What is a Product Strategist? Responsibilities, Salaries, and More
Whether you’re a seasoned professional or new to the field, understanding the nuances of product strategists is essential for success.
In this guide, we’ll delve into the core responsibilities, salary insights, essential skills, and more, providing you with the knowledge and tools you need to excel as a product strategist.
TL;DR
- A Product strategist is responsible for working with a team of Product Managers to develop a comprehensive product strategy, product vision, and long-term roadmap that aligns with the company’s business objectives and market opportunities.
- They are in charge of developing comprehensive strategic plans and roadmaps for future product offerings. They collaborate with product managers, engineering, and other stakeholders to ensure the successful execution of product strategies.
- One of the biggest factors influencing your salary is your experience level. Here’s how experience can impact your product strategist salary, according to Glassdoor:
- 1 to 3 years: $93,662/year
- 4-6 years: $111,071/year
- 7-9 years: $118,642/year
- 10-14 years: $129,350/year
- 15+ years: $143,936/year
- Here’s the typical career path of a product strategist:
- Associate Product Strategist: Collaborate with senior strategists to analyze market trends, gather customer insights, and develop product roadmaps. To progress, you demonstrate strong analytical skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to translate insights into actionable recommendations.
- Product Strategist: You will conduct in-depth market and competitive analyses, identify growth opportunities, and shape product strategy. You advance by consistently delivering data-driven strategies that drive product success and align with company objectives.
- Senior Product Strategist: You lead a team of strategists, mentor junior members, and orchestrate the development of comprehensive product strategies. You progress by showcasing exceptional leadership, strategic vision, and the ability to navigate complex challenges.
- Director of Product Strategy: You oversee the product strategy function, align strategies across multiple product lines, and ensure alignment with overall business goals. You advance by driving significant improvements in strategy execution, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and delivering measurable business impact.
- VP of Product Strategy: A VP of product strategy provides high-level executive guidance on product strategy, represents the strategic vision to stakeholders, and influences company-wide strategic decisions. You progress by demonstrating a deep understanding of market dynamics, anticipating industry trends, and driving innovation that fuels business growth.
- Chief Product Strategist: As a chief product strategist, you will serve as the highest-ranking executive responsible for shaping the company’s overall product strategy and ensuring alignment across all divisions. You advance by consistently delivering visionary strategies that drive long-term success and position the company as a market leader.
- Looking into tools for product strategists? Userpilot is an all-in-one product platform with engagement features and powerful analytics capabilities. Book a demo to see it in action!
What is a product strategist?
A Product strategist is responsible for working with a team of Product Managers to develop a comprehensive product strategy, product vision, and long-term roadmap that aligns with the company’s business objectives and market opportunities.
What does a product strategist do?
Product strategists play a critical role in setting the company up for long-term success in the highly competitive SaaS market by driving innovation, and differentiation.
They are in charge of developing comprehensive strategic plans and roadmaps for future product offerings. They collaborate with product managers, engineering, and other stakeholders to ensure the successful execution of product strategies.
Product strategist’s main responsibilities
A Product Strategist is responsible for the high-level planning of a product’s vision and strategies. Let’s take a closer look at their main responsibilities and duties.
- Conduct market research: A product strategist dives deep into market trends, competitor analysis, and user behavior to identify untapped opportunities.
- Define product strategy: Product strategists translate insights into a comprehensive product strategy that outlines key objectives, target segments, value propositions, and growth plans.
- Communicate product vision: Articulate the product strategy and vision to internal and external stakeholders, building alignment, enthusiasm, and support for SaaS initiatives.
- Identify partnership opportunities: A product strategist’s responsibility involves researching potential partnerships to extend product reach or capabilities.
- Prioritize features and roadmap: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to prioritize product features, balancing user needs, technical feasibility, and business impact to create a robust roadmap for SaaS development.
- Promote cross-team collaboration: Product strategists work with cross-functional teams, like product managers, engineers, marketers, and sales teams, to execute the product strategy.
- Analyze product performance: Monitor and analyze key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge the success of SaaS products, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven recommendations for optimization.
