When it comes to marketing, careful planning makes the difference between success or failure.

Tactical marketing is determining the detailed activities that will fulfill your marketing plan, like choosing ad channels, writing email copy, creating timelines, and setting a budget. These marketing tactics are tailored to help your business reach its strategic goals. After you have a solid strategy in place, you can use tactics to apply specific actions to successfully carry out your plan.

You may have wondered what this approach could do for your business. What exactly does it mean? Is it the same as strategic marketing? How do you integrate marketing tactics into your business goals? 

Tactical marketing is an important piece of a larger plan, and can be highly effective when coupled with a strong strategy. Most businesses today are already using various tactics to market themselves. But using these tools well is more than just applying typical methods. Done correctly, this type of detailed marketing can yield amazing results and turn your strategy into success.

How are strategic and tactical marketing different?

While both concepts are in the same wheelhouse, there are key differences between strategic and tactical marketing. 

Strategic Marketing Principles

Strategic marketing provides a broad vision based on the current picture of where your company is, and where you want it to go. A great strategy will consider a company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats by taking its SWOT analysis into account. It uses business goals and data to decide how to market to potential and current customers. This provides a roadmap based on a company’s vision, but it doesn’t spell out the actual tasks needed to fulfill the overarching plan. 

Tactical Marketing Principles

Marketing tactics are the detailed actions that fulfill the strategy.  Details contained in a tactical plan can include things like:

• Specific ad campaign design and messaging
• Budget and ROI projections
• Target market and consumers
• Routes to market
• Desired outcomes
• Metrics to determine success

Tactical marketing is the intentional planning and execution of specific tasks to carry out the overarching vision. 

When are you ready to start tactical objectives?

Having a solid strategy is the first step. Strategy must come first, just as a vision must be in place before a mission can be carried out. This will point your efforts in the right direction. Employing tactics without a strategic framework is like throwing punches in the dark — something might land, but your chances are far less. 

You also need to make sure your products and services can fulfill the strategic promise. Can you truly deliver what you’re selling? Is the vision you have on paper consistent with the integrity of your offerings right now? Or do you need to work on developing your products and services to fit the vision? If you’re able to perform what you’re promising in a well-developed strategy, you’re ready to begin.

Creating the tactical plan

A great plan will have objectives that will ultimately fulfill the vision for growth and service in your business. This gets into the nitty-gritty of specific actions, so make sure your plan is detailed and crystal clear for everyone on the team. 

• Define measurable outcomes with key metrics to measure success
• Make specific and detailed assignments to task owners with delivery dates
• Detail the markets you are targeting and associated messaging
• Build and track specific budget including expense and return on investment

Measure and adjust

Define measurable outcomes for your objectives, so you’ll be able to quickly identify what’s working and what’s not, and adjust tactics if your desired outcomes aren’t being realized. 

Knowing your strategy is key; refer back to it as you determine your plan, its objectives, and make tweaks throughout the process. Conduct A/B testing to determine what is working and then do more of that! Clear direction backed with key metrics will also give you the ability to be flexible and open to innovation, without becoming confused and distracted.

To use tactics effectively, you also really need to know your customer well. This is where data collection and deep dives into demographic analysis can be very useful. Some valuable data can be found by using:

• Surveys
• Customer reviews
• Comments on social media
• Google Analytics
• Customer interaction with ad campaigns

Tactical marketing is a great idea for any business with defined business goals, and a developed strategy as a broad roadmap of how to reach them. Smart tactics are the right tools used at the best time to move the needle forward. When supported by strategy and vision, your efforts will no longer be guesses and hopes, but tactics that help fulfill a larger plan for your company’s success.

To learn more about marketing strategies and tactics, check out our marketing mastermind to learn even more specific directions on how to move the needle in your business.