It's the middle of the year. Now is an ideal time to review your plans and assess if the goals you've set have been achieved. Goal setting is important in the marketing world. Without a strong, achievable goal, a company is liable to waste and lose traction. This is detrimental to businesses because setting goals is a foundation of success.

When it comes to goal setting in marketing, the SMART method is a straightforward approach that establishes reliable objectives. SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Typically, SMART goals contribute to the broader goals of a company or department.

A generic example of a broad goal: a marketing broad goal to 'generate success for a company by presenting and promoting its value to the world.'

A broad goal isn’t specific, but it highlights the foundations of the SMART goals. If you know you are trying to present company value, you can set specific goals in pursuit of the broader ones.

Walking through the SMART Method.

• Specific Goals: Planning and having an idea of what you want to achieve. SMART goals are not broad, but focus on a specific area. (Ex: Creating a social media ad campaign to generate clicks to your website.)

• Measurable Goals: Having a method of measurement helps you know if the goal is generating success or if you should shift your approach. (Ex: Boost your social media engagement by 2-3% within 30 days through consistent weekly posting.)

• Achievable Goals: If a goal has unrealistic expectations, it won't succeed. Unrealistic goals cause frustration; realistic goals create motivation. (Ex: Generating 100 clicks within 30 days through an online ad campaign is achievable for a small business, whereas expecting 100,000 clicks is unrealistic for the same business.)

• Relevant Goals: Goals must relate to your broader goal. Irrelevant goals waste time and money. (Ex: If your broad goal is to increase your brand awareness, a relevant goal would be to increase traffic to your website by running targeted social media ads, vs. posting on every social media platform each day to get more likes (lacks measurable metrics and meaningful outcomes/leads))

• Time-bound Goals: Outlining a timeframe for the goal will set benchmarks and develop a framework for measuring success. Goals with unrealistic deadlines cause frustration, so be mindful and think through how much time something might actually take. (Ex: Increase your customer base by 25% within one year through targeted social media and online advertising, rather than wanting to grow your customer base in general.)

All of these elements together help you set goals necessary for your business. Setting goals that are specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound will help create a strong framework for success.

Every company will have a different framework for setting goals. It's good to look at past successes and failures and to be aware of a company's size and reach. Check the progress of your SMART goals regularly to see whether you are making any progress. If you continue with this method, setting and achieving goals will become easier and worthwhile.

Need a little help to get started, or would you like us to train your people? Contact Poole Communications at 573-221-3635... or email us at info@poolecommunications.com.

Make Use of Digital.

Digital ads are essential in today's ever-changing marketing world. When setting up digital ads, know your goals. Are you increasing awareness? Are you generating traffic or looking for conversions? Perhaps you're a business looking for increased foot traffic and income?

You most likely know who your audience should be, so set your ads to target that specific demographic. Once you know your goal and who your targets are, make sure your ads are set up with a strong, clear call-to-action that will appeal to that demographic. Your ads can be targeted to specific days and times. You can also design different campaigns if you have a variety of customers. It is important to design your ads to be responsive and easy to view across all devices.

If you need help with managing your digital ads, don't worry! We're here to help! We manage all of our clients' digital ads in-house. That means there are as few people as possible in the mix, making sure your ad budget is spent on ads, not management. This also makes it affordable for businesses of various sizes, so digital ads are affordable for any budget.

Want help with setting up digital ads? Or would you like us to train your people?

Give us a call: 573-221-3635.

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