Marketing success doesn’t take magic, massive amounts of money or the ability to read the future. But, it does require the ability to define and set goals, and create a strategy to achieve those goals. Businesses that achieve success with their marketing efforts find the SMART goal framework (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Timely) to be a valuable asset. It’s not enough to say that your business needs more visitors, leads and customers-- the questions is, how many, and how realistic is your goal? Goals that don’t take into account known challenges, and that have a “whenever” deadline aren’t likely to be met. At least, not this year.
Always keep in mind the words that define your framework:
- Specific-- is this an exact, narrowly defined goal?
- Measurable-- how will you know that you’ve met the goal?
- Attainable-- do you have the tools and resources to make this happen?
- Relevant-- how will this help your business, why this particular goal?
- Timely-- is 2014 the right year to make this happen?
- Focus on visits if you are building your inbound marketing.
- Focus on leads if your website has good traffic, but it is not developing leads.
- Customers should be your focus if you have good traffic and leads, but are struggling to converting them into new customers (or, get back the old ones!)
- Where has your marketing focused in the past? How successful were you?
- What are you currently spending your marketing budget on? Where can you best leverage your resources?
- How much time does you or your staff have to implement a plan? Is there a reason traffic isn’t leads, or leads aren’t customers?
- What new tools and services could help get rid of past blocks, and stalled out strategies?
Remember, goals that focus on a specific area of need give the clearest vision of success!
Make it Real: Put a Number on It!
(Example SMART Goals)
Make it Real: Put a Number on It!
(Example SMART Goals)
- Get 10,000 new website visits by 2015
- Get 1,000 new leads by 2015
- Get 200 new customers by 2015
Having a focus and a strategy for you marketing is important, if you want to see results. Setting a goal is one of the best ways to track progress and clearly define success. Now is the time to review your 2013 plan, see what worked, and what didn’t. If you can’t demonstrate success, then get SMART in 2014. Set specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely goals to make the best of your own time and investment in your businesses marketing.Download Our Free Template For Your 2014 SMART Marketing Goals
Is your business too invested in outbound marketing for 2014? Consider how inbound marketing can change the way you attract new customers and create great relationships with current ones. BusinessActualization specializes in inbound marketing for your small business.
