Product Strategy: What it Is and How to Build One
A product strategy is a high-level roadmap that defines product goals, guides development, and ensures alignment with business objectives to deliver customer value and drive growth.
Posted October 3, 2024
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If you don’t have a clear product strategy that matches your company vision and goals, even the best teams can get lost. The product team can end up pulled in all directions, trying to meet goals that change based on what different stakeholders want. The bigger problem? Teams that aren’t on the same page usually fail to meet user needs, and that leads to products that don’t satisfy customers.
However, with a solid product strategy, product managers can keep everyone focused on what the product is meant to achieve – and why. In this article, we will walk you through what a product strategy is and how to create one that brings your vision to life. So without further ado, let’s get to it!
What is Product Strategy?
A product strategy is a roadmap outlining the product’s value, target audience, goals, and how it will evolve through its lifecycle to solve customer problems and drive business outcomes.
At its core, a product strategy is about imagining the future of your product. It answers crucial questions such as: What will your product become? Who will it benefit? How will it create value? This strategic plan bridges the gap between your company's overarching vision and actionable, product-level plans.
Key Components of a Product Strategy
A product strategy will differ depending on the company size, product you’re building, industry, and more. There are three crucial parts of a product strategy:
- The target market and the key problems the product is trying to solve
- The product’s value proposition, i.e. the unique features of selling points that set it apart
- The overarching business goals for the product
Within each of these buckets, here are some things to consider.
Target Market & Problems
Target Audience
- Identifying and understanding your target audience is crucial for tailoring the product features, messaging, and marketing campaigns/strategies to meet their specific needs.
- Key considerations: Demographics, psychographics, behaviors, and pain points.
- Why it matters: A well-defined audience ensures that the product development process and marketing efforts are aligned with the users most likely to benefit from and adopt the product.
Competitive Landscape
- Analyzing the competitive landscape helps identify where your product fits in the market and highlights opportunities for differentiation.
- Key elements:
- Competitor analysis
- Market positioning
- Industry trends
- Why it matters: Understanding the competition allows you to adapt your product strategy in response to shifts in the market and capitalize on gaps that competitors may have overlooked.
Product Vision
Unique Value Proposition (UVP)
- The unique value proposition defines the specific benefits that your product offers and explains how it solves your target audience’s problem in a way no other product can.
- Why it matters: A clear UVP helps differentiate your product in a crowded market and ensures that your messaging is focused on what makes your product stand out.
- Examples:
- A software tool that reduces manual data entry time by 50%.
- An eco-friendly packaging solution that cuts carbon emissions by 30%.
Product Lifecycle Management
- This component outlines the stages the product will go through, from development to growth, maturity, and eventual decline.
- Stages:
- Introduction: Initial launch of the product, focused on market entry and awareness.
- Growth: Expanding market share and optimizing the product.
- Maturity: Maximizing profits, improving efficiency, and managing competition.
- Decline: Addressing declining interest and considering new product iterations or pivot strategies.
- Why it matters: A well-defined lifecycle plan helps manage resource allocation and prepares for necessary changes as the product evolves.
Customer Feedback Loop
- Creating a system to collect, analyze, and act on customer feedback is crucial for ongoing product improvement and ensuring that the product continues to meet evolving customer needs.
- Methods:
- Surveys
- User interviews
- Product usage data
- Why it matters: A feedback loop allows you to make informed decisions about product updates, new features, or shifts in the strategy to maintain a competitive edge.
Company Goals
Key Goals and Success Metrics
- Defining clear goals and success metrics will help track whether the product strategy is effective over time.
- Common goals:
- Revenue Goals: Increase in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) or customer lifetime value (CLV).
- User Growth: Targets for customer acquisition, active users, or user retention.
- Product Adoption: Metrics related to feature usage, engagement, or conversion rates.
- Why it matters: These metrics allow you to measure progress, identify areas for improvement, and ensure that the product strategy is aligned with overall company objectives.
Go-to-Market (GTM) Plan
- A go-to-market plan outlines how the product will be launched, marketed, and sold to the target audience.
- Key elements:
- Pricing strategy
- Sales channels (e.g., direct sales, partnerships, online platforms)
- Marketing tactics (e.g., digital marketing, content strategy, influencer outreach)
- Why it matters: A strong GTM plan ensures that the product reaches the right customers, at the right time, through the most effective channels.
