Is what we’re doing in our marketing strategic, or is it tactical? That question can be hard to answer without a good understanding of the two words. Let’s define both so that we can tell the difference.
Strategy has become one of the most convoluted words you’ll come across, which can make it very difficult to define. I remember my “mentor” quipping something to the extent of “people have a strategy for everything… even a strategy for tying your shoes .”
Strategy is an ancient word that found it’s use by militaries that needed to develop a way to battle, and defeat their enemies. From it’s war-centric genesis, strategy has been a type of plan for subduing an enemy. I emphasize the word plan because strategy is often mistaken as being a goal. However, a goal is simply what you wish will happen, but a plan has to do with how you’re going to make it happen.
Yet, not all plans are strategic. You can plan to build a house that won’t fall down, but if it doesn’t take into consideration the kind of weather it will go against then the plan won’t be very strategic. You can plan your meals so that you don’t need to think about what you’re going to cook throughout the week, yet without considering nutritional value, or budget it won’t be very strategic. What makes a plan strategic, or what makes a strategy a good one, has to do with what it considers to be it’s most important challenge – and what is truly critical to overcome is what’s most important.
So, what exactly is a marketing strategy?
Definition: A marketing strategy is a plan for overcoming what are considered to be the most important/critical issues standing between a company and it’s marketing goals.
There’s a lot more that can be said about marketing strategy, especially in regards to what makes one good or bad, but that’s beyond the scope of this article.
What makes marketing tactics different?
That is the billion dollar question. Even with a clear understanding of marketing strategy, it can be hard to differentiate it from tactics. Tactics are, after all, very strategic. The word tactic also finds it’s origin in military affairs, and carries the idea of arranging troops for battle.
The famous, and oft-quoted military strategist Sun Tzu wrote, “it is the rule in war, if our forces are ten to the enemy’s one, to surround him; if five to one, to attack him; if twice as numerous, to divide our army into two.” From this simple example you can see that Sun Tzu had different tactics for dealing with enemy forces that were dependent on their number compared to his troops. Isn’t that a strategy?
It’s definitely strategic, but it’s not a strategy. As mentioned above, a strategy considers what is most critical in a situation and designs a way to overcome that obstacle. The “rule in war” as Sun Tzu put it, is a tactical response for what to do if, along the way, you run into a specific scenario. What the rule doesn’t consider is whether the one enemy that you’d like to surround is sitting on a nuclear stockpile. Surrounding the enemy isn’t going to be a good tactic if that’s the case.
Definition: Marketing tactics are the ways in which campaigns are arranged (for battle), and the ways in which marketing tools can be most effectively used (to defeat your competition).
Tactics Aren’t Actions That Carry Out Your Strategy
My definition of tactics isn’t the standard one, but I think the standard definition can be misleading and so I’m comfortable with going against the grain (until proven wrong). Contrary to popular belief, marketing tactics aren’t the steps that you take to achieve your marketing strategy. That definition goes against the etymology of the word. The steps you take to achieve your marketing strategy are simply part of your marketing strategy. You can’t have a strategy without action.