eting planning: Why strategy must always lead tactics

Remember the COVID days? You can wait until you stop twitching.

For a time, the marketing world was frantic. It was all about getting things done, and reacting to rapidly changing events. It was a rush-rush world. We were forced to act quickly because we had no time to think or waste. It was chaotic and fluid.

Marketers have certainly shown their tenacity to navigate the unknown and get things done. We had achieved a good balance between strategy and tactics up to that point.

We’re no longer in panic mode, even though the number of cases is increasing. It’s time for strategy to lead tactics. When I look at the market, I see many companies still stuck in tactical mode. This mentality must be transformed into a harmonious balance.

As I have written previously, strategy is the “why” behind using emails in order to achieve your goals. You need to understand the “why” of your tactics before you can effectively implement them. You can waste money and time if you just follow the “how” but don’t know the “why”. Nobody has the time or money today to waste.

Marketing is tactic driven, but we must chart our course first

We are very good at tactics. You can ask me to solve a problem and I will tell you how.

Since more than 20 years, I’ve been preaching that “why” is much more important than “how”. We must ask “why first.” What is the motivation of our end users or customers? What is our brand or value proposition statement?

You can check these critical points to make sure that you are still on track. Pilots would never fly to a destination without first checking the route and filing a plan. Even though we are not far from the shore when I sail to Catalina Island with my business partner, we chart our course before we leave.

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Put strategy first

When I look at today’s marketing, I see that we still have the COVID-era mentality of “how to” instead of spending time on strategy and why we should use a particular tactic.

Email marketers must return to a strategy-first approach. When I talk to marketers, they give me lists of tasks they would like to complete, but when asked why, the answer is always “the boss wants it done.” This tactic is not backed up by a coherent strategy.

You can still be effective in your job while thinking strategically.

1. First, ask “Why?”

This is the best response when someone says that you should start doing something. It doesn’t matter if it’s to chase the latest shiny toy or to change course with a tried and true tactic.

Let’s put the brand on Threads!

“Why?”

Let’s let ChatGPT create subject lines and call to actions!

“Why?”

It may seem obvious, but rationales are not the simple answers like “My boss said to do it”, or “I have to meet my targets”. These are not the answers to the question “Why?”

Think about why your users would care what your boss wants to do or your team members. This new tactic will be important for them? It will it solve their problem or encourage them to use your brand more frequently? Does it make them believe in your brand or claim, or accept your offer?

This doesn’t require a team-building retreat or a weeklong retreat. Take five to ten minutes to define your “why”. Ask them how their project will affect them. Consider your clients or users, and what they could gain from the project.

You’ll be able to answer these questions and find that your headline, copy, segmentation, messaging, targeting, and product all align with the “why”, because you asked yourself those questions first.

2. Your team must buy in.

You can’t do it alone. First, you need to get the group’s consent. Send this article to your group and tell them “We are going to do this so be prepared.”

You need to have a group of people behind you. You don’t wish to be an outlier. You don’t like to be told “Because your boss said so” when you ask questions.

Talk to people about the importance of strategic thinking before tactical execution. You can create a brief with questions and answers for a specific project. You could ask questions like:

• Who are the end users of our products?
• Why are they concerned?
• What is important to them?
• How can we segment our audience to find the right one?
• How can we select products that are in line with the program’s mission?

You could say, “Okay, sure, the boss wants it done, but let’s think about the reasons to believe for the client.” I was that zombie marketer who did what he was told. It’s stupid. You should ask your boss. There must be some reason. It doesn’t mean that just because someone is the boss they are without context.

Revenue is not the only goal. Once you have the answers, include them in your brief strategy, share it with your team and gain their buy-in. Tell your boss, “This is an idea that we would like to try. Here’s why, and here are the steps.”

3. Do a follow-up report

After the campaign, take a look back at your strategy brief. See where you began, how you progressed to tactics and what results you achieved. Have you achieved your goal? Tell your boss.

We do not follow up enough, especially with the easy wins. You can show your value by leveraging a strategy brief, whether you are working on daily campaigns or large projects with multi-functional teams.

Showing how you have successfully implemented the tactical and strategic parts of the brief by analyzing your processes, and demonstrating the success that has been achieved can highlight your ability to advance and promote. It can also make you and your marketing team more knowledgeable about how to do marketing.

Wrapping up

I know that it is difficult. We are all stuck in a tactic mindset. COVID didn’t give us the space to develop a strategy first. COVID taught us to “go and act” in order to be successful during a crisis. It’s tiring. You can’t expect my OCD mother to clean a messy room if you put her in it.

This tactical mindset is not something we can break overnight. We need to take a long, slow road. Be a doer but first make a plan.

The article Why strategy must always lead tactics: Marketing planning first appeared on MarTech.