A product strategy encompasses decisions, actions, and approaches to position your product in the market, differentiate it from competitors, and create long-term value for both your business and customers. It takes into account market dynamics, customer insights, competitive analysis, and internal capabilities to determine the best approach for achieving success.
Read: What is Product Management? | Leland
The Importance of a Product Strategy
Having a solid product strategy is crucial for several reasons:
- A product strategy provides clarity and alignment for your entire organization, ensuring that all stakeholders, from executives to developers, are aligned with the same vision and objectives. This alignment helps everyone see how their work contributes to the larger company strategy and overall goals.
- With a clear product strategy, you can make better decisions at every stage of the product life cycle. It helps product managers prioritize features, allocate resources efficiently, and adapt to market trends or internal changes.
- A well-defined product strategy helps you identify and address market demand effectively. It gives you a clear sense of your product's niche and unique value proposition, allowing your teams to make decisions that resonate with your target audience.
- By outlining how your product will stand out in the market, a strong product strategy helps you gain a competitive edge. It focuses on delivering value to customers by addressing their pain points and providing solutions.
- A product strategy serves as a foundation for long-term success. It drives revenue growth by ensuring that your products meet market demand and deliver value. Moreover, it contributes to building a strong brand reputation through consistently delivering high-quality products and exceptional customer experiences.
Having a well-thought-out product strategy is beneficial and essential for success and long-term growth in the competitive market landscape. You may find the following product management resources helpful and worth reading:
- 20+ Free Product Management Resources | Leland
- Preparing for Your Product Manager Behavioral Interview: Tips and Strategies | Leland
- What Is a Product Lead and Why Is It So Important? | Leland
- An Overview of the Different Roles in Product Management | Leland
- The Future of Product Management: Trends and Predictions | Leland
What Are the Benefits of a Product Strategy?
A great product strategy provides clear direction for the entire organization, ensuring that everyone is aligned toward common goals. This clarity reduces confusion, eliminates conflicting strategic priorities, and enables teams to work more efficiently. By streamlining efforts, a strategy allows for more effective resource allocation, ensuring that budget, talent, and time are focused on initiatives that will drive the most value.
A product strategy also fosters consistency in external communications and branding, reinforcing the company’s message and strengthening its market position. It keeps the organization focused on customer needs, driving the development of products that resonate with target audiences and differentiate the business from competitors. By setting measurable goals and key performance indicators (KPIs), the strategy enables data-driven decision-making, ensuring that teams are tracking progress and adjustments are made based on performance.
Additionally, a strong product strategy promotes innovation, encourages risk mitigation, and supports long-term growth. It helps the company adapt to changing market conditions and customer preferences while fostering a culture of continuous improvement, and can accelerate the path to product-market fit (PMF). With a clear plan in place, product managers and teams are empowered to take decisive actions, knowing they are aligned with broader business objectives.
How to Build a Product Strategy (With Examples)
To develop a successful product strategy, follow a structured approach that aligns with your business goals and customer needs. Below is a step-by-step guide, with specific questions to ask and tasks to perform during each phase.
1. Conduct thorough market research
Understanding your market is the foundation of a successful product strategy. This step helps you uncover who your target audience is, what their specific needs are, and how competitors are addressing similar challenges. Market research informs all other strategic decisions, ensuring that your product resonates with real customer pain points. By examining customer behavior, current trends, and competitor strategies, product managers can identify opportunities for differentiation and validate your product’s unique value. Use this research to build detailed customer personas and gather actionable insights to guide development.
Key Questions:
- Who are our target customers? What are their specific pain points?
- What are the current market trends that could impact our product?
- How are competitors solving similar problems?
- What are customers saying they want vs. what they actually need (based on their behavior)?
What to Do: Conduct surveys, interviews, and competitive analysis. Use tools like Google Trends, industry reports, and customer feedback to identify gaps in the market. Create customer personas to synthesize your findings.
Example: After conducting market research, you discover that your target customers consist primarily of mid-sized e-commerce businesses struggling with manual inventory management. Customers express frustration with current solutions being either too expensive or too complex. Competitor analysis shows that most existing platforms are not user-friendly for non-technical teams. You identify an opportunity to build a more intuitive, affordable solution focused on ease of use. You create detailed personas representing key customer segments, such as “Tech-Savvy Small Business Owner” and “Growth-Oriented E-Commerce Manager.”
