Why Far Too Many Marketers Focus on the Wrong Thing
By: Fab Giovanetti
Tags: Creativity, Marketing, Startup, Productivity, Business

Why Far Too Many Marketers Focus on the Wrong Thing

Growth is brought by strategy, not tactics

As a marketer, I am very familiar with the idea of clickbait.

I am sure you are well versed in what clickbait content is, and if we were to set aside any bias, the idea of clickbait is to give your audience something you know they’ll love and get attracted to — yet, most often it has misleading connotations attached to it.

In a way, marketing teaches you about clickbait in more than one way.

It’s not just a term associated with headlines, after all. I found that, more often than not, in order to get people’s attention, marketers will talk a lot about tactics over strategy, falling again into the clickbait trap.

Hell, I am one of those people as well. When I run my content marketing workshop, I spend a great deal of time looking at tactics and sprinkle some strategy in there for good measure.

Why? Because people love a good tactic, and it catches people’s attention. Yet, whenever I am teaching to my audience, I make sure I also deliver a proven strategy that can work for them.

The difference between strategies and tactics

To explain with some added context, a strategy is an overarching plan or set of goals.

Changing strategies is like trying to turn around an aircraft carrier — it can be done but not quickly.

Tactics are the specific actions or steps you undertake to accomplish your strategy. They are the little hyped things you can do at any given time.

For example, a great tactic at this time would be tapping into Live broadcasts on Instagram. Why is that a tactic? Because it’s a quick fix that can be tested, analysed, and proved, and may become obsolete in the foreseeable future.

A strategy would revolve around creating a long term plan for your overall video strategy on the platform, including a breakdown of the best formats, how to analyse their performance, and so on.

The real problem is that a lot of marketing advice these days is built on tactics alone. Do not get me wrong, they are quick wins and will be delivering results for a short period of time — but ignoring the fact that growth is fueled by solid strategies would be obtuse.

I am going to fully disclose that there is a place for tactics.

When I record an episode of the Alt Marketing School, I mostly focus on tactics marketers and pros can adapt and try for their own brands and clients.

However, when I work with individuals (and even our members) I primarily look at their overall strategy (or lack thereof) and explore what works and what doesn’t.

The truth is that businesses are built on strategies, not tactics.

Strategy and disruption are the keys to winning and are a great combo that truly delivers results. The only problem with that? Well, it can take a lot more time to set up a winning strategy than to try a bunch of hacks. It’s not that sexy either.

You could argue this is the reason why you have people like me helping you along the way to create long-term plans. Yet, right now I want you to be honest with yourself.

My question for you is the following: can you truly outline the marketing strategy for your brand or business? Do you have a clear idea of how marketing can support your overall growth, and how it works together with everything else you do?

If not, it may be worth looking at your marketing goals, and start drafting a strategy for the coming year.