What is product planning?

Product planning refers to the collection of procedures and processes that a company employs to plan the creation of a new product or service.

 Product planning is centered on the internal processes you must follow for a product to thrive. Marketing and deployment are not included because they are external to the product development process. These external procedures are included in the “go-to-market” planning phase of the process.

One of the most popular and successful product planning tactics of the last fifty years has been market segmentation. It was created as a method of organizing software development, which is a different product in that it is iterative, adaptable, and continuous.

The Importance Of Product Planning

The discipline of product planning is one of the essential procedures that businesses will engage in, particularly for product-oriented firms (as opposed to service-oriented enterprises).

When developing a product, efficiency and effectiveness are critical factors to consider. They also influence the amount of quality that the product has and the degree to which it resonates with target consumers.

The Benefits of Product Planning

For various reasons, product planning and development play a critical role. To begin with, every product has a finite lifespan and must be improved or replaced at some point. Second, consumer requirements, styles, and preferences vary, necessitating product revisions.

Third, new technology opens up possibilities for better product design and development. Product planning and development help a company’s profitability and growth.

New product development allows a company to respond to competitive pressures and diversification concerns.

Furthermore, an effective marketing strategy revolves around identifying and addressing customers’ demands. New product creation has become even more critical in today’s environment, characterized by technological transformation and market dynamics.

New product development provides potential, but it also necessitates a significant financial, technological, and emotional investment. New product selections are both required and expensive. Many innovative products fail, forcing businesses to collapse.

Product Planning Vs. Go-to-market planning

Though they share some common ground, both terms have their differences. The best way to spare product and go-to-market planning is to understand what question each method was meant to answer.

The key questions for a Product Development Plan are:

●     Which features should we prioritize for the product’s development?

●     How will we determine our product’s pricing points?

●     With whom will we collaborate on manufacturing?

●     What will our revenue targets be and our aims for new client adoption?

●     Are there any additional measures we can use to assess the product’s success?

On the other hand, the key question for go-to-market entry are:

●     What email marketing will we create to notify prospects about our new product?

●     Which marketing materials should we generate for this product launch?

●     How will we train our sales team to market the new product?

●     Should we create limited-time offers to encourage early purchases?

●     What public relations initiatives will we execute before the launch to raise industry awareness?

The duration of Product Planning

 

A prevalent misunderstanding among product owners is that “product planning” is merely a one-time action during the early stages of a product’s development.

They may convene a single meeting with their stakeholders to help them decide on essential themes to prioritize, target clients, and a basic pricing structure, for example. After that, they immediately go into implementation mode, never revisiting any big-picture strategic decisions.

However, conditions on the ground may change. The improvements underscore the significance of treating product planning as a continuous rather than a one-time event. Product planning is still an important strategic component of the overall process.

One of the best things about incorporating product planning as a continuous element of your role in developing a new framework is keeping you on track. When changes are required, this is the place to go.

How To Use Product Planning

To make proper, effective use of Product planning, there are five steps you should follow:

Step one – Conception of an idea

The first step is conceptualization. This is the location where you will develop the product’s concept. An initial idea of what the product should look like and accomplish is frequently present at the outset.

These early thoughts and notions, on the other hand, are typically quite rudimentary.

They fail to consider variables such as how the product will look in the home, how it will feel in hand, how it will work for users with accessibility needs, how much it will cost the customer, etc. These concerns and more should be addressed during the ideation phase, even if you don’t necessarily come up with a final answer to any of them.

Step two -Market research

Step two is market research. Once you have a more solid notion of what your product will look like and the elements that will need to be considered during its development, you are ready to go on to step three: product development.

When it comes to product planning, market research is the first step in which you will put your ideas to the test. What percentage of your assumptions were correct during the ideation phase? What can be done to make them better, and which ones should be discarded entirely?

Step three -Putting things through their paces

you will develop a product testing technique during the third stage of the product planning process. This will be the final step of the product planning process. Since your product has not yet begun development, you don’t need to be concerned with testing it at this time. Instead, you’re doing tests to anticipate when that product will be available.

Suppose you are designing a hand tool and you want to devise a test that requires you to use your non-dominant hand. This might assist you in identifying any ergonomic concerns in your design.

It can be beneficial to have an older adult test your software product if you’re developing a software product to see how intuitive your program is. During this stage of your product planning, you will imagine how these tests operate and what information they will supply you with.

Step four – Product maturity

The fourth stage is concerned with your product once it has been released. Again, you are not considering how you will introduce your product to the market; it is the responsibility of go-to-market planning.

On the other hand, product maturity is concerned with the time of development that follows the debut of a product. There will be issues and enhancements to your product that will only become apparent after hundreds or thousands of people have tested it.

Step five – Product life cycle

Conclusion

All of the internally focused decisions, actions, and tasks required to build a successful product are included in product planning. In other words, it entails everything you must accomplish that impacts the outcome. On the other hand, Go-to-market planning encompasses all processes used to present and advertise your product to the general public.