Climbing Mt. Everest Starts here. Those who do it create a plan. Prepared with a set of inviolable goals and a passion for the journey. When they head for the summit there is intermediate way points. Making adjustments along the way as the mountains conditions dictate. Ultimately about staying acutely aware as you push to take just one more calculated step.
Market teams are successful because much like climbing Mt. Everest they set SMART goals before endeavoring on the journey. You might be asking yourself what is a SMART goal?
SMART goals are concrete targets that you strive to achieve over a certain period of time. The “SMART” acronym stands for “specific”, “measurable”, “attainable”, “relevant”, and “time-bound”. Each SMART goal you create should have these 5 characteristics to ensure the goal can be reached and benefit the business.
Here’s how to write SMART Goals!
Step One: Be Specific
SMART goals are “specific” in that there’s an exact destination the business is trying to reach. ” Get more followers” isn’t a SMART goal because it isn’t specific. Ask yourself: Which platform do I want more followers from?
The specific SMART goals you set for your Marketing initiatives communicate what is the priority, what you hope to accomplish and provides accountability. It’s imperative to set your SMART goals for both revenue and the prosperity of your brand.
Setting a SMART goal of ” Increasing Facebook followers” is a good example of a “specific” goal.
Step Two: Measurable Marketing Goals (KPI’s)
SMART goals should be “measurable” in that you can track and quantify the goal’s progress. “Increasing Facebook followers” by itself , isn’t a SMART goal because you can not measure the increase.
Measuring Marketing initiatives is crucial to track your ongoing progress. By determining what criteria, or key performance indicators (KPI’s) you will be able to determine if you have achieved success. Matching both revenue and brand KPI’s to your specific goal will allow you to measure your efforts, communicate success and just like climbing Mt. Everest make adjustments to your marketing plan as conditions arise.
Let’s build on the SMART goal we started on in Step One. Now are goal will look like… ” Increasing Facebook followers 25% in the next month”. We now have a “specific” and “measurable” goal.
Step Three: Attainable Marketing Goals
An “attainable” SMART goal considers the business’s or employee’s ability to achieve it. It’s important to set your goals based on our own analytics, not outside benchmarks. It’s always a wise idea to talk with your team ask them, “is this goal attainable?”, “are you up for the challenge?”.
If your goal was to increase Facebook followers by 25% next month, but the past month there was only a 5% increase, you may want to adjust that term of measurement to a more attainable 10%. A better SMART goal would be “Increasing Facebook followers by 10% in the next month”.
Step Four: Relevant Marketing Goals
SMART goals that are “relevant” will almost always align with your company’s overall business goals. You might want to ask yourself “Does this goal align with solving a problem I am facing?”
If you are facing low insights on Facebook engagement then your goal of “Increasing Facebook Follower” is relevant.
STEP FIVE: Timely Marketing Goals
A “time-bound” SMART goal keeps you on schedule. Reaching a goal is great, but not if it takes to long. Looking back at previous time-frames in which similar goals were achieved is a good benchmark on setting attainable marketing SMART goals. Discuss the reality of how long it will take you to accomplish this goal early on to make for a more peaceful integrated marketing en devour.
Be aware as you set your SMART goals they may all range from short-term to long-term goals. It’s best to keep marketing SMART goals short-term as the climate of technology and purchasing power is constantly evolving.
To remain feeling victorious align your short-term goals in front of your long-term goals this will empower you in your integrated marketing adventure.
The primary measure of marketing success is more sales, more profits and greater brand recognition. Take the time to assess your goals, then take a little more time to make sure they’re SMART goals. Never be afraid to adjust them has conditions arise and soon you will be climbing Mount Everest.