The Big Picture And The Steps To Get There

In business, it’s easy to confuse strategy and tactic. But they’re different. A strategy is our big goal, our main plan. While a tactic is a step we take to make that plan happen.

Imagine wanting to become a leader in your field. That’s a strategy. To get there, you use social media to spread your message and connect with people — that’s a tactic.

Why Social Media Is Just A Step

Sometimes, companies make the mistake of thinking that a tool like TikTok is a strategy. But that’s not right. TikTok is just a tool, a step we can take to reach a bigger goal.

Say our big goal is to “update the ways our company talks to people.” In this case, TikTok could be one of the ways we do that. It’s just one of the steps we can take.

Changing Steps, Same Big Picture

The world is changing at a fast pace and we need to be ready to adapt. What if TikTok changes overnight and no longer suits our goal?

That’s why it’s important to remember that if TikTok was just a step, we can switch to another one. Our big goal — to update our communication — doesn’t change. We simply find another step, maybe Facebook or Instagram, or whatever works best for our big picture.

The Big Picture Should Guide The Steps

Steps should help us reach the big goal, not the other way around. They can and should change as needed. But the big picture, our strategy, is our guiding light.

Understanding this difference helps us make sure we don’t lose sight of our main goal with new trends. We have to stay focused on our big goal and change our steps as needed. That’s how we make sure we’re always moving in the right direction.