What Are Business Tactics?
Business tactics are specific steps that are taken to actualize goals in the short term and long term in an organisation. Tactics are influenced by an organization’s strategic goals.
Business tactics are also known as micro strategies. They are micro-strategies that capitalise on specific business conditions as they happen. They are quick-to-implement initiatives that support an organization’s overall strategy.
Every organization uses tactics as a technique of planning in order to achieve its goals.
Key Takeaways
- The terms “tactics” and “strategy” are frequently used interchangeably. They do not, however, mean the same thing. A strategy is an organization’s plan for achieving a goal, whereas tactics are the specific steps that must be taken to carry out the plan. Managers create strategic plans, which are then broken down into tactical plans.
- Business tactics are crucial because it gives precise information that allows everybody on a team to grasp what is anticipated and needed to attain the organisation’s strategy.
- Having a tactical plan ensures that an organization’s strategy be implemented as quickly as possible. This is because the tactical plan is the road map that leads to the actualization of the strategy in a timely and effective manner.
The Importance of Business Tactics
Business tactics influence the extent to which an organization’s goal can be marred or realized. Therefore, organization leaders are mindful when making the choice of which tactics to work with.
Tactical planning involves breaking down the organization’s strategic plans into actionable steps that each department in the organisation will undertake to achieve the overall company’s objectives.
In every organization, tactics are executed by frontline managers or lower-level managers. The top management draws up the strategic plan while the lower-level managers execute the plan. The lower-level managers are close to where the actions take place and, as such, are more familiar with the daily operations and activities of the organization, unlike top management, who only have general knowledge about the inner workings of the organization.
Tactics vs Strategy
“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy are the noise before defeat.” writes Chinese military strategist Sun Tzu about 2500 years ago.
There is a blurred line between strategy and tactic. A number of people are often confused about the meaning of strategy or tactics. As such, they use them interchangeably. However they do not mean the same thing.
An organization’s strategy is a plan of action that will assist them in achieving their objectives. In a business setting, teams conduct specific actions in order to carry out the organization’s strategy. Tactics therefore refers to those specific activities or steps.
A sales strategy, for example, is needed to boost a company’s revenue. As a result, the method used by the organization’s salesperson to close the transaction is a tactic. To put it another way, strategy is the broad vision, and tactics are the parts that are generated or implemented to make the big picture a reality.
Examples of Business Tactics
A plan that extends beyond a few weeks and months is considered a strategy. To bring it down to tactical planning, it has to be goals that can be quickly implemented. One of the advantages of tactics is the speed by which they can be deployed. The following are examples of business tactics.
Example 1
Gain 100,000 New Customers at the end of the year.
Tactics:
Send emails to target customers.
Writing guest posts
Optimizing SEO
Securing press at least once a month.
Focus more on social media sites where there are more engagements posts to reach prospects.
Attending industry-related events and securing speaking opportunities that give opportunities to speak about the organisation’s brand.
Example 2
Gain 5,000 new followers on every social media platform by the end of the year.
Tactics:
Create social media campaign and ads to increase engagements on posts
Publishing 20 new social media posts per week to increase overall engagement and growth.
Collaborating with social media influencers to do one live video a week that highlights organisations products or services.
Repurposing weekly blog posts a week to share on social media.
Example 3
Increase the number of top talents in the organisation by 5%.
According to a Harvard business review article, top talents are a long term corporate asset and must be managed properly.
Tactics:
Improve compensation and remuneration benefits. Make it one of the best in the industry.
Grant sabbaticals for excellent performers who have been in the company for a long time.
Characteristics of Good Business Tactics
A Good Tactic Should Aid Strategy
According to George S. Patton “Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.”
Since tactics are dynamic in nature, they may conflict with the company’s strategy and objective. Customers will receive contradictory messages if your business tactics do not correspond with your organization’s strategy. Again, your efforts may be sabotaged because you are sending messages to those who would never buy from you rather than directly communicating with your desired target market.
Therefore, it is very important that your tactics align with business strategy. Because tactics are the steps you will take to implement the strategy.
To align tactics with strategy, understand every facet of the organisations strategy. Doing so will eliminate any misunderstanding that may be amplified in the process of breaking down strategy into tactics.
A Good Business Tactic Should Be Flexible
The business environment is volatile and changes can happen in an instant. Tactical plans need to be flexible enough to accommodate the changes as they occur.
Again, since tactics are quick and actionable plans, they take advantage of situations as they arise.
A Good Tactic Should be Measurable.
There should be methods put in place for measuring or tracking the progress of the tactic adopted. If it is not quantifiable, it will be difficult to monitor the success of the implementation of the tactic.
Because tactics and strategy are sometimes used interchangeably, and the terminology can be misleading in some situations. It’s therefore critical to educate employees about the differences between the two concepts and how they’re employed to achieve a company’s goals. More importantly, business tactics must be in line with the company’s overall strategy.
In conclusion, having a strategy without tactics is having a plan without actionable steps to realize the plan.
