Free SWOT analysis templates
Building a comprehensive business strategy is no simple task — but it is critical for establishing a vision that can lead your team to success. There are a number of important elements to consider when planning how to turn your product ideas into viable solutions that customers love. Strategic planning templates can help make this process easier and more organized.
One of the most common strategic planning templates is a SWOT analysis template. Many product managers and business leaders use Excel and PowerPoint SWOT analysis templates to get a clear picture of internal and external factors influencing their success. You can also use product development software tools with built-in strategy templates to conduct this analysis.
An example of a SWOT analysis in Aha! Roadmaps outlining a company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Customize your own strategic planning templates
Learn more about how to create a SWOT analysis in this guide:
What is a SWOT analysis?
SWOT is an acronym that stands for strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. An effective SWOT analysis will reveal which aspects of your product or business are the strongest and where there is room to improve your offering for your customers. You can also uncover opportunities and challenges for your product in the competitive landscape — such as new strategic partners or shifting customer sentiment.
Most SWOT analyses assess internal factors (strengths and weaknesses) and external factors (opportunities and threats). Internal factors are characteristics of your business or product in relation to your competitors. External factors, on the other hand, are elements of your market landscape that could positively or negatively impact the success of your business.
For example, say that you are experiencing a decrease in users signing up for free trials of your software. If the issue is due to limited marketing resources to promote the free trials, then this would be considered an internal weakness. But if it is due to a competitor introducing their own free trials and capturing more market share, it is an external threat.
By incorporating a SWOT analysis exercise into your strategic planning, you take steps toward minimizing risk and maximizing the potential value of your products. While a SWOT analysis can be a helpful tool at the company level, this guide focuses on how product teams work through the exercise. Product leaders conduct SWOT analyses during strategic planning — to identify what their product is doing well, where it can improve, and how it fits in the competitive landscape.
How to create a SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is meant to be a quick, simple exercise — sparking meaningful discussions where you dig deeply into key facets of your product strategy. Here are the four basic steps:
1. Identify product strengths
Discuss and document the attributes that give your product an advantage over other similar products. These can be specific features, your customer service, integrations — whatever sets your product apart and delights your customers. (And if you are not sure, ask them.)
2. Identify product weaknesses
Identifying your product's weaknesses is just as important as pinpointing its strengths. The weaknesses section of a SWOT analysis is an internal assessment of the elements that put your product at a disadvantage when compared to alternatives in the market. For example, a weakness could be a feature that customers love in competitor products but your product currently lacks.
3. Identify existing opportunities
Opportunities are usually external to your product and can range from possible partnerships to new markets. These can also be future product expansion opportunities — unmet customer needs that your team has identified and prioritized based on potential value.
4. Identify potential threats
Threats are typically external factors that might negatively impact the success of your product — anything from economic factors to emerging technology. Ultimately, these threats are obstacles facing the business that could adversely affect the product's future.
SWOT analysis examples
The specific components of your SWOT analysis will be unique to your organization and products. But to help you start thinking about each of these components, here are some examples of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
SWOT category | Example items |
Strengths |
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Weaknesses |
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Opportunities |
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Threats |
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Many teams use SWOT templates to conduct a SWOT analysis. These templates are commonly built using tools such as Excel or Powerpoint.
Here are four SWOT templates that you can use in Excel:
And here are five SWOT templates that you can add to a PowerPoint presentation:
Excel SWOT analysis templates
These templates are perfect for bringing visual planning to your spreadsheets. Each one was designed to work in Excel.
Simple matrix Excel template
The basic SWOT matrix template is a four-quadrant table that includes strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in a color-coded grid.
Business planning Excel template
The business planning SWOT template allows you to summarize key information at the beginning and end of your template — so you can provide extra context for the internal and external factors listed in the quadrants.
Internal vs. external Excel template
The internal vs. external template segments your SWOT analyses into internal factors related to your team and processes and external factors that are outside your company. This Excel SWOT analysis template highlights the relationships between each of the components.
Top-down Excel template
The top-down SWOT analysis template helps you focus on one component at a time and allows more flexibility to expand where needed. This colorful SWOT format works well for spreadsheets.
PowerPoint SWOT analysis templates
Excel templates are great for getting started quickly. But you will often need to present strategy to internal teams. This is where PowerPoint templates come in. They allow you to quickly add a SWOT analysis to your strategy slides. When using one of these templates, remember to distill each quadrant down to its essence so your slide is clean and simple. This will make it easier for your audience to read and comprehend your key ideas.
Simple matrix PowerPoint template
This template will help you create a traditional SWOT analysis, sometimes also called a simple matrix or SWOT matrix.
Top-down PowerPoint template
This template is useful when you need to add longer descriptions. Similar to the top-down SWOT for Excel, this colorful PowerPoint template arranges the components in a vertical layout..
Competitors PowerPoint template
This SWOT analysis template allows you to compare internal and external factors for your organization with one competitor or a set of competitors — so you can make better decisions about where to take your product next.
Circle PowerPoint template
The circle template shows the SWOT matrix in the middle while providing callout text boxes for each component. This layout is great for talking through key points in a presentation.
Growth PowerPoint template
This SWOT analysis template incorporates growth strategies into the SWOT framework with forward-looking statements for each component. This is useful when you want to come away from the analysis with an action plan.
Need to quickly prepare a SWOT analysis? These templates are a great place to start. But strategic planning is even more effective when it is tied to your product roadmap. Try purpose-built product development software to conduct a SWOT analysis, set your goals, and then build your product plans — all in one place.
Set brilliant strategy, prioritize features, and share visual plans with Aha! Roadmaps — a purpose-built product development tool. Get started with a free 30-day trial.
