Differentiation between online marketing strategy and tactics
Before we delve deeper into the topic of online marketing strategy, it is important to be aware of the difference between tactics and strategy, as misunderstandings often arise when naming them.
Strategies are larger visions that align with overarching business goals. Strategies are planned for the long term. Tactics are the day-to-day operations and tasks that implement the strategy and move it forward.
Strategies are often thought of on a meta-level with a view to the existing corporate mission statement. Strategies are often developed, planned and presented in mind maps or with other visualization tools.
Tactics are developed at the micro level and result in directly nigeria phone number data implementable actions. Tactics are often planned in task lists in a specific cycle or chronology, such as the continuous optimization of AdWords campaigns.
Roughly speaking, strategies tend to answer questions such as
How do we achieve a goal?
By when will we reach a goal?
With what budget do we achieve a goal?
Tactics rather answer the questions:
When?
Where?
How?
The following basic characteristics describe a strategy:
Strategies require a vision. Without a vision, no strategies can be developed.
Strategies have a long-term character; they are intended to apply for a period of several years, for example.
Strategies include bundles of measures, not individual measures. In order to implement them, they must be broken down into such individual tactical measures.
Strategies serve to align the company with its environment and must be continually reviewed for accuracy.
Developing an online marketing strategy. Where do I start?
What questions should I start with when developing a suitable online marketing strategy for my company? I think the focus should always be on the offer and the target group. Let's start with the offer.
The products or the offer
We regularly receive inquiries from customers who want to use SEO, AdWords or other online marketing services, but have not done their basic homework. In the first conversation, the important question often comes up: Why should someone be interested in this? or why should someone order from you? In other words, the question of the USP or added value. (see also Good online marketing is no guarantee of success if there is no USP or When SEO makes no sense: The problem with nails )
Basically, when developing a business model or product, the customer and their needs should always be the focus. Accordingly, the first question you should ask yourself is whether you can offer the target group added value with what you are planning to do. Far too often, this question is not answered and the first fundamental mistake is made. Conducting online marketing for a product/ brand /service without communicable added value is a waste of money. As online marketers, we are not magicians and cannot make money out of sh...t.
Once I have developed an offer with added value, the foundation has been laid and you can start thinking about online marketing. There are a variety of instruments available in online marketing. But in the real world, most companies only have limited resources to test all online marketing instruments. That is why it makes sense to concentrate on the most promising channels and methods for the offer in an online marketing strategy. To develop the strategy, you should ask yourself the following questions.