When asked about setting up a goal or making a plan for business, you may first consider about the strategy and tactics. The majority of people believe that strategy and tactics can interchange, but other people regard those two aspects as different concept. Does the meaning of strategy and tactics are the same? My answer should be not. Actually, a strategy is a general plan or set of plans intended to achieve a goal, especially over a long period. However, tactics are the methods that you choose to use in order to achieve what you want in a particular situation and make more specific plan during your action.
Strategy is general planning
Strategy is the general plan when we decided to set up a goal on our own business. Just like making a cake. According to your plan, we should know which type or shape of cake you want to make, what is your primary goal (becoming a well known brand in Canada) or additional goal (setting up more branch all over the world) in the future. So, strategy needs to organizes and control whole things that are realizable and achievable.
Tactics are specific doing
Tactics are the detail and specific action when we implement the general plan. In fact, tactics are teaching you how to accomplish a plan or using which method to achieving the goal. Tactics are the sugar, cream, egg, flour and jam that is the most significant component during making a cake. Exactly as a company, we should make sure how can we achieve the goal. To make sure what products should we sell, which market has the value to develop, who may be the current and prospective customers, which process should schedule the press releases to broadcast your advertisement and so on. Therefore, tactics are teaching us how to implement the practical action.
Combine strategy and tactics
Compared to strategy, tactics more focus on action and usually are short time smaller scale; moreover, tactics are telling you “How” to accomplish a plan specifically and every work you did in order to finish your plan. However, strategy needs to take a long period and large scale, more importantly, teaching you “why” should make the plan for your work and concentrate on planning.
It is a great method to combine strategy and tactics in work. If you have strategy but no tactics, then you just have the thought but no action. If you have tactics without strategy, you can do your work but no direction and purpose. For instance, Google+, strategy: Google+ has aimed to establish a new social platform called “Social Layer” and integrated Google’s other online products as the basis of the complete social network. Tactics: Google+ has offered different components to enhance the function of new social network tools such as user profile, circle, Google+ page, stream, hangouts, +1 button, communities and so on. Google+ has offered a social platform that enable stranger or friend getting closer and communicating more frequently.
Overall, strategy is “plan for work” but tactics are “work for plan”. I do think no matter what company or business you have, you should combine those two aspects because “strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
The last sentence is quote: Sun Tzu, The Art of War
Image from:
http://irfanahmedsiddiqui.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/tactic_stra_450_2.jpg
http://www.toprankblog.com/wp-content/uploads/goingdigital-marketoonist.jpg
Resource:
http://www.toprankblog.com/2014/01/digital-marketing-strategy-vs-tactics/
http://erikakauffman.wordpress.com/2014/07/21/pr-strategy-tactic/
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2013/01/14/the-difference-between-strategy-and-tactics/
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