We all have experienced till date that numerous products are launched in the market, yet only a few of them are able to stand out and sustain. Some succeed and survive based on the existing brand name while others stay because of the quality and the value they add in the consumer’s life. While any product launched without a proper product strategy might start off with good sales based on various factors such as the brand’s popularity or aggressive marketing and PR, but will ultimately decline later down the road.

To avoid such a situation, product strategy comes into play. Product strategy defines the outline for what direction the product you have launched or are planning to launch will head to and what outcomes are you aiming to achieve. It should be consumer-oriented in its approach and also market-driven. It also sets the foundation for the product’s life-cycle, keeping the plan of action focused on what matters the most.

There are three major factors of an effective product strategy. The market and needs that help the business to understand consumer’s buying behavior along with what they are likely to prefer and use. The target market is also identified in this step. Then come the key features and differing factors. How will your product add value to a user’s life and in what different way? What different element does your product offer in comparison with other similar products already available in the market? These few questions are important to cater while making a product strategy. And finally, come the business goals as to how the product is going to add on to the business’s value and market position along with generating revenue and sales.

But the question arises, how to make an effective product strategy? We will be discussing some simple steps to achieve this purpose.

First, keep the users and management in the loop. Go and talk to the audience, identify their purchasing patterns and preferences. Along with that keep the top management, such as the product manager, creative director and business development manager in the discussion while making the strategy. A unanimous effort can lead to a successful launch of the product.

Second, you have to develop your product’s vision. The vision should be compelling and enthusiastic. This will help the entire team to work towards a clear and defined outcome. Defining the product’s goals is also very important. Your ideas should not only be written down on the paper but should be implemented in terms of clear and predefined goals. After you have defined the product goals, you can use them to guide your roadmap. Product’s success matrix comes handy as well in order to gauge the success of the strategy. If adjustments are needed, they can be made accordingly to avoid a disastrous outcome or failure. And last, you need to revisit your product’s vision, the market situation, demand and weaknesses in order to confirm that the revised plan is on the track and will produce fruitful results. After all these steps have been achieved in an effective manner, you can now prepare for the launch of your product through various marketing and PR activities.