2. Create a compelling product vision
Your product vision sets the overarching direction for your team and stakeholders. It should outline the long-term impact of your product and inspire action, whether that’s securing investment, aligning your team, or attracting early customers. A clear and compelling vision not only serves as a motivational tool internally but also helps define how your product will shape the market. By communicating a future state where your product solves key problems, you give your team and investors something to rally around. The vision also serves as a touchstone, guiding strategic decisions as you move forward.
Key Questions:
- What is the long-term impact we want our product to have on the market?
- How does our product solve a unique problem in a way no other product does?
- What will success look like in 5 years for our customers and company?
What to Do: Write a vision statement that communicates your product’s purpose and aspirational goals. Use this vision to align the team and attract stakeholders. Share it publicly through presentations, meetings, or marketing materials to engage investors and customers.
Example:
- Vision Statement: Our product will empower e-commerce businesses to streamline their inventory management effortlessly, reducing manual errors and increasing operational efficiency by 40%. Within five years, we aim to become the go-to solution for mid-sized online retailers, known for our intuitive interface, excellent customer support, and affordability. By revolutionizing how businesses manage their stock, we will help them focus more on growing their business and less on administrative tasks.
3. Develop a strategic framework
A strategic framework serves as your product’s roadmap, outlining who you’re targeting, how you plan to win them over, and why you've chosen your specific approach. This step involves making clear, data-driven decisions on how you’ll achieve market fit and handle risks. A solid framework includes competitive analysis, customer profiles, and potential customers and growth opportunities, ensuring everyone on your team understands their role in driving success. It also establishes the risks and assumptions that need to be validated through testing and iteration, offering a clear pathway for decision-making.
Key Questions:
- Who exactly are we building this product for?
- How will we attract and retain our customers?
- What are the biggest risks we face, and how will we mitigate them?
- Where are the opportunities for differentiation in the market?
- What areas do we need to validate (assumptions, market demand, etc.)?
What to Do: Create a strategy document that includes customer profiles, market opportunities, a competitor analysis, and core strategic decisions. Run validation tests on your assumptions early through pilot launches, beta programs, or MVPs (Minimum Viable Products).
Example:
- Strategic Framework:
- Target Audience - Mid-sized e-commerce businesses with 50-500 products.
- Value Proposition - A simple, affordable inventory management tool that saves time and reduces manual errors.
- Opportunities - Competitors in the market are too complex for small teams, and our product will simplify this process.
- Key Risks - Larger competitors may lower their prices, making it harder to compete.
- Validation - We will launch a beta version with 50 businesses and gather feedback on ease of use and onboarding process.
4. Define measurable goals and KPIs
Measurable goals are essential to track progress and keep your product strategy on course. By setting clear key performance indicators (KPIs), you give your team specific targets to aim for, ensuring focus and accountability. Metrics such as customer satisfaction, churn rate, or revenue growth help you evaluate the effectiveness of your strategy over time. The right KPIs should be limited to the few that matter most to the business and be reviewed regularly to assess whether you're on track or need to adjust.
Key Questions:
- What are the 3-5 key metrics that matter most for our product’s success?
- How do we measure user satisfaction, engagement, or conversion rates?
- What is the product’s contribution to broader business goals (e.g., revenue growth, customer acquisition)?
- What are leading indicators of success we can track before lagging indicators like revenue?
What to Do: Identify metrics such as Monthly Active Users (MAUs), churn rate, customer lifetime value (CLV), or Net Promoter Score (NPS). Set specific targets for each and review them regularly with your team.
Example:
- KPIs and Goals for Year 1:
- Monthly Active Users (MAU): Reach 5,000 active users within the first 12 months.
- Churn Rate: Maintain a churn rate below 3% per month.
- Customer Satisfaction (CSAT): Achieve a customer satisfaction score of 85% or higher.
- Revenue: Generate $500,000 in annual recurring revenue (ARR) by the end of year 1.
- Onboarding Time: Reduce onboarding time to under 30 minutes based on user feedback.
5. Build a strategy-driven product roadmap
A product roadmap translates your strategy into actionable steps, prioritizing initiatives that drive the most significant impact. By linking every feature, improvement, or update to your high-level goals, you create a clear narrative for your team and ensure resources are focused on what truly matters. The roadmap outlines key milestones and timelines, helping keep the team aligned and on schedule. It’s crucial to maintain flexibility in the roadmap to respond to changes or new opportunities.
