What is a Product Strategy?
Product strategy is the work plan on what your business plans to accomplish with the product and how it is planning to do so. A successful product strategy covers everything from the vision to the metrics you need to keep tabs on to know whether you are on the right track.
Product strategy helps people across the teams from Development to Marketing to Sales to think along the same lines and work together towards the same goal.
A well-thought-out Product strategy will help you build a roadmap that takes into account the duly prioritized items, rightful resources, with an apt timeline.
Best practices for defining your product strategy
User research
For a winning product strategy, you need to start with identifying the right audience. Understanding whom you are building for and why you are building solves a lot of complex problems.
There is no point in reaching out to them after the product is out. So, before even you sit on the product strategy, talk to them as much as you can, and understand their needs. How your product can fulfill their needs. User research is an integral part of any product strategy.
Product vision
What is a journey without a destination? This is what is a product without a product vision. End up reaching nowhere (in this case, no user). A product vision gives you a clear picture of where you are headed with your product. It also gives you an opportunity to look back and see whether you are traveling in the right direction, and change your path whenever you go wrong.
KPIs and metrics
It is hardly possible to measure success without the metrics. Imagine, you think you have built a great product you think your users will love. How do you actually know whether the product is adding value to the users or not? This is why defining the number right in the beginning is very important. Set up metrics that matter to your business and align well with your business goals. Whatever metrics you come up with, should be easily measurable.
Execution
The success of a great product strategy lies in how well you are executing it. Execution is also the trickier part because more teams are involved in the execution of the strategy. So, clear communication and decision-making are some of the effective skills that come in handy for the efficient execution of the planned strategy.
Product Strategy Templates
https://amplitude.com/blog/product-strategy-template
https://www.myproductroadmap.com/collections/product-strategy-templates
https://craft.io/templates/product-strategy-example.html
Further reading
https://www.productplan.com/glossary/product-strategy/
https://www.aha.io/roadmapping/guide/product-strategy
https://www.productplan.com/learn/product-strategy/
https://www.shopify.in/partners/blog/product-strategy
https://blog.hubspot.com/service/product-strategy
Conclusion
Defining your Product strategy is the key to building a successful product. There is no wrong in putting in the required time and resources to build one that fits your business. Not to forget, though you’ve come up with a killer product strategy for your product, it is very important to revisit it time and again to ensure everything is advancing well and sits well with your expected outcome.
Originally published at https://zeda.io on November 19, 2021.
