Some SaaS professionals may confuse the difference between communication strategies, tactics, and practices. This brief article aims to clarify this confusion.

What’s a strategy?

Think about strategies as a roadmap.

Let’s say you want to move from point A to point B, and you have to decide whether you’ll take route X, Y, or Z. Each route comes with different characteristics and challenges.

• Route X involves traveling by boat, meaning you need to allocate resources to get one.
• Road Y can be crossed on foot, so you have to allocate resources on getting in shape and acquiring hiking gear.
• Finally, if you choose route Z, you can travel by car. You can go this route only if you know how to drive. Also, you need to consider allocating resources to rent a car, stay in hotels at night, and pay tolls.

Each route represents a strategy or a way of “getting there.” You should obviously choose the easiest route. Maybe you’re already in shape and have hiking gear. Or perhaps you have access to a boat, and you’re not seasick, so you can easily travel by water. Usually, the choice you make depends on the fastest and easiest way of getting to the point B.

Like routes, each strategy involves a different course of action and resources.

Richard Rumelt, professor at the UCLA Anderson School of Management, states:

“A good strategy has an essential logical structure that I call the kernel. The kernel of a strategy contains three elements: a diagnosis, a guiding policy, and coherent action. The guiding policy specifies the approach to dealing with the obstacles called out in the diagnosis. It is like a signpost, marking the direction forward but not defining the details of the trip. Coherent actions are feasible coordinated policies, resource commitments, and actions designed to carry out the guiding policy.”

Your strategy should usually fit on half a page, and include its reason to exist, the direction you want to take, and the resources you’re willing to allocate. Keep the ‘how’ out of this document.

Examples of communication strategies:

If your company is experiencing weak user engagement, you can choose between different strategies (routes) to change this indicator. Here are some of them:

• Build a thriving user community.
• Invest in active customer education.
• Create better onboarding workflows for higher engagement.

What’s a tactic?

Tactics usually refer to the ‘how’ you’ll make the strategy happen. Going back to our previous roadmap example, if you decide to go from point A to point B by car, you’ll have the option to choose between multiple travel tactics that will influence the difficulty and the length of your trip.

Let’s say you’re embarking on a multi-day car trip. In this case, you can choose between tactics such as:

• Drive during the day and rest at night in hotels.
• Travel with someone else who can take turns driving, this way excluding the night hotel stops.
• Implementing a schedule with long rest and sleep stops in the car, without the need for overnight stays in hotels.

As you can understand, that’s a very simple example, but it illustrates what tactics are in relation to a strategy.

Example of communication tactics:

Here’s a list of different communication tactics you can deploy separately or simultaneously for building a user community:

• Run weekly Q&A webinars for existing customers.
• Create a space where users can ask and answer questions.
• Reward active users who answer the most questions.
• Assign a community manager who can actively engage with users.

What’s a practice?

Practices are recurring actions that aim to achieve a specific goal. The term “best practices” highlights the quality of specific recurring actions that lead to a desired outcome.

Going back to our car trip, a good practice would be to regularly check the vehicle’s oil levels and tire pressure during rest stops. By doing so, you can ensure smooth and safe travel. Another practice is to map out the route in advance to identify road conditions and rest areas.

In other words, practices refer to incorporating systematic and repetitive actions to increase the probability of achieving positive outcomes.

Example communication practices:

Here’s a list of communication practices you can incorporate when building a user community:

• Replying promptly to users’ questions and doubts in less than 12 hours.
• Use the community space to inform users about the newest product updates.
• Always recognizing a user’s contributions to the community.
• Consistently improving the UX of your community page for better experience.

Final note

A strategy determines which route you will take to get from point A: problem to point B: problem solved. Tactics address the ‘how’ you will navigate the route from point A to point B. And practices focus on those repetitive actions you must take to ensure the positive outcome of your tactics.