It is the fall, which in addition to pumpkins and turning leaves, also means it is marketing goal setting season.
We have written before about the marketing metrics that your CEO cares about, and how you can use those to make sure you get the most resources possible.
However, today I want to talk about how to make better marketing goals that are more powerful and how you can meet them.
First of all, your goals need to be well thought out. Saying “oh we want to increase leads” is not an excellent goal. Why? Because it is not SMART.
It doesn’t have the limitations of time, specificity, or well, anything. This goal is not a SMART marketing goal. Making your goals SMART will help you know when you meet them and help give you a mark to hit.
Secondly, your goals need to have buy-in. And not just from the marketing department. Talk to sales and learn what their goals are. How do your prospective goals match up to theirs? If they don’t, there is a problem.
Look at your company’s overall goals. Where can marketing help them meet it? While many of marketing goals tie closely to sales, there are other aspects of marketing including brand awareness, PR, etc. that don’t necessarily pair directly with sales goals.
Thirdly, you need to make sure that you have an effective strategy to meet your goals. Increasing inbound leads by 30% is not going to be a realistic goal if you don’t have an effective strategy to do so. Make sure that you have the budget and time to enact the plan that fits the closest with your goals.
Lastly, be conscious of your budget. Having a 100k strategy to meet your goals is not going to fare well if your marketing budget is only $60,000. Figure out ways that you can judge past strategies and tactics and see if you can move money to more efficient marketing techniques.
If you need help with your marketing goals, download our SMART Marketing Goals Template.