4 Amazing Templates to Make Product Strategy an Asset, Not a Liability
I recently wrote a beginner’s guide to product marketing to help startups and SMBs understand the acute need for the function and common pitfalls to avoid. Once you have the right resources in place, the next step is to succeed at strategic planning, roadmap development, crafting a narrative/messaging/positioning, and building a product point of view.
Thanks to my selfless friend Chris Mann, who’s been a product leader at Bizo (acquired by LinkedIn), Coremetrics (acquired by IBM), and CEO at BrightFunnel (acquired by Terminus), he’s shared a few of his amazing and actionable templates to help get you started.
You can find these product-related templates on Valley Innovators’ site here or I’ve included a summary with links below. Keep in mind these templates have been battle tested in the field by Chris and they work in practice. Enjoy!
Strategic Planning Matrix
Improve the planning process and get stakeholders across the organization including executives, product, marketing, sales, and operations aligned on key strategic and product initiatives with this google sheet template. Use this template to:
- Rank strategic initiatives to improve performance
- Assign clear ownership and gain better alignment
- Increase accountability across teams and owners
- Improve communication and shorten timelines
Messaging Blueprint
Leverage this blueprint to achieve better collaboration and alignment on messaging with this google doc template. Use this template to:
- Align on the problem your company solves, differentiators, value propositions, target audience, and core capabilities.
- Develop initial messaging for your PR boilerplate and elevator pitch.
- Track and analyze competitor messaging.
Solution Spec
Gather critical product and executive input in this Solution Spec google doc. Use this template to:
- Think through product strategy and closely align execs with product leadership
- Discuss roadmap timelines, phasing, and implications for better utilization of resources.
- Articulate risks and dependencies to remove critical roadblocks
Product Point of View (POV)
Leverage this POV framework to think through and gain alignment on strategic product initiatives. Use this template to:
- Think about and articulate the fundamental challenges and opportunities of a particular product strategy.
- Gain input from other stakeholders for better clarity and alignment.
- Challenge assumptions on market opportunity, product roadmap, risks, and resources needed for success.
A special thanks again to Chris Mann for sharing these templates. Listen to Valley Innovators’ podcast with Chris for more insights on how to use them or contact Persimmon Marketing for help implementing them to improve your product marketing and development process.
