The " tactics " which you are refering too is called Flirting, that is normal.
Now Flirting becomes a " Tactic " when you are truely not interested in the female and then it turns into using the female for what ever intended purpose you may have.
An it doesnt have to be in terms of dating, it can be in general , " Acting nice " to someone , when you could careless about the person, to use that person to advance your own personal agenda.
But lets say you are a dirt bag of a person and get your rocks off by hurting women you date, an you use a " tactic " to befriend her by making her laugh etc , then that too falls into congrats you are a scum bag and probably have commited some kind of sin to what degree who knows.
If you are not a scum bag, an you cant tell the difference between flirting and " tactics " then it is probably something around self esteem issues you are dealing with. An who doesnt deal with that to some degree.
Ah looks like she rejected ya too, well, welcome to the world of rejection, she isn’t sending you any mixed messages, she just likes you as a friend. An finds you to be personable. Now if she were doing more like hanging all over you, kissing you in any degree, or letting you pay for her meals or etc with out ever returning the favor, then that would be a safe bet that she is sending you actual mixed signals and then it isn’t even mixed, she would then be just using you.