Marketing Straetgy vs. Tactics
I’m learning that marketing tactics come secondary to marketing strategy.
One well-delivered strategy can outperform 10 small quick tactics.
Here’s an example:
You want to increase the amount of content you release on instagram.
Option A: Start posting more, right away. Create and schedule the next week’s worth of posts. Ship and move on.
Option B: Map out a strategy. Create a theme around the content of the posts to come. Send an email to your list that you'll be posting once per day on that theme. Write about the theme in the description of the first post. Post a Story introducing the idea. Collect live feedback along the way.
In Option A, you miss a critical element of marketing that Option B provides: anticipation.
With Option B, you build anticipation from your audience. They know they can expect value of a certain form coming from you. But if you ship right away for the sake of shipping, you miss giving a heads up.
It’s important to think about what's being perceived before expressing something.
By thinking through the next few moves, you can create content more intentionally.
Though there are exceptions to this rule. Acting in the moment can work well.
But chess players, for example, don't win through spontaneity.
They imagine future moves and responses before acting.
So, as a marketer, how can you get better at imagining the possibility space of reality before it happens?
How do you develop this skill?
There’s a common narrative in the productivity space that action is the most important thing one can do.
Take action. More action. Ship. Build. Create. Do.
Though I love that advice and follow it often, I tend to miss the step that comes before; make time to plan.
Think through ideas. Imagine. Design. Test. Experiment.
All crucial elements.
And they’re all actions themselves.
You can take action by designing a marketing campaign before actually publishing anything.
It sounds simple, but this took me a while to realize.
Then the audience has more context and anticipation (and it can even become a part of their routine).
The tactics will come. But try working on strategy first.
– February 15, 2022