What’s more important in the healthcare marketing + PR world?

Round-up debate directions: Each KNBeing was assigned to either the strategy or the tactics team. They wrote a short response below on which one is more important regardless of their opinion, but rather based on the team they were assigned. They focused on finding the most beneficial aspects of each since they are both equally important. Enjoy this great debate!

Strategy

1. Emily Boland, Account Director:

   In marketing and media relations, strategies have to come first to help clearly manage expectations while communicating responsibilities and timelines to internal teams and clients. The strategy lays the foundation for all of the detailed tactics to come!

2. Chad Van Alstin, Media Relations Manager:

   You can’t do anything until you know where you’re going. By “strategies” we really just mean setting foundational expectations and roadmapping a marketing campaign. It’s sort of a precursor to execution, and for me the strategy plan ultimately determines the tactics. Sure, being flexible and being able to think on your feet is good – but even then, I am still operating within the framework of the strategy we developed.

3. Chintan Shah, President + Managing Partner

   In marketing and communication, the right strategies are critical for success while nimble tactics are necessary for strong outcomes. Unlike the Frank Sinatra song Love and Marriage, you can have one without the other, but often at the expense of the positive outcomes you intended. The right strategy will provide a clear roadmap to direct the tactics that you may choose to employ. Without that strategy, any company will surely be either traveling aimlessly or via wishful thinking. Neither of those two options instill confidence for success. Invest time in setting a strong, thoughtful strategy and then choose the tactics that are relevant, timely and achievable. This path will more often than not yield success!

4. Tiffanie Smith, Marketing Coordinator:

   Creating a strategy is imperative for any business because it gives a company a sense of how they are performing and the ability to track + achieve their goals. In marketing, having a strategy in place ensures that the correct target audience is being reached with relevant content, ROI is being measured effectively with clear objectives and that efforts are not being wasted.

Tactics

1. Beth Cooper, Vice President of Marketing + Sales:

   Guess what? Sometimes, people don’t have the budget or the time to delve deep into creating the perfect strategy prior to launching a campaign–especially in healthtech marketing. It’s not ideal, but here’s the thing: strategy without tactics = no one sees or hears anything about you. Meanwhile, tactics – the actual activities you undertake to get your message out there into the world – even without strategy, result in some people becoming aware of you. They may not be directly in your target, and your messaging may not be quite right, but it is better to get out there than to not get out at all. Plus, you can gain a lot of insight from the tactics you are executing on and develop strategy as you go. While strategy is important in theory, tactics are absolutely more important in actual practice.

2. Sandy Gutierrez, Digital Marketing Strategist:

   A/B testing… Sometimes businesses spend thousands of dollars on strategies that fall short of the goal or don’t have the money for the entire campaign to be successful. When you start with A/B tactics you are able to learn more about your competitors and your audience to analyze any trends that will help your business grow rather than waiting to see any results three months from now.

3. Laura Hill, Marketing Manager, Client Services:

   “Action speaks louder than words.” Though strategy is important, nothing gets done if you don’t create tactics. Tactics are what generate leads. It helps to have a larger strategy, but once you create and deploy a marketing tactic, it gives you information to help inform your overall strategy.