Who will buy your product? Start with the choice they’re making.

By HARLI · November 7, 2026

To work out who might buy your product, start with a situation in someone’s life. What are they trying to do? How do they handle it today? What would make your product worth choosing? Then investigate those answers before building your marketing around them.

It becomes more useful when you follow one example all the way into the work.

Start with the day the product fits into.

Imagine you have made a canvas bag. You have samples, a name and a few photographs. Now you need to tell people why they should buy it.

“People who like nice bags” leaves a lot unanswered.

One possible buyer carries a laptop and lunch to work. Another wants somewhere to put gym shoes and wet clothes. Someone else wants a small bag for an evening out.

Each situation raises different questions. Does a laptop fit? Can wet clothes be kept separate? Does the bag look right with what someone wears?

For this example, choose the person travelling to work with a laptop and lunch as a possibility to investigate. That gives you a concrete starting point. You have not yet established that this person wants your bag.

Look at what they already choose.

Your alternatives include other bags, the backpack they already own and continuing to carry two separate bags.

Spend time understanding those choices. Ask people who recently bought or considered a work bag what happened:

• What were you carrying?
• What made you start looking?
• Which options did you consider?
• What did you choose, and what mattered in that decision?
• What still bothers you about it?

Leave room for an answer you were not expecting. Someone may care most about comfort on a long walk. Someone else may be happy with their backpack and have no reason to replace it.

Looking at competing product pages can show you the options and promises already available. It cannot tell you, on its own, which promise your potential customer believes or values.

Write down what you actually heard or observed separately from your interpretation. “A person carries two bags” is an observation. “They would pay for one larger bag” is still an assumption.

Let the choice change the offer.

Suppose you decide to investigate a bag that carries the essentials for an office day while fitting how the buyer wants to dress.

Now look closely at your sample. Does it hold the relevant laptop? Is there space left for lunch? How does it feel when loaded? What closes securely, and what stays exposed?

The answers could change the product. They also change what you need to show.

If your sample cannot comfortably carry the things this buyer needs, a stronger headline will not fix that mismatch. You may need a different design, a different buyer or a narrower promise.

If it does suit the situation, your product page has something specific to explain. The offer includes the actual bag, its price, delivery and returns terms, and enough accurate information to help someone decide.

Carry that understanding into the page.

A first draft might say:

A beautiful bag for every occasion.

For the hypothetical work bag, a more specific draft could be:

Your laptop, lunch and everyday essentials. One bag for the working day.

That wording needs supporting detail. Show what fits inside. State the dimensions. Photograph the loaded bag being carried. Explain its compartments and closure accurately. Use those claims only if the real product supports them.

The same understanding gives a photograph a purpose. An image of the bag on a desk may establish a feeling. An image showing its contents answers a practical question. You can use both, with a clear reason for each.

Find out what the draft gets wrong.

Put the product and draft page in front of people who face the situation you chose. Ask what they understand, what they would compare it with and what they still need to know.

Record the questions, objections and choices you observe. Compliments alone do not establish that someone will buy. A small check can reveal something to investigate; it cannot establish demand for the whole market.

Then change the part the evidence calls into question: the buyer, the product, the offer, the explanation or where you reach people.

We’re building HARLI to help new business owners work through these connections, so customer understanding carries into their offer, marketing, website and sales work.