If you’re sitting down to write a plan – be it a communications plan, marketing, or business strategy – you probably know that there are several different sections you need to cover:
- your audience
- key messages
- budget
- timeline
- how you’re going to evaluate success
But before that, you need to get the foundation in place – what are your goals? What’s your strategy? What does that look like in reality?
And sometimes, it’s those three elements which cause the most confusion. How do I write a good objective or goal? What’s the difference between a strategy and my tactics? Do I need to have all three bits?
Be confused no more!
What’s the difference between objective, strategy, and tactics?
An ex-colleague of mine once explained it to me perfectly:
- Objective: I want to lose 40lbs by the end of next year.
- Strategy: I’m going to exercise more and eat better.
- Tactics: I will go for a run every morning and eat salad 5 times a week.
So, simply, objectives are what you want to achieve. Your objective should be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timed – and they form the basis for all future decisions.
All your tactics – what you’re doing – should relate to your objective. If they don’t, then you shouldn’t be doing them.
Your strategy is your plan of action to achieve your objective. The approach you’re going to take. The choices you’re going to make to reach your goal.
Finally,
your tactics are the “how” – how do you translate that approach into something tangible? What tools are you going to use? When? Where? Are you going to use social media, write a newsletter, make a video, hold a conference?
What do objectives, strategy, and tactics look like in reality?
To put this into a business example, consider the following:
- Objective: Increase employee awareness of new pension plan to 78% by the end of 2015. Increase take up on new pension plan to 14,000 people by end of 2016.
- Strategy: Explain new pension plan to employees and highlight specific benefits of taking up the plan. Positively position pension plan by comparing to old version and other pension plans in other companies.
- Tactics: Personal email from CEO on the benefits of new plan and explaining change. Hold town hall meeting hosted by HR explaining new plan to employees. Add new section into induction programme for new employees. Develop desk drops with direct comparisons of pension plans.
A clear and measurable objective, the high level plan of action, and then the “how” using many different channels.
In order to create a solid strategic plan (of any kind), you should have all three elements – if you want to see how that looks in practice,
putting that into a full communications plan is a good next step. Your objective is the top dog, governing everything below it. Your strategy informs your tactics. Your tactics are the hard graft.
Remember though, these plans should be living documents, not just written and put away in a drawer. They should be regularly reviewed and amended as your campaign progresses – and if you’re wondering
why so many plans end up reactive rather than strategic, that’s worth a read too.
After all, as Stephen Hawking said, “Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change.”
Are you still having issues with your communications strategy? Maybe you’d like an outside eye? Why not get in touch for a free consultation call?
Beaumont is a communications agency based in Lausanne, Switzerland. We work with clients all around the world to change the way they talk about themselves – helping them create engaging stories that motivate action.
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