Austin Stanfel believed that you need to be careful when setting new marketing goals each year. If you keep setting higher goals, then your team may focus too much on the needs of the company rather than on the needs of the customers. Even if your team is more motivated, it won’t matter if the needs of the customers are not their top consideration.
Marketers spend too much time worrying about reaching certain marketing results and numbers. You could get a million hits to your website each day, and it might not generate the number of sales you want. It is so much more important to worry about your customers and their needs. That is how you generate sales and increase growth within your company. If you produce something that customers want, then the high numbers will follow.
Let’s explore the best ways to create realistic marketing goals that put your customers’ needs ahead of your company’s needs while allowing you to reach your marketing numbers too.
Setting Realistic and Achievable Marketing Goals
Have you ever heard of the SMART goal marketing framework? SMART goals are a special set of realistic goals. They clearly describe what your goals are without any misunderstandings or unachievable wishes.
Here is the gist of the SMART goal framework below:
Specific – How many team members do you want to work on a particular task? How many leads do you want to receive? How many sales do you want to have in 12 months? Set goals that are specific and answer these kinds of questions.
Measurable – You must keep tabs on the progress of your team. You can do this by setting goals which you can track and quantify. For instance, you may want a 50% increase in leads over the next 3 months. That would be one measurable goal.
Attainable – Is it possible to achieve this marketing goal? If you gained 10 leads over the last 3 months, then set a goal to generate 30 more leads over the next 3 months. Don’t set a goal to generate 1,000 leads or something unrealistic like that. Always be realistic with the marketing goals you set.
Relevant – Do your marketing goals relate to your company’s objectives and goals? Make sure your marketing goals are relevant to what your company is trying to accomplish. Otherwise, you’re just wasting your time. Time-Bound – Don’t be afraid to set deadlines for your marketing goals. Without deadlines, your team members might procrastinate too long on a particular task. Setting deadlines gives them extra motivation to push themselves over the finish line before the work is due.