Goal Setting
Digital marketing is practically essential to any business. From blogging to Google ads, to social media, digital marketing ensures brand awareness, customer retention, and customer engagement.
Your digital marketing strategy, however, is only as good as your planning. To plan effectively, you’ll need to set goals. Your goals establish where you want to be. According to dictionary.com, a goal is the result or achievement toward which effort is directed[1].
While this seems simple enough, there are several useful strategies to set effective goals. One of our favourite strategies is setting SMART goals. We’re sure you’ve heard of this strategy, but we’d like to unpack it a bit further by showing how useful it can be in the digital marketing space!
SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
Specific
Your goal needs to be specific. A vague goal decreases the chances of you accomplishing it. An example of a vague goal would be “to gain digital marketing skills”. It’s too broad to work on. A specific goal would be “To gain the skills needed to increase my website’s search visibility”. Much better, right? Now you know which skills you need to work on and why you need those skills.
Measurable
How will you know when you’ve reached your goal? In our example of acquiring the necessary skills needed to increase a website’s search visibility, you can measure your progress by taking tests/quizzes to see how much your knowledge expanded.
Attainable
There’s no point in having a specific goal with a deadline if it’s impossible to reach. Ensure that your goal is reasonable and achievable under the conditions you’ve set. An unattainable goal could be “to gain the skills needed to increase my website’s search visibility in 3 days.” That’s way too short, and near impossible unless you spend hours on it a day. A more attainable goal would be “To gain the skills needed to increase my website’s search visibility in 2 weeks.” That’s less pressure and a good timeline!
Relevant
Okay, so you’ve got a specific goal that is attainable. But is it relevant? Are you focusing on the correct skillset? Are you the right person for the job, or should you perhaps delegate or hire an agency? Asking yourself these questions is imperative when it comes to achieving your goals.
Time-bound
Now that you’ve specified exactly what you want to achieve, and you’ve ensured that it’s attainable and relevant, you need to attach a deadline to it. Having a time constraint ensures that you will reach the goal at a favorable time. Elon Musk said, “If you give yourself 30 days to clean your home, it will take 30 days. But if you give yourself 3 hours, it will take 3 hours. The same applies to your goals, ambitions, and plans.”
A few examples of SMART goals in the digital marketing space could be:
- Acquire 2 new Facebook leads from a corporate ad per week.
- Create a 3-page website that details who we are, our services, and our contact details. This should be done in 3 days.
- Monetize existing leads and customers by Implementing a lead capture widget to collect contact information from website visitors.
- Onboard new customers by preparing a personalized welcome email for them.
While setting goals may seem like a tedious task, it’s vital in planning your digital marketing campaign.
Are you too busy to focus on the digital marketing aspect of your business? Contact us today to see how we can help you achieve your digital marketing goals this year!