Key Questions:
- What features or improvements align most closely with our strategic goals?
- Which initiatives will have the biggest impact on the customer experience?
- What is the timeline for executing this roadmap, and what dependencies exist?
- Are there any initiatives that don’t directly contribute to our core goals (and should be deprioritized)?
What to Do: Develop a detailed product roadmap that outlines key milestones, features, and timelines. Make sure every item on the roadmap ties back to your core product goals. Use tools like Trello, Jira, or Asana to keep track of progress.
Example: (Your product roadmap will be more robust and detailed, this is a light example for demonstration)
- Product Roadmap:
- Q1: Release beta version with core features (inventory tracking, real-time stock updates). Onboard 50 beta users and gather feedback.
- Q2: Refine product based on feedback, improve user value and interface, and add analytics dashboard.
- Q3: Launch full version. Focus on marketing and customer acquisition through targeted digital ads and partnerships with e-commerce platforms.
- Q4: Integrate with popular e-commerce tools (e.g., Shopify, WooCommerce). Begin developing new features like demand forecasting.
6. Revisit and reevaluate your product strategy regularly
Product strategy isn’t static; it needs to evolve as market conditions, customer preferences, or technology changes. Regularly revisiting your strategy allows you to stay adaptive and proactive. Scheduled reviews give you the opportunity to reassess your goals, update assumptions, and respond to customer feedback. This flexibility ensures that you remain competitive and focused on long-term success, with the ability to pivot when necessary.
Key Questions:
- What’s working well in our current strategy? What’s not?
- Have there been any changes in customer behavior or market conditions that affect our approach?
- Are we hitting our KPIs, and if not, what needs to change?
- What assumptions or risks do we need to reassess?
What to Do: Schedule quarterly or biannual strategy reviews with your team. Reassess your product vision, goals, and roadmap. Make data-driven decisions to pivot or double down on areas of success. Use customer feedback and new market research to inform adjustments.
Example:
- Quarterly Review:
- Review Date: After six months, we realize that users are requesting better reporting tools. We decide to prioritize building an advanced analytics feature and shift lower-priority initiatives to the next quarter.
- Metrics: Churn rate is higher than expected at 5%, so we invest in improving customer support and user onboarding to address this issue.
- Next Steps: Focus on reducing churn by adding new educational resources and improving documentation.
7. Get professional guidance if needed
Sometimes external expertise can provide the insights needed to refine your strategy. Whether through a product management coach or industry expert, seeking professional guidance can offer valuable feedback and new perspectives. These experts can help you fine-tune your strategy, validate assumptions, and develop more effective product roadmaps based on best practices in the field.
Key Questions:
- Do we need additional expertise to improve our strategy?
- Are there product management coaches who can offer targeted advice?
What to Do: Reach out to product managers or industry experts for feedback on your product strategies. Consider hiring a product management coach for personalized advice on how to refine your product roadmap and strategy.
How Does Product Strategy Fit Into the Broader Product Development and Launch System?
A product strategy serves as a critical component in the broader business system, aligning product development with overall company goals. It connects high-level objectives, such as revenue growth or market expansion, with actionable product initiatives. By providing clear direction, a product strategy ensures that every department—from marketing to sales to engineering—is working toward the same goal, optimizing resources and reducing inefficiencies.
At its core, product strategy acts as a bridge between a company's vision and the execution of that vision. It defines how a product will meet market needs, differentiate from competitors, and contribute to long-term success. For example, the strategy informs marketing teams about the unique selling proposition (USP) and target audience, enabling more focused campaigns. Simultaneously, it guides product development teams on which features and functionalities will have the most significant impact.
A quality strategy also ensures adaptability within the broader business system. As market conditions or customer preferences change, it helps businesses pivot quickly, ensuring the product remains relevant and competitive. Additionally, the strategy facilitates communication across departments, ensuring alignment and providing measurable metrics (KPIs) that track progress and success.
5 Product Strategy Examples
SaaS Productivity Tool for Remote Teams
- Product: A cloud-based productivity tool that helps remote teams collaborate more efficiently through task management, file sharing, and real-time communication.
- Target Audience: Small to mid-sized remote teams struggling to stay organized.
