More than 2,000 years ago, renowned military strategist Sun Tzu wrote his magnum opus The Art of War. In it, he said, “Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory … Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”

Today, there’s a lot of confusion on the internet over the difference between marketing strategies and tactics. Some use the words interchangeably while others seem to misunderstand both terms entirely. Before moving forward with the more difficult tasks of actually developing effective marketing strategies and tactics, you must understand what exactly they are. This isn’t just semantics, and it’s not a waste of time. It is, on the contrary, a key component of a business’s marketing success and/or failure. Here’s our guide to strategic-based marketing versus tactical.

Definitions

To get a true, high-level understanding of strategic-based versus tactical marketing, we also need to introduce and define two additional terms: goals and objectives.

Goal

A goal is a broad primary outcome. It’s a clear and concise statement about an outcome which is to be reached within a specific timeframe. Further goals should be broad, general, tangible, and descriptive. Goals do not say how to do something, but rather describe what the desired results look like. Goals should be measurable in terms of both quality and quantity. In short, a goal is an outcome statement that describes what, as an organization, you are trying to accomplish on a large scale.

Strategy

A strategy is an approach you take to achieve a goal. It’s an idea, a conceptualization of how a particular goal could be achieved. Setting realistic, actionable marketing strategies is one of the hardest things to do in business. Luckily for you, strategic marketing is one of our specialties at Creative Coaching Inc. Check out our consultation services if you need help developing and/or implementing an effective strategic marketing plan for your business.

Objective

An objective is a quantifiable step one takes to achieve a strategy. Objectives are specific, measurable, actionable, realistic, and time-bound. It is a series of objectives that must be attained to accomplish specific goals. Objectives define the actions that must be taken to reach the goal.

Tactic

A marketing tactic is a tool you use in pursuing a particular objective (an objective which is aligned with your overall strategy). It is, in other words, a real, tangible action you take in executing a specific strategy.

Business Is War

Still confused? Well, let’s take the classic battlefield analogy. The military is, after all, where these terms originally came from.

In battle, an example of a goal could be to win the war. A strategy towards that goal/end could be to divide and conquer. One particular objective, or step, towards that strategy, could be to land and capture the beach at Normandy. And a tactic towards achieving that objective could be to land in secret and all at once so as to overwhelm the enemy’s defenses and quickly establish a beachhead.

If you need help developing an effective marketing strategy for your business or advice on efficiently implementing actionable tactics, give Creative Coaching a call at (888) 201-0567 for a free, no-obligation consultation.