How to test a new product offer like Amazon

Steal this creative offer technique from Amazon the next time you are thinking about new products for your audience.

Email Offer Screenshot by Justin Zack

I received a book recommendation from Amazon. It caught my attention. Not because of what it was, but because of what it wasn’t.

It wasn’t for me.

Upon closer look I understood why they recommended it to me.

This insight led me to hold onto the email. The email contained a useful pattern that I wanted to remember for future product ideation.

I’ve reverse engineered why I believe I received the recommendation and turned it into a pattern that you can use too.

Here are the 5 parts to the pattern.

Categorize Interest

Begin by categorizing the existing interests of your customers. For example, on Amazon, I buy mostly books.

The topics I’m interested in include Writing, Work, Product Management, Parenting, Christianity and Creativity.

To categorize the interests of your audience, ask:

• What has your audience purchased from you or others in the past?