Terms like "strategy" and "tactics" often appear interchangeably. Yet, they hold very different meanings in driving business outcomes. For tools like HubSpot, differentiating these concepts is crucial. But do they clearly distinguish between the two?

Strategy, of course, explains "how" you will achieve your goals. It's an abstraction over the best way to succeed. Tactics, on the other hand, are the specific actions taken to execute the strategy. They are the “what” of a plan.

How About HubSpot?

In the hierarchy below, HubSpot's product features constitute the bottom row - TOOLS. These CRM tools are HubSpot's specialty. It's where they are strongest in this hierarchy. HubSpot is, of course, an ecosystem of TOOLS. The next row up - TACTICS - reflects the content of HubSpot's Knowledge Base. HubSpot has a strong tactical offering here also, as it's neighboring their main specialty of TOOLS. But as we move up to the next row - STRATEGY - I would argue that we have elevated ourselves somewhat beyond the reach of the Knowledge Base. Of course, the next row up - GOAL - is fully outside HubSpot's domain. And rightly so. Every business should define their own goals.

It's no surprise, then, that HubSpot is strongest at the bottom of this hierarchy. This is quite fitting, as businesses already know their top-down goals and usually have conceived a strategy for achieving them. They come to HubSpot for support with the lower levels of this hierarchy - the tactics and tools.

But for users in need of more strategic support, HubSpot alone may not be enough, unless the business wants to adopt a puritanically inbound marketing strategy...

Inbound Brilliance

In 2011 HubSpot made a key contribution to modern marketing — the inbound methodology. This strategy centered on attracting customers through valuable content and experiences rather than interruptive ads.

Inbound is undoubtedly strategic; it encourages companies to build long-term relationships, foster trust, and position themselves as authorities in their industries. However, despite the fact that HubSpot has made itself famous for offering users a strategic inbound framework, in practice many users find themselves inundated with tactical guidance - not strategic guidance.

Potentially Misleading?

HubSpot is great as educating its users on how to optimize a blog post for search, how to set up automated email workflows, or how to run social media campaigns using it's plethora of tools. While these actions are essential, they are tactics, not strategies. This can be frustrating for many. Especially when HubSpot stuffs it's content with the keyword 'strategy' to win organic traffic.

This approach may cause users to acquire lots of tactical expertise, believing they are developing strategy. But this is a mistake. Strategy and tactics are not the same. As a result, companies using HubSpot might develop exceptional content, effective ad campaigns, and time-saving automated processes, but they risk missing out on a cohesive strategy that ensures these efforts align with their goals.

In Their Defence

HubSpot has responded to this by developing educational content around creating buyer personas, setting goals, and measuring success—elements that are strategic but do not cover every aspect of a comprehensive strategy.

HubSpot has indeed made strides to clarify the difference between strategy and tactics, but it’s essential for users to approach the platform with a clear understanding of their own strategic vision. HubSpot’s tools are powerful, yet they are not a substitute for strategic planning.

The Verdict

HubSpot does recognize the difference between strategy and tactics, though its platform definitely tends to emphasize the latter, and they're guilty of conflating the two at times. Recently, they've started to offer more strategic support, but they have a long way to go before this matches their offering of tactical support.

HubSpot provides a robust tactical toolkit; it’s up to businesses to wield it strategically.

Still struggling with strategy? As experts at implementing business strategies in HubSpot, and marrying those strategies to the tactical excellence of its tools, vBase Digital are here to help you.

We can help you build the bridge between your business goals and HubSpot's tactical tools.

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We hope this article helps you to make better use of HubSpot, because we believe everyone's happier when tools work better.

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