Understanding tatical marketing: Tatical Marketing vs Strategic Marketing

In this blog article, we will explore the difference between tactical marketing and strategic marketing. One is designed for short-term gains and the other is designed for long-term success.

Tactical Marketing vs Strategic Marketing

A basic difference between strategic marketing and tactical marketing is that strategic marketing is the planning of what to do; whereas tactical marketing are the tactics you will implement to make those plans happen. So, if you want to achieve a sales figure of 1 lac units per day, then it needs a strategy for increasing your manufacturing, sales etc. However, the tactics will be an actual ground-level plan for what type of promotions you want to implement, what type of sales people you need, which distribution channel you need to expand and which territories you need to target chronologically. Tactical marketing can only be used for short-term strategies but they help you towards achieving long-term goals.

Understanding strategic marketing vs. tactical marketing is critical for today's business owners. We're taught about these models in school, yet many people make the mistake of confusing efficiency with effectiveness. That's why it’s so important to plan first: by carefully considering the activities that will contribute to your brand image, you'll be able to create a tactical marketing plan that gives you direction and puts your company on track to reliably reach your strategic goals – which you should never lose sight of!

One example of this is Dansk Solar Energy, who went bankrupt after focusing on promoting their business and building a brand without first focusing on what to say, how to say it, and who to say it to. They jumped straight into where to say it, completely missing out on the why. So many examples like this out there - small companies that are either too new or don't have the right skills to do strategic marketing - but the thing they all have in common is skipping over these steps.

Strategic marketing is all about the planning. It's important to identify what your customers need and where they go for information. Once you know that, implementing tactics based on those ideas will allow you to reach them in the most effective ways possible.

Tactical marketing activities such as managing media, creating marketing tools, advertising, and sales promotions can help promote your brand image to your target market. These activities are not required to complement strategic marketing plans.

Tactical marketing is not a simple task

Put simply, tactical marketing is not a one-time process. Tactical marketing is an ongoing set of activities and evaluations that you'll continuously work to improve based on your strategies and the demands of the market. Segmentation has a huge role in tactical marketing--it can help you create customer profiles by identifying which customers are most likely to respond to your product/service. Plus, it will identify which techniques will be the most effective in converting those potential customers.

Nowadays the most popularly rising techniques in tactical marketing are social media, contests, giveaways, referral programs and affiliate marketing. This is an ongoing process so you will always be able to improve on your tactics based on your results. However, before you jump straight into tactical marketing it's important to have a background plan ready which will then help you focus on the tactics needed to achieve that plan.

“Marketing is not an emergency. It’s a planned, thoughtful exercise that started a long time ago and doesn’t end until you are done.” – Seth Godin.

The quote above does a good job at summarizing Seth Godin's beliefs about marketing. Basically, he believes that marketers need to be patient and that strategies should be carefully examined before being implemented. Tactical marketing is what separates the successful marketers from the rest of the pack.

Conclusion

Now that you understand the difference between tactical marketing and strategic marketing, it's time to start thinking about how you can use both approaches in your business. If you want to be successful, you need to have a clear plan that combines both tactics and strategy. By using the best of both worlds, you'll be able to achieve your goals more effectively and efficiently. 

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