Product strategist salary
One of the biggest factors influencing your salary is your experience level. Here’s how experience can impact your product strategist salary, according to Glassdoor:
- 1 to 3 years: $93,662/year
- 4-6 years: $111,071/year
- 7-9 years: $118,642/year
- 10-14 years: $129,350/year
- 15+ years: $143,936/year
Industries where the demand for data professionals is highest tend to be the same industries that pay the most on average: Technology, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), E-commerce, Financial Technology (FinTech), Healthcare Technology, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), Internet of Things (IoT), Telecommunications, Automotive (particularly in connected and autonomous vehicles), and Consumer Electronics.
Where you live can have a big impact on how much you make as a product strategist. As more and more companies employ a geographically dispersed workforce (including remote workers), it’s common for companies to offer location-based salaries. According to Glassdoor, these are the midpoint salaries for product strategists in the following large US cities:
- San Francisco: $145,713/year
- New York: $125,863/year
- Boston: $116,319/year
- Washington, DC: $119,038/year
- Chicago: $110,259/year
Product strategist career path
- Associate Product Strategist: Collaborate with senior strategists to analyze market trends, gather customer insights, and develop product roadmaps. To progress, you demonstrate strong analytical skills, strategic thinking, and the ability to translate insights into actionable recommendations.
- Product Strategist: You will conduct in-depth market and competitive analyses, identify growth opportunities, and shape product strategy. You advance by consistently delivering data-driven strategies that drive product success and align with company objectives.
- Senior Product Strategist: You lead a team of strategists, mentor junior members, and orchestrate the development of comprehensive product strategies. You progress by showcasing exceptional leadership, strategic vision, and the ability to navigate complex challenges.
- Director of Product Strategy: You oversee the product strategy function, align strategies across multiple product lines, and ensure alignment with overall business goals. You advance by driving significant improvements in strategy execution, fostering cross-functional collaboration, and delivering measurable business impact.
- VP of Product Strategy: A VP of product strategy provides high-level executive guidance on product strategy, represents the strategic vision to stakeholders, and influences company-wide strategic decisions. You progress by demonstrating a deep understanding of market dynamics, anticipating industry trends, and driving innovation that fuels business growth.
- Chief Product Strategist: As a chief product strategist, you will serve as the highest-ranking executive responsible for shaping the company’s overall product strategy and ensuring alignment across all divisions. You advance by consistently delivering visionary strategies that drive long-term success and position the company as a market leader.
Best practices for being a great product strategist
As a product strategist, navigating the challenges of modern product strategists demands more than persistence. Below, you’ll uncover best practices to help you become a geek:
- Deeply understand the market and customers: Conduct thorough market research, analyze competitor offerings, and engage with customers directly to gain insights into their needs, pain points, and desired solutions.
- Define a clear and compelling product vision: Articulate an inspiring and customer-centric product vision that aligns with the company’s overall goals. The vision should paint a picture of the future state the product aims to achieve and the value it will deliver to customers.
- Collaborate cross-functionally to ensure alignment and buy-in: Engage key stakeholders across the organization, including engineering, design, marketing, sales, and customer success, to gather input, align priorities, and secure buy-in for the product strategy. Foster open communication and collaboration to ensure everyone is working towards common goals.
- Continuously iterate based on data and feedback: Implement mechanisms to gather quantitative and qualitative feedback from customers and key metrics to assess the effectiveness of the product strategy. Be open to pivoting or adjusting the strategy based on learnings and changing market conditions. Embrace a culture of experimentation and continuous improvement.
Product strategist FAQs
Is product strategy a good career?
Absolutely! Product strategy is an exciting and rewarding career. As a product strategist, you’ll have the opportunity to shape the future of products and services.
How do you become a product strategist?
Pursue relevant certifications or an MBA to strengthen your strategic thinking and business acumen. Seek mentorship from experienced strategists and take on increasing responsibilities to hone your skills.
What is the difference between a product manager and a product strategist?
A product strategist takes a broader, long-term view, guiding the company’s overall product direction based on market research and analysis. In contrast, a product manager focuses on the success of specific products, overseeing their development and launch. In other words, the product strategist sets the high-level vision that product managers execute.
Conclusion
We hope this guide has provided you with valuable insights into the roles, responsibilities, and rewards associated with this role.
Looking into tools for product strategists? Userpilot is an all-in-one product platform with engagement features and powerful analytics capabilities. Book a demo to see it in action!
