While in a meeting with a colleague, an interesting discussion emerged that I think has relevance for many of us. You tell me. In my opinion, the confusion over strategy and tactics remains one of the biggest challenges in marketing practice today. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve heard a client say their strategy is to use the web, direct mail and print advertising (fill in the tactic of your choice) to sell more stuff. For those of us who live and breathe strategy, and believe in its power to transform campaigns into winning initiatives, the frustration with those who willingly elect tactics as strategy is extreme. The challenge is to help them understand what strategy is, its function and its relationship to business goals and tactics—and then get them into active application.

While it appears on the surface a simple process of definition, in reality, it is much more complex. The ability to create good strategy is dependent on well-articulated, achievable business goals. If they’re not delivered as such, it is incumbent on the marketer to seek clarification. Nebulous goals lead to even more nebulous strategy which leads to wildly erratic tactics that make people feel like they’re doing something productive when in fact they’re merely creating sink holes for marketing dollars. Creating effective strategy is also greatly influenced by the quality of the audience segmentation work and accompanying profiles, as well as up to date market reconnaissance illuminating precisely the market conditions, positive and negative market forces, and the competitive position and challenges.

Armed with accurate information, the charter then becomes the What and Who. This is the critical juncture where the tactical among us jump off into deliverables land. The What and Who are not tactics. The What and Who express the strategy—What needs to occur with whom to achieve our business objectives? What technique, if you will, needs to be employed to get whom to respond in what way?

For example:

You get the idea. Then, of course, the tactical efforts come into play with the How. How can we fulfill the strategy with our target audiences? This is where tactics shine. Using appropriate audience behavior and location data, the right tactics can be married to each strategy pillar to ensure the marketing program has come full circle. Business goals are accomplished because they were clearly articulated, thus the right strategy was created to fulfill them, and the right tactics carried the strategy into action with target audiences.

I’d love to hear your thoughts.