- Unique Selling Proposition (USP): Unlike larger competitors, this tool focuses on simplicity and ease of use, making it ideal for non-technical users. It also integrates seamlessly with existing platforms like Slack and Google Workspace.
- Business Goal: To acquire 10,000 paying users within the first year and expand into large enterprises by year three.
- Strategy: The product strategy focuses on optimizing user experience and rapidly releasing new integrations. The company plans to leverage targeted content marketing and webinars to capture attention, followed by freemium offers to convert users into paying customers.
Eco-Friendly Skincare Line
- Product: A skincare line made from 100% biodegradable packaging and sustainably sourced ingredients.
- Target Audience: Environmentally conscious consumers who want high-quality skincare without a negative environmental impact.
- USP: Each product features zero-waste packaging, vegan ingredients, and a carbon-neutral shipping process.
- Business Goal: To become the leading sustainable skincare brand in the U.S. within five years, capturing 10% of the eco-conscious beauty market.
- Strategy: The product strategy focuses on developing limited-edition, seasonal collections that tie into global environmental causes. Collaborations with sustainability influencers and social media campaigns will generate buzz, while partnerships with eco-friendly retailers will increase distribution.
Smart Home Energy Management System
- Product: A smart energy system that helps homeowners monitor and reduce their energy consumption using AI-driven insights and automation.
- Target Audience: Homeowners in suburban areas looking to cut energy costs and reduce their carbon footprint.
- USP: The system learns user behavior and automates energy savings, offering insights through a mobile app. It integrates with existing smart home devices like Nest and Alexa.
- Business Goal: To sell 100,000 units in the first two years and secure partnerships with utility companies for wider distribution.
- Strategy: The company will focus on product differentiation by offering lower upfront costs and long-term savings through energy rebates. The strategy includes partnering with energy-efficient builders and participating in trade shows. A robust customer referral program and influencer marketing will drive awareness.
Personal Finance App for Millennials
- Product: A mobile app that helps millennials manage their finances through automated savings, budgeting tools, and personalized investment advice.
- Target Audience: Millennials with moderate incomes who want to improve their financial literacy and grow their savings.
- USP: The app uses gamification to engage users, offering rewards for hitting savings milestones. It also integrates AI-driven insights to provide personalized financial advice.
- Business Goal: To reach 1 million active users in three years and build a loyal community that refers new users through word-of-mouth.
- Strategy: The product strategy focuses on building partnerships with financial influencers and using TikTok and Instagram for targeted marketing. The app will continually add new features based on user feedback and financial trends, keeping users engaged and encouraging long-term retention.
B2B Cloud-Based Customer Support Platform
- Product: A cloud-based customer support platform designed for medium-sized businesses to streamline their customer service operations through automated ticketing, chatbots, and CRM integration.
- Target Audience: Mid-sized businesses with rapidly growing customer bases that need scalable support solutions.
- USP: Offers seamless integration with popular CRM systems and provides AI-powered insights to optimize customer support response times.
- Business Goal: To acquire 500 business customers by year two and become the top-rated customer support platform for mid-sized companies.
- Strategy: The product strategy includes building strategic partnerships with CRM software providers to offer bundled solutions. The company will also focus on offering free trials and personalized onboarding for each client to ensure a smooth transition. A heavy emphasis on customer success and upselling additional features over time will drive long-term growth.
The Different Types of Product Strategy
As a product manager, choosing the right product strategy is essential for aligning your product development efforts with your overall business objectives. Different strategies can help businesses gain a competitive advantage, figure out the right business model, target specific customer segments, or drive growth through innovation. Depending on the company's goals, market conditions, and customer needs, various types of product strategies can be adopted. Here are some key product strategies, with examples of how successful products and companies have implemented each to achieve their business objectives.
Differentiation Strategy – This focuses on creating a product with unique features that set it apart from competitors, appealing to customers who value innovation or quality.
- Example: Apple’s iPhone exemplifies a differentiation strategy by offering unique features like a proprietary operating system (iOS), premium design, and a strong ecosystem of apps and devices. It targets customers who value innovation, design, and seamless integration across devices.
Cost Leadership Strategy – Aims to offer a product at the lowest price possible while maintaining acceptable quality, targeting price-sensitive customers.
