How to be the first to cross the whitespace innovation gap

In a competitive market, the last thing you want is to look around and wonder, “Do we keep going now that the competition beat us to the market with this?” Or even worse, “I knew that was a great idea, we should have moved on it faster.” In moments like those, your competitor has filled a whitespace innovation gap before you could.

Whitespace innovation gaps only exist because nobody in your category is in them yet — and if you’re second to the marketplace, the opportunity has already shrunk.

So what can you do to avoid the silver medal and be the first to close whitespace innovation gaps? Here’s three tips on what you can start doing to get to the top of the podium and develop winning innovations first.

This first point may sound obvious, but there are so many blockers that can come up when you first introduce a new idea to your company. But if you’re trying to close a whitespace gap, the reality is, you need to start running with it as soon as possible. Do some quick research to gauge consumer interest in your new idea to make sure it’s worth pursuing.

After all, your competitors are talking to the same category users you are, so if you don’t get there first how can you expect to win?

Screening and prioritizing your innovation ideas needs to happen in hours, not weeks. So if you haven’t already, you should invest in a fast, early-stage agile platform to give yourself a head start (or at least an equivalent one) to take on your biggest competitors.

Once you have an early-stage agile system in place, don’t wait to perfect your idea before you start researching!

Early idea research is a critical component of an agile design process. We recommend you begin getting feedback on the idea from the start, no matter how basic the idea is. This will give you a quick read on the ideas you need to focus on and help you avoid other routes that won’t work — eliminating wasted time from the get-go.

And once you identify the routes you should go down, you need to be just as quick about fleshing out what has legs and is resonating with your target audience once it’s more than a black and white phrase on a page.

For the long game, consistency is key. While you’re trying to beat your competition across the innovation finish line, there’s a few small things you can do during your research process to set yourself up for success in the long run.

Impactful insights are what shape new products. So why not keep track of the insights you collect along the way? Think about it: If you were able to mark winning attributes that are consistently a hit with your target audience, why wouldn’t you?

These could be trends towards healthier choices, a desire for more international flavors or even a crossover into a new category. These ideas over time can help you not only conquer the current whitespace, but also start identifying where the next whitespace to innovate in might lie.

This will give you a head start on white space innovation gaps to come as well as help you find a winning combination for your next concept — saving you time and money while also giving you a better understanding of your consumers.

You have to move fast to beat your competition to the whitespace innovation gaps in the market. But it’s also how you move fast and what you do with your agile learnings that matters.

By investing in a platform that lets you get feedback on ideas within hours, starting your research process at the earliest of stages and building connected learnings, you’ll set yourself up with a winning system that helps you get to the heart of your consumers in no time.

If you’d like to learn more about how Zappi can help you create products people love, click here.