Is Your Social Media Plan Strategic or Tactical? Do you Know the Difference?
Do you have a plan for your Social Media? If yes, is it a strategic or tactical plan? Do you know the difference?
As a social media consultant and strategist, I’m faced with this question every day. In social media marketing, we often want to put a plan of action in place before we know where we are going. In fact, I’ve been struggling with the same question for my own business. I know what I want and I know what to do, but sometimes I find myself doing things that aren’t aligned with where I want to go. Thus this blog post.
So, what is the difference between a strategic social media plan and a tactical social media plan?
Strategy defines where you want to go and tactics tell you what you are going to do to get there.
The dictionary defines Strategy as an “Alternative chosen to make happen a desired future, such as achievement of a goal or solution to a problem.”
By this definition strategy has to come first. It gives you the why and answers the question where am I going.
Tactics are the how. They get you from point A to point B. Tactics answer the question how do I get there?
The dictionary defines Tactics as the “Means by which a strategy is carried out; planned and ad hoc activities meant to deal with the demands of the moment, and to move from one milestone to other in pursuit of the overall goal(s).”
If your goal is to win with social media, you must first develop the where (strategy) and then implement the how (tactics).
A sample strategy statement might be:
I am the top producing agent in my city and company and I am known as the expert in First Time Home Buyers. I will use social media to generate 20 new leads a month, write 10 new offers a month and put 5 homes into escrow each month. I will do this organically and use social media to build my brand, generate leads and referrals.
Next comes the tactical social media plan. It might look like this:
- I will write 3 blog posts a week using key words “First Time Home Buyer Redding”.
- I will write one blog post a week that tells about hyper-local events going on in my area. This is to build brand awareness and keep my name in front of new prospects.
- The topics that I cover will give information to first time buyers on the home buying process.
I will use Active Rain, a WordPress blog, Facebook, Twitter and Yelp.
There ya have it, strategy defines where you want to go and tactics tell you what you are going to do to get there. You cannot have one without the other, and you must have both if you want to get to where you are going to.
Share your plan in the comments below
About the Author Kate Bourland
I’m dedicated to helping motivated entrepreneurs, solopreneurs and small business owners understand how to find their voice, get clarity and take the right action towards growing their business and making money, both online and off. I’ve worked with hundreds of small business owners and entrepreneurs and I know first-hand the struggles they face. I’m a teacher and a doer: I actually use the same strategies and tactics that I share in my trainings.
Are you a business owner who is struggling to get new clients and customers? You need a Marketing Plan that will help you dominate your market, eliminate your competition and generate all the leads you can handle? Schedule a "Marketing Strategy Clarity Call"
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