- Example: Walmart uses a cost strategy by providing a wide range of products at low prices. It leverages economies of scale and efficient supply chain management to offer affordable products, appealing to price-sensitive consumers.
Niche or Focus Strategy – Concentrates on serving a specific segment of the market with tailored products that meet their unique needs.
- Example: Peloton follows a niche strategy by targeting fitness enthusiasts who are willing to invest in high-end, interactive home exercise equipment. Their product offers a premium experience with live-streamed and on-demand classes, specifically tailored to this dedicated fitness community.
Innovation Strategy – Prioritizes continuous product innovation and development, aiming to disrupt the market with new or improved products.
- Example: Tesla’s innovation strategy focuses on developing electric vehicles that push the boundaries of technology and sustainability. Tesla constantly improves battery life, autonomous driving features, and charging infrastructure to stay ahead of competitors and disrupt the automotive industry.
Growth Strategy – Focuses on expanding market share by either introducing new products or enhancing existing ones to attract more customers.
- Example: Netflix initially started as a DVD rental service but shifted to streaming as part of its growth strategy. It continuously expands its content library, introduces original programming, and penetrates new international markets to grow its subscriber base.
Customer-Centric Strategy: Puts customer needs at the core, tailoring product development to solve specific customer problems and improve their experience.
- Example: Amazon’s product strategy is deeply customer-centric. With features like 1-click purchasing, personalized recommendations, and rapid delivery through Prime, Amazon focuses on making the customer experience as seamless and convenient as possible, keeping customer satisfaction at the forefront.
Conclusion
A good product strategy can make a huge difference in a company’s success, helping every cross-functional team navigate the complicated process of product development. It gives everyone a clear plan, helps with smart decision-making, and gives the company a competitive edge. By having a well-defined product vision, the target audience, and how to measure success, businesses can build successful product strategies that connect with customers and drive growth.
To create a quality strategy, a product manager needs to do solid market research, craft a clear product vision, and develop a strategic plan. It’s important to regularly review and tweak the strategy to stay relevant as the market changes. By creating a vision that gets the whole product team excited about the product’s future, companies can drive innovation and reach their goals in today’s competitive world.
FAQs for Product Strategy
How do you define a product strategy?
- A product strategy is a plan that outlines how a company will bring a product to market and ensure its success throughout the product life cycle. It aligns the product vision with the overall business strategy, the guiding product team on which customer needs to prioritize and which product initiatives to focus on. A robust product strategy also incorporates customer feedback to adapt and improve the product over time.
What are the 4 major elements of a product strategy?
- The 4 major elements of a product strategy are the target market, value proposition, product initiatives, and success metrics. These components ensure that product teams focus on delivering value to customers, adjusting based on customer feedback, and aligning with the broader business strategy throughout the product life cycle.
What are the 4 product strategies?
- The 4 main product strategies include Cost Strategy, Differentiation, Focus Strategy, and Innovation. Each of these approaches helps companies gain a competitive edge, with strategies like the Focus Strategy allowing businesses to tailor products to specific market segments while ensuring alignment with key product initiatives and broader market demands.
What does a product strategist do?
- A product strategist defines and manages the overall direction of a product, ensuring it aligns with business goals and customer needs. They collaborate with the product manager and team to develop product initiatives, analyze customer feedback, and adapt the product lifecycle plan to drive long-term success. Their work ensures a robust product strategy that stays relevant in a competitive market.
What is an example of a product strategy?
- An example of a product strategy is a company focusing on a Focus Strategy to target a niche market. For instance, a brand might develop specialized software tailored to small businesses, gathering customer feedback to improve the product’s features over time while aligning with the company’s long-term business strategy. This approach allows for tailored product initiatives that cater to a specific audience's needs.
What four objectives are accomplished by a new-product strategy?
- A new-product strategy helps businesses define target markets, identify unique selling points, set clear business goals, and outline product development plans. These strategic objectives ensure alignment between product development and broader business goals, increasing the chances of market success.
What is product development strategy?
- A product development strategy is a plan that focuses on creating or improving products to meet customer needs, capture market share, and drive business growth. It involves research, design, testing, and product launch, aligning with the company’s long-term goals.
What three options does a business have when choosing a product planning strategy?
- A business typically has three product planning strategy options: 1) develop new products, 2) improve existing products, or 3) discontinue underperforming products. These options help businesses stay competitive and meet market demands.