audience wants before you build it.

That’s where market research comes in.

A lot of creators skip this step. I get it — it can feel overwhelming or even unnecessary, especially when you’re excited to build.

But if you’re creating a digital product and you don’t take time to understand your audience’s pain points, habits, and spending behavior, you’re basically throwing darts in the dark.

So, let’s talk about how to actually do market research — the kind that gives you real answers from real people. Not just guessing, not just copying competitors, but truly figuring out what works.

This guide will walk you through every step of market research for digital products in a way that’s simple, practical, and yes, even a little fun.

What Is Market Research?

Market research is just a way to gather insights about your potential customers — what they want, what problems they’re facing, how they search for solutions, and what kind of product would be worth paying for.

When it comes to digital products, market research helps you:

Avoid building something nobody needs
Understand what features your product must include
Learn how people describe their problems (so you can speak their language in your marketing)
Find out how much they’re willing to pay

It’s like getting a sneak peek into your customers’ brains.

Why Market Research Is Non-Negotiable

Here’s a stat that might surprise you: 42% of startups fail because there’s no market need for their product.

That means even if your product is well-designed, well-built, and even beautifully branded — it could still flop if you’re solving a problem people don’t actually care about.

Market research prevents that. It helps you build something people are already looking for.

How To Do Market Research For Your Digital Product

1. Start With A Clear Problem

Every good product solves a problem. Before you even think about the format (course, app, etc.), figure out:

What problem does your audience struggle with?
How are they trying to solve it now?
What’s not working for them?

You can get these answers from:

Conversations with your audience
Browsing forums like Reddit or Quora
Looking at Amazon reviews (especially books in your niche)
Reading Facebook group discussions

You’re listening for pain points. Not feature requests, but real struggles.

Tip: Don’t overthink it. Screenshot quotes or copy/paste comments into a doc. This raw language is gold when you’re building and marketing later.

2. Define Your Ideal Customer

If you’re trying to build a product for “everyone,” it probably won’t help anyone. You need to get specific.

Ask yourself:

Who is most likely to buy this product?
What are their goals?
What stage are they at in their journey?

Create a simple customer profile. Not a full-blown persona with hobbies and favorite coffee — just enough to help you focus.

Example:

A 35-year-old freelance designer who wants to create passive income by selling digital templates online, but feels stuck on where to start.

Now all your research is aimed at helping this person.

3. Look At What’s Already Working

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel. See what’s already selling in your space.

Where to look:

Gumroad: Browse top-selling products in your niche
Udemy or Skillshare: Look at popular courses, especially the reviews
Product Hunt: See what tools and apps are getting traction
Etsy (for digital downloads): Templates, planners, designs — see what sells

You’re not copying — you’re spotting patterns. What topics keep coming up? What formats are most popular? What are people complaining about in reviews?

4. Talk To Real People

Yes, real conversations.

The best insights come from interviews or open-ended surveys. You don’t need a huge sample size — even 5-10 chats can show major patterns.

Ask questions like:

What’s the biggest challenge you’re facing around [your topic]?
What have you tried so far?
If someone gave you a solution to this, what would it look like?

You’re listening more than talking. Don’t pitch anything — just ask, and let them speak freely.

Tools: Use Google Forms for surveys or Calendly to book short calls. Keep it casual.

5. Search Intent & Keywords

What are people Googling when they look for help?

Keyword tools like:

AnswerThePublic (answerthepublic.com)
AlsoAsked (alsoasked.com)
Google Auto Suggest (just start typing and see what shows up)

These tools help you understand how people talk about their problems and what words they use. That’s important not just for product creation, but also for naming and marketing.

You’ll find phrases like:

“How to start a print-on-demand shop”
“Best budgeting spreadsheet for freelancers”
“How to create an online course without showing your face”

These are all potential product ideas.

6. Analyze Your Competition (Without Getting Discouraged)

Look at 3-5 people or businesses who sell something similar. Note:

What’s their unique angle?
What are customers praising or criticizing?
How are they pricing their product?

Try to spot gaps:

Is their product too complex?
Are they missing a group of beginners?
Could yours be cheaper, more fun, easier?

The goal isn’t to beat them — it’s to differentiate yourself.

7. Validate Before You Build

Don’t build your product in secret and hope for the best.

Validation can be simple:

Create a landing page and see who signs up
Ask people if they’d pre-order
Launch a waitlist
Share mockups and get feedback

If people aren’t interested in just the idea, they won’t care when it’s live either.

FAQs

How long should market research take?

It doesn’t need to take months. A solid 1-2 weeks of focused research is enough to get clear insights — especially if you’re talking to people and collecting real data.