7 essential questions: Part 3

It’s planning season for many businesses. That’s why over seven weeks we’re posing seven questions you should ask yourself and your team that will inform your marketing planning for 2020.

This week we explore our third vital question: "What are your marketing goals?" Our recent posts covered business goals and audience. Now that you have a handle on these, it's time to develop this information into distinct marketing objectives.

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The most effective way to approach goal setting is by using SMART methodology – setting goals that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely.

Here's a look at each of these elements:

• Specific: What specifically are you trying to improve? Your Facebook audience, your website hits, queries about products? Your LinkedIn connections? Your marketing goals should be specific enough so that anyone working to achieve them knows exactly what's expected. Just like when we covered business goals, this is where quantifying objectives can be helpful -- a 20 percent increase in Facebook followers, 10 percent more customer queries on the website, 100 applicants for the job you're about to post, 200 email list sign-ups, etc.
• Measurable: Exactly what is says – how will you measure to determine if you’re achieving this objective? As one wise entrepreneur once put it, having goals without measuring your progress against them is like playing football without keeping score. Plan to actively monitor progress of any goal you set.
• Achievable: This one is probably the most grounding. You want your goals to be challenging, but not impossible to reach. What’s realistic? Be honest with yourself when it comes to your time and financial constraints and any other obstacles. Perhaps your original goal needs to be divided into a series of smaller, more attainable ones.
• Relevant: Do your goals connect back clearly to your stated business goals?  Are they likely to help you build relationships with your customers? Or are they more of a vanity exercise?
• Timely: Is there a defined time frame for each goal? Can you set deadlines? This element especially will help you stay grounded and will make sure your goals are a meaningful part of your business planning and not just a “nice to have” wish list.

Let's look at a few examples:

Before: "To become a well-known local law firm."
SMART: "To subscribe 200 new people from a 50-km radius to our legal e-newsletter in six months."

Before: “To generate more revenue”
SMART: “To develop 25 warm leads in 100 days through in-person and online networking.”

Before:  “To be everyone’s favourite pet shop.”
SMART: “To get 100 new people signed up for our customer rewards loyalty programme by June 2020.”

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Taking it step by step

Photo by StockSnap

So, how do you put this into meaningful practice in your company? Take it step-by-step:

1. Write some simple summary goals. “Raise our social media profile.” “More traffic to our website.” “More online reviews.” “Launch our new juice products.”
2. Break these down into specific tasks. “Increase our followers on Facebook, connections on LinkedIn.” “Attract more visitors to our online shop.” “Get more positive reviews on TripAdvisor.” “Get people tasting our new juice.”
3. Now quantify these. “200 new people liking our Facebook page and 50 new LinkedIn contacts.” “30 percent increase in website traffic.” “10 positive reviews.” “300 people sampling our new lemonade and 500 trying our orange juice.”
4. Decide how you will measure them. “Follow Facebook and LinkedIn activity, use Google Analytics to monitor web traffic.” “Make sure our TripAdvisor account is set up to give us alerts.” “Enter everyone who tastes our product into a prize drawing.”
5. Now give it a timeframe. “90 days.” “By Christmas.” “This summer.” “In time for our 10th anniversary.”

Now you can confidently connect the dots:

• "Increase our Facebook audience by 200 ‘Likes’ of our company page in 90 days"
• "Increase traffic to our online shop by 30 percent by Christmas"
• "Get 10 positive TripAdvisor reviews by our 10th anniversary celebration"
• "Get 300 people to sample our new juice product at three market stalls this summer and 500 people trying our orange juice at two supermarkets"
  
  

Setting meaningful goals can take some practice, but the effort is well worth it. In short order, you’ll see that being disciplined in your decision making can lead to solid results for your business and help you personally feel more confident about the direction you take.

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Next week:

Which marketing strategies are right for you?

Last week:

Who is your customer – some methods to help determine who should be your target audience.