Knowing what you want for your business seems simple, but believe it or not, goal setting is the hardest step in the process of digital marketing. Philadelphia has many digital marketing agencies willing to tell you they’ll get you the best results, but they’re not willing to teach the process. One of WeSpeak Easy’s goals is to educate the businesses who work with us. We want to help businesses and grow with them. Setting goals is the very important first step in creating a digital marketing campaign. Here’s why:
Importance of goal setting
Goal setting is critical to the digital marketing process. Without a goal, there is no direction for your campaign. How can you develop and execute strategies and tactics without the driving force of a goal? You can’t. It’s like holding ice cream in your bare hands without a cone – it will be a failure. Luckily, we are smart people, and we know you are, too. Smart people plan campaigns with SMART goals for digital marketing.
SMART goals for Digital Marketing
SMART goals are awesome. They keep us focused and give us a push if we’re dragging behind. We know goals themselves are important, but SMART goals are slightly different than your average goal. SMART goals are grounded in reality. Sure, you can say you want to get 10,000 page views in a month, but if you’re averaging 500 a month, chances are 10,000 is out of reach. SMART goals for digital marketing help you validate your goals, and they turn the goal setting process into something more efficient and productive.
Specific: set real numbers with real deadlines. Ask yourself, “what is specific about the goal?”
Measureable: make sure you can track your goal, so you know if you’re crushing it! Ask yourself, “can this goal be tracked?” or “do I know how to track this goal?”
Attainable: work toward a goal that is challenging but possible. Ask yourself, “can I realistically hit this goal?”
Relevant: set a goal that fits your business model. Ask yourself, “does the goal help solve a problem for your business?”
Time-bound: give yourself a deadline. Ask yourself, “when will this goal be accomplished?” and “how often will we check in to see the progress?”
Setting your goals
When it comes to setting SMART goals, you’ll have to ask yourself and your team a lot of questions. This will help you ensure that your goals are actually achievable and will help you down the road when you’re planning strategy.
Step 1: Write down everything you want your business to achieve. Writing all of your ideas down, no matter how general or complex, will help you focus in on what matters most.
Step 2: Choose just one of the ideas you have; you’ll focus on just this one for this particular campaign.
Step 3: Summarize your goal. Expand upon what you want while keeping the SMART acronym in mind.
Step 4: Focus and optimize your goal to meet the SMART criteria. Setting a numbers-driven goal will check the ‘specific’ box. Example: You want 1,000 pageviews this month.
Step 5: Dream big, but not too big. This may be the hardest step in the goal setting process. Define a goal that feels just slightly out of your comfort zone. It will push you to work harder, and the feeling of a completed goal is pretty awesome.
Step 6: Make sure you know how to track your goal. As with our example above, if you use Google Analytics, it will be simple to see how many pageviews you’re getting.
Step 7: Select a deadline. An open-ended goal has no drive or sense of urgency. Choose a length of time you think it will take to reach your goal. This will help with planning your marketing efforts as well.
Step 8: Commit a certain amount of time every week to completing your goals. Planning is key to a successful digital marketing campaign. Take it from some Philadelphia digital marketing experts, procrastination does not look good.
Step 9: Write down any challenges you may face. If you know what they are, you won’t be surprised by them halfway through your campaign. Additionally, you can start planning ways to work around them. Having a plan B or plan C is that extra little step, which will make reaching your marketing goals easier.
Step 10: Ensure your goal has all of the components of SMART. Write down your optimized goal where you and your employees can see it. This way, there is no question about what you’re working toward, and you and your employees can document the progress!
A simple way to keep your goal setting organized is through Hubspot’s SMART Marketing Goals Template! Click here to download.
Setting SMART goals is just the first step to crafting a digital marketing campaign. If you’re creating your first campaign, you’ve come to the right place! Check out our blog on crafting your first digital marketing campaign. Need some extra help with marketing? Philadelphia’s WeSpeak Easy is offering a free, in-person digital marketing workshop on June 12, 2018, and you’re invited! If you’re local to the Philadelphia area, please join us. Register here: https://goo.gl/8t57GC
Recent Comments