How to build a product marketing strategy

September

2020

How to build a product marketing strategy

A product marketing strategy sets out who you sell the product to and why, at what price, through which channels and how you measure results. It is built in six steps: segment, value, price, channels, launch and metrics.

Discuss your projectTelegramWhatsApp

In short

Start with the customer's job and a segment where your product does it noticeably better than the alternatives.
Test the value proposition on real customers before committing a large ad budget.
The strategy depends on the lifecycle stage: launch, growth, maturity or decline.
A landing page is enough to test demand: we build one within 3 working days after the brief and content.
The key metrics are conversion, customer acquisition cost (CAC), retention and LTV.

How does a product strategy differ from a company strategy?

A company strategy covers the whole business: markets, brand and all product lines. A product strategy is about one offer: a new plan, product, service or app. It answers five questions. Who is the buyer? What job does the product do? Why will they choose you? Where and how do you sell? How will you know the strategy works?

Step 1. Segment and customer job

Describe your ideal customer profile (ICP): industry or buyer type, size, geography and who makes the decision. Then describe the job they "hire" the product for (the Jobs to Be Done approach). Check demand: Google Keyword Planner and Google Trends data, discussions in professional communities and 5–10 interviews with potential buyers.

Step 2. Value proposition and positioning

Compare the product with the alternatives the customer uses today: a competitor, a do-it-yourself workaround or doing nothing. State where your product is measurably better: time, result, cost of ownership or service. One clear statement beats five vague ones. Compare "bookkeeping for sole traders with reports filed on time and Telegram replies within a working day" with "quality bookkeeping service". A customer can check the first; the second promises nothing specific.

Step 3. Pricing strategy

Choose a pricing logic. Penetration pricing helps win customers quickly in a competitive market. Premium pricing suits a product with a clear difference. Value-based pricing rests on the financial benefit the customer gets. Digital products add tiers and a free trial. Test prices across segments.

Step 4. Sales channels

Your own website or online store with LiqPay, WayForPay or Monobank payments.
Prom and Rozetka marketplaces with a product feed.
Direct sales and a B2B sales team working in a CRM (KeyCRM, HubSpot, Pipedrive).
Partners and distributors.

Pick one or two main channels at launch. Spreading a small budget across five channels rarely produces data you can act on.

Step 5. Promotion and launch

A landing page and ads are enough for the first test: we build a landing page within 3 working days and launch Google Ads or Meta Ads a few working days after access is granted. Prepare SEO content in parallel; the first noticeable results usually appear after about 3 months. B2B products add case studies, webinars and direct sales.

Step 6. Metrics and iterations

Metric	What it shows
Website conversion rate	Share of visitors who enquired or bought
CAC	What it costs to acquire one customer
LTV	What a customer brings over the whole relationship
Retention	Share of customers who came back or renewed
Repeat purchase rate	How well the product does the customer's job

If LTV is well above CAC, the channel can scale. If it is below, change the price, segment or channel.

Strategy across the product lifecycle

Stage	Main task	Marketing focus
Launch	Prove demand	Segment tests, landing page, ads, interviews
Growth	Scale	Channels with the lowest CAC, SEO, partners
Maturity	Hold market share	Loyalty, new segments, upsells
Decline	Decide the product's future	Refresh, relaunch or withdrawal

Examples from our work

For a motorcycle taxi service in Istanbul we developed a marketing strategy: market analysis, SWOT, positioning, a creative concept and an ad campaign. For the Unistaff.ai platform we built and promoted the website. The full scope is described on our marketing strategy page.

Frequently asked questions

How do I build a product marketing strategy myself?

Work through six steps: segment and customer job, value proposition, price, sales channels, launch and metrics. If you need an outside view and market research, commission the strategy from an agency.

How is a product marketing strategy different from a promotion plan?

The strategy defines the audience, value, price and sales channels. A promotion plan sets out specific campaigns, budget and calendar within that strategy.

Which frameworks are used for product strategy?

Most often Jobs to Be Done, the 4Ps, STP segmentation, SWOT and the product lifecycle model.

When should a product strategy be reviewed?

Quarterly against the metrics, and immediately after major changes: a new competitor, a shift in market prices, or a drop in conversion or retention.

What should I prepare for product strategy work?

A description of the product and its versions, current sales and customers if you have them, a list of competitors, access to analytics and ad accounts, and your budget and launch-date constraints.

How long does it take to develop a product strategy?

We give the timeline after the brief: it depends on the market, the number of segments and the research needed. A landing page for the first test takes up to 3 working days.