“Strategy without tactics is the slowest route to victory. Tactics without strategy is the noise before defeat.”
– Sun Tzu, The Art of War
The relationship between website strategy and the tactics used to implement that strategy can be cloudy.
For example, the CEO wants to “adjust” the content on the page, but doesn’t tell you exactly what’s driving the change. You visit a website with a cool, new web technology and want to implement it on your site (looking at you chat bots), but don’t know how it would work with your lead flow.
You can waste a lot of money implementing tactics on your website with no strategy. And you can miss significant opportunities to connect with clients if your strategy has no virtual “legs”.
Sometimes it’s easier to understand this relationship if you start at the tail (tactics) and work your way up to the head (strategy).
Try this simple exercise:
- Send me the link to your organization’s website.
- I’ll send you a single tactical recommendation for a website change.
- You reply to me which website strategy goals this tactical change might support.
- If you really want to stretch yourself, tie your website goal to a business goal.
Now your on your way to examining tactics in light of strategy. And beginning to think of ways your website strategy can link to tactics.