Comments on: Tactic Lust

By: The Importance (Or Not) Of Social Media and Word Of Mouth | Idea Sandbox

The Importance (Or Not) Of Social Media and Word Of Mouth | Idea Sandbox — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 17:47:43 +0000

[...] to do with using a computer. (If you want to read more about tactic lust, you may enjoy my article Tactic Lust I wrote for the Marketing Profs Daily Fix [...]

By: Paul Williams

Paul Williams — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 14:41:13 +0000

Anne Marie & Matthew,

Thanks for reading Daily Fix and for taking time to add your reactions!

Love that line, Matthew… ‘tactic looking for a strategy!’

By: D. Matthew Carter

D. Matthew Carter — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:59:20 +0000

I have a background in strategic marketing planning from the ad agency world – a world which I left because I found them struggling to sell ads(tactics) to clients who needed strategies.

One of my favorite phrases from those days was this:

“That is a tactic looking for a strategy!”

Your post certainly brought me back! Thank you for articulating the eternal struggle between strategy and creative!

By: Paul Williams

Paul Williams — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 16:49:25 +0000

Beth,

Thank you for your kind words.

I follow that standard model Objectives should be SMART. (Specific, Measurable, Actionable, Realistic, and have Timing).

“Goals” can be confusing…

Some use it to indicate something bigger than their objectives… Several objectives combine to support the company goal. Example: “We want to have a meaningful relationship with out customers.”

Some use it as a way to set targets for tactics. Example: “Get 100 more customer names per store.”

I think everyone is worried about measuring.

It is easy to see the big stuff… “Did we have more sales this week than last week.”

But the things that can be hard to measure cause frustration. How *do* you measure word of mouth? If we do it, how will we know it was worth it. What’s the ROI for Twitter or the blog articles?

I used to get frustrated working at Starbucks managing the seasonal promotions for North America. I’d work with the teams to build the Summer campaign. The theme, promotions, merchandising, partner (employee) incentives. And, in the end… it would be decided we made the numbers because we had a hot summer and people wanted blended drinks.

Sure – the in-store environment may have been drab without the signs and sampling and promotional materials… but that sounds to me like it was more about Mother Nature than mama marketing.

I’ve always tried to find some way to have each tactic of a marketing plan have a measurable component.

A rambling answer – but hopefully addressed some of what you asked.

By: Anne Marie Stephenson

Anne Marie Stephenson — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 12:23:25 +0000

Great marketing post Paul and great comment Beth. Both are spot on!

By: Beth Harte

Beth Harte — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:25:02 +0000

Paul, you’re right…we’ve all experienced tactic lust (or shiny object syndrome). I think your steps for an actionable plan are spot on. I love how you take something that tends to turn into a complicated mess and make it so easy and simple that any marketer can do it.

The one thing I’d like to get your thoughts on is a goal vs. objectives.

Objectives are typically measurable…otherwise how else would you know if you met them? It’s okay to say “generate leads” as a goal, but that’s not measurable (How many? What market? Where? By when?). Generate 1,000 leads via our website in X market by the end of Q3 is measurable.

What do you see out there in the ‘real’ world? Are organizations, clients, etc. worried about measuring? Or is it unrealistic?

Thanks!