Strategic Thinking + Tactical Acting – For better marketing you need both

BNBranding iconic logoI’ve been writing the Brand Insight Blog regularly since 2007. The single most popular post I’ve ever written focuses on the difference between marketing strategy and marketing tactics. Thinking and planning vs. doing and implementing.

Seems there’s some confusion there, to say the least, about the definition of marketing tactics vs. marketing strategy.

For example, I saw a blog recently titled “Top 10 Social Media Strategies.” But the list was purely tactical. Not a strategy to be seen.

Here’s a quick tip: If you see the term “marketing strategies” – plural – it’s not really a strategy.

Strategy is singular. Focused. Unique.

Tactics are plural.

Every business should have a long list of marketing tactics. They’re done by everyone, including your competitors.

So if you’re still a bit unclear about the difference between marketing strategy and marketing tactics, here’s another way to look at it…

Think about Insight vs. Execution. If you want better marketing you need both. Insight being the crucial strategic thinking that has to happen before you execute the tactical plan. Think, then act.

marketing strategy BN Branding's Brand Insight BlogGraham Robertson of Beloved Brands talks about the difference between strategic thinkers and tactical implementers. He writes…

“To me, the difference between a strategic thinker and a non-strategic thinker is whether you see questions first or answers first.” Whoever wrote that blog post on social media definitely sees answers first, and social media is it.

Strategic Thinkers ask a lot of “what if” questions before they begin to develop solutions.  They think, they reflect, they plan and they stew on things before they act. In fact, many never act at all. They deliver a report and walk away, or they delegate the execution to the tacticians.

Tactical people jump right into answers.

They believe that doing something is better than doing nothing at all. They opt for action over thinking, so it often turns into a “ready, fire, aim” scenario. They are impulsive doers who often get frustrated by strategic thinkers.

It’s like Captain Kirk in an old StarTrek episode yelling at Spock; “What we need now, Spock, is a little less analysis and lot more action!”

Spock was the strategy guy. Captain Kirk was the execution guy.

There are many business owners with A-type personalities who fall into the category of non-strategic implementers. They’re the ones who quickly jump on every new marketing bandwagon that comes along, hoping for a home run without ever taking batting practice.

They do a lot, but without clear direction they often do a lot of the wrong things. They’re all over the place.

Strategists, on the other hand, often think themselves to death and never get anywhere.

My firm is often brought in for tactical projects because many clients don’t think they need the strategy help.

But in most of those cases, we have to work our way “upstream” to answer those key, strategic questions before we jump into creative execution of a website, ad campaign, social media effort or whatever.

marketing strategy rafting the deschutes

Tactical implementers never paddle upstream. They just go with the flow.

To be a great marketer you have to wear both hats.

“While pure strategy people make great consultants, I wouldn’t want them running my brand, Robertson said.

“They’d keep analyzing things to death, without ever taking action.  And while tactical people get stuff done, it might not be the stuff you actually need done.  I want someone running my brand who is both strategic and tactical, almost equally so.”

A tall order for most marketing people. In fact, Robertson estimates that only 15 to 25% of all marketing people are legitimately “strategic”  in their approach to their jobs.

There are far more tactical marketing implementers than there are strategic thinkers.

If you’re building a career in marketing you need to pinpoint your strengths. If you’re more of a manager, organizer and list-making delegator, you’ll probably want to find people for your team who can fill in the strategy gap.

You can’t just suddenly decide to “be strategic.”

Better marketing means reading between the lines, delving deeper, and trusting your instincts.

That takes years of practice and a certain personality type. Don’t try to be something you’re not. Besides, there’s nothing wrong with being a good tactical implementer who gets a lot of stuff done.

for better marketing, balance your strategy and tactics - BN Branding

There are thousands of successful design firms and small ad agencies that have no strategic thinkers at all. The account executives simply coordinate the list of tactics they’re given by the client.

The creative specialists — writers, graphic designers, web programmers, SEO guys, photographers, and social media specialists execute those tactical projects.

That can work for companies that already have a well-defined brand and a clear-cut marketing strategy. But it doesn’t work if the business owner doesn’t have her story spelled out on paper.

In that case, those creative implementers will spin their wheels and go through a lot of false starts before they hit on something that strikes a chord with the client. And more importantly, with consumers.

  • Launching a FaceBook contest is not a strategy. It’s a tactic. (And by the way, it’s not an effective tactic if you think it’ll replace other forms of paid advertising.)
  • “Content Marketing” is not a marketing strategy. It’s a tactic. One of many things on your to-do list that will help you achieve your marketing goals.
  • Producing and running a Super Bowl commercial is a tactic. Deciding which product or service to focus on, in that Super Bowl commercial, is strategy.

The most common mistake in marketing strategy is a lack of focus. A strong strategy demands focus, but most business owners want to be all things to all people.

I was talking with a real estate firm the other day and they had all their “specialties” listed on their website: “First time home buyers. Second time home buyers. Golf homes. Down-sizers. Mansion buyers. Upscale, low scale, middle of the road scale.”

Nothing was left out, which made the whole idea of specialization ridiculous.

Time to start swimming upstream!

But strategic thinking is tough. It involves hard decisions and thoughtful contemplation that many business owners simply don’t have time for.

The most important strategic “what-if” question you can ask yourself is this: What are you going to hang your hat on? What’s the ONE thing that you can shout from the rooftops? What if it’s this? What if it’s that?

Imagine that you can only advertise your business on billboards along the freeway. You get one idea and one idea only. Five words max.  Otherwise, no one whizzing by at 65 will see it. Good luck with that. Distilling your marketing strategy down to that level is a rare talent.

If you make the strategic decision to NOT specialize, your tactical execution will suffer dearly. Generalizations never work as well as specifics, and when you’re “targeting”  “men and women age 35 to 64” you’re really talking to no one.

In that case, a good advertising team will simply ignore the strategy-that’s-not-really-a-strategy, and hone in on one very specific idea.

Occasionally, some great business strategies come out of this process. Purely by accident.  But it’s much more efficient to have your marketing strategy mapped out first and then match the tactics to that.

Think Strategically. Act Tactically.

If you need help thinking strategically, or executing any of your marketing tactics, don’t hesitate to call. 541-815-0075. BNBranding can help take your business to the next level with a balance of logical strategy and quick action.

Want to read the original post on strategy vs. tactics? Click Here. 

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5 thoughts on “Strategic Thinking + Tactical Acting – For better marketing you need both”

  1. John, Thank you for quoting me. I’m thrilled. I might have to write a few of them down so I can say them again and again. There’s a phrase in accounting called “Activity Based Accounting” and I’m afraid we in the brand side are doing the same thing. We think action is good….I guess it keeps us feeling like we are doing something. But what I think we want to make sure is that it’s the right something. Too many people are thrilled by the breadth of social media yet very few ask, “so what’s our goal, where is our consumer, what type of message would capture them…etc etc”

  2. Think strategic – Act local. I love this idea. Also, I liked the statement that said, “Being strategic means reading between the lines.”
    Wow! Incredibly powerful post and I really enjoyed. Thank you very much.

  3. John,
    I enjoyed this blog post as well as the original. Many of my friends are internet marketers and I’m constantly asking them to take a step back and think about why they are doing something, not just how to do it. They call me an old school marketer and I always tell them that they are modern marketing communications experts.

  4. This was a great read. I as a Social Media Marketer can get to bogged down in executing for the sake of executing. I am trying hard to retrain my brain to think more about the overall strategy of why I am doing something rather than doing it it just to do it. This article really helped to put things in perspective!

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