In marketing, three key components are essential for success: strategy, campaigns, and tactics. I have often seen these terms used interchangeably; however, they serve distinct roles that help make sure your marketing efforts deliver measurable results.
Understanding the difference between these elements and when to use each will help you execute marketing initiatives more effectively and clearly.
Learn the difference, discover key elements, and see when to use:
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Campaigns
Marketing Tactics
Plus, an example to help tie it all together.
Got a question, or need a hand with your marketing strategy? Ready to build your playbook?
You don't have to do it alone. Lyanne can't wait to meet you.
The Foundation: Corporate Goals
Your corporate goals and priorities are at the very top of your marketing hierarchy. These goals define what your business wants to achieve in the short and long term and provide the direction for all marketing initiatives and activities.
For example:
A corporate goal might be to increase revenue by 20% or expand into a new geographic market. Your marketing goals, in turn, should align directly with these broader objectives. Whether it's generating leads, improving brand awareness, or driving customer retention, your marketing goals are the bridge between corporate priorities and actionable marketing efforts.
1. Marketing Strategy: The Playbook
Your marketing strategy is not just a plan, it's the guiding force that ensures all your efforts are aligned with your goals and corporate vision. It's the 'why' of your marketing, providing a clear direction and purpose for every action you take.
Key elements of a marketing strategy include:
Foundations which include:
Research: Insights into your business, market, competitors, and audience.
Goals and Strategies: Marketing goals and strategies that support corporate goals
Alignments which include:
Positioning and Messaging: How you differentiate your brand and communicate value.
Stakeholder Engagement: Internal and external collaborations to support your initiatives.
Marketing Technology (MarTech): The tools and platforms you use.
Direction, which includes:
Budget, Timeline, and Metrics: Resources, deadlines, and benchmarks to measure success.
When to use a marketing strategy:
Your marketing strategy playbook is used throughout the year. Consider this your living document*, your north star, and your source of truth for all things marketing. It sets the framework for all initiatives, ensuring that every effort contributes to the bigger picture. It saves you time, as a good deal of research, alignment, and positioning has already been done. This is a steady foundation which you refer back to and update as things change. *A 'living document' means that your strategy is not set in stone; it can and should evolve as your business and the market change.
2. Campaigns: The Action Plan
Campaigns sit beneath your marketing strategy. They're specific plans designed to achieve the goals outlined in your strategy. Campaigns are where you start narrowing your focus, defining your audience, and planning how to reach them.
Elements of a campaign include:
Define the project
Research
Key Stakeholders
Key Dates
Key Objectives
Audience
Featured Products or Services
Incentives
Theme and Messaging
Marketing and Communication Tactics
Employee Support
Budget
Evaluation
Contacts
Learn more about campaign development by reading Step-by-Step: Marketing Campaign Plan
When to use a campaign:
Campaigns are used to activate your strategy. By aligning your campaigns with your strategy, you can be confident that every action you take is contributing to your overall marketing goals. This alignment ensures that your efforts are focused and impactful, leading to measurable results.
3. Tactics: The Tools within Your Campaign
Tactics are the specific actions and channels you use to execute your campaign. If the strategy is the "why," and the campaign is the "what," tactics are the "how." These are the hands-on activities that directly engage your audience.
Examples of tactics include:
Social Media Advertising: Running Facebook ads for a product launch.
Email Marketing: Sending a targeted email series to nurture leads.
Event Marketing: Hosting a webinar or in-person event.
When to use tactics:
Tactics are the day-to-day tasks that make up your campaigns. They're used throughout the campaign's lifecycle and are often adjusted based on data and performance metrics.
Bringing It All Together: An Example
Marketing Strategy:
Imagine you are a credit union whose corporate goal is to attract new members. Your Marketing Goal, which supports this growth goal, is to create marketing-sourced opportunities, and you'll use inbound, outbound, and promotional strategies.
Marketing Campaign:
Define: Provide background and the 'why' of this campaign.
Research: Define youth age bands and conduct research
Stakeholders: Engage key stakeholders, such as the CEO, retail manager, loans manager, and wealth manager
Dates: campaign launch date, other key dates as applicable
Objectives: Define the corporate and marketing goals and objectives that support the strategic marketing plan. Metrics will also be determined for this campaign here (which supports the annual metric goal).
Audience: Merge what you know about your existing membership with research to clarify your audience
Feature: Determine the products/services that would most benefit them.
Incentive: Determine if incentives would be an advantage and, if so, what (use your research to help you decide).
Theme: Using your research, pull out keywords and triggers to develop a theme that hits home with your audience.
Tactics: You know that the strategies that will best fit this growth goal are inbound, outbound and promotional (refer to your marketing strategic plan). Use the tools in your toolbox to support these strategies and reach your audience. Your research and existing understanding of your target audience will help you determine the best channels and tactics to use. Refer to your marketing strategy's Martech section.
Support: Bring your internal teams along. Share the campaign ahead of launch and make a plan to keep it front of mind throughout.
Budget: You'll have allocated funds for the growth goals in your strategic plan. You will outline this amount here.
Evaluation: This is one of the most powerful tools you can have as a marketer. Learn more about conducting one here: 7-step Campaign Evaluation
Contacts: this is the person (or people) to contact if there are any questions about the campaign)
Final Thoughts
In marketing, strategy, campaigns, and tactics are interconnected and equally important. Your strategy provides the foundation, campaigns are your action plans, and tactics are the tools you use to execute those plans. When these elements work together, your marketing efforts are more focused, efficient, and impactful.
The next time you plan your marketing activities, ask yourself:
Does my strategy align with corporate goals?
Are my campaigns supporting my strategy?
Am I using the right tactics to execute my campaigns?
By addressing these questions, you'll ensure every marketing effort contributes to the success of your business.
I hope you found this helpful, and as always keep on being amazing!
Lyanne
Need a hand with your marketing strategy? Ready to build your playbook?
You don't have to do it alone. Connect with Lyanne today.
With a drive to accomplish high-quality results, the marketing work Lyanne has spear-headed in business has been recognized and awarded nationally on several occasions. In addition to this, she proudly holds the Chartered Marketer designation through the Canadian Marketing Association.
After serving 28 years in corporate finance, she emboldened into new territory by striking up a business marketing consulting practice that exists to lighten the load of marketing leaders. Having been a leader in marketing, she appreciates the complexities of the job and the many demands that come with it.
Whether you are interested in learning more about how blue dragonfly can help your business, are interested in joining or learning more about Mastermind groups, would like to chat about a speaking engagement, or just want to meet with Lyanne, this is a great way to get started. Connect today.
Cheers to the beginning of a great relationship.
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