It’s January and everyone is talking about resolutions, goals, and plans for the year to come. We love the excitement around fresh starts and good intentions. Often though, much of this is forgotten by the middle of the year. It’s all in the follow-through. We know that, you know that, and the goal seekers know that. So, how do we improve our follow-through?
Well, planning is a great start, we are big fans of planning. When you plan, you are putting thought into achieving something greater. Having goals is one of the best ways to start holding yourself, and sometimes those around you, accountable.
But what happens when you don’t know where to start? Or when you have a goal in mind but have no idea if it is too little or too ambitious? Well, don’t let this frustrate you, we want to share with you 4 tips to help you set marketing goals for your business in the most realistic way possible.
4 Tips to Help You Set Marketing Goals for Your Business:
1 - Take a step back and review what you’ve accomplished
One way to set attainable goals for the new year is by referencing what your business accomplished the previous year. For example, if one of your goals for 2021 was to acquire 50 new clients and you achieved it, what were the things that made the difference in procuring them? Is there any way you can expand those efforts?
If yes, make the adjustments and raise your goal. Aim higher this year! When you are putting pen to paper, be sure to take into account different factors that influenced those numbers. Possible trends, economic changes, and, guess what, a pandemic can most certainly make or break a goal.
The most important thing here is to take time to evaluate past efforts and make the necessary adjustments as you dive into the new year and new goals for your business.
2 - Divide your marketing goals into pillars
Start by analyzing what you consider to be the main pillars for marketing your business (i.e. the things you allocate most of your resources on and you feel impact your business). Some common examples are social media channels, websites, email and print marketing campaigns, and content marketing.
Once you have identified what you feel is most impactful in marketing your business, write goals for each pillar. If you are not confident about setting specific goals just yet, write down the general ideas/focus and go from there. It’s okay to start with a broad overlying goal and break it down into smaller task-oriented goals that will lead you down the path to the bigger picture.
3 - Invest time in auditing
After identifying your business’s marketing pillars and the larger goals for each, begin auditing them in more depth. For example, with social media, you can set goals around your number of followers by looking at last year’s performance and developing a strategy to increase that number.
We all know things like being consistent with content and interacting with your audience are important but if your broader goal is to increase followers, consider breaking that down further into task-oriented goals to support your success. Things like; encouraging your audience to share your account with others who would find it valuable, engaging new people who follow accounts similar to yours or heavily saturating a location with your content are all smaller task-oriented goals that will drive results over time.
In terms of setting goals around your website, start by viewing each page and take notes on what you think could be improved. Not everything needs to be a big change, but even a little refreshing of your brand and messaging ensures that you stay on top of your game (shameless plug, Evoke can help you with that). If you have the chance to ask others for their feedback, it is wise to do so.
4 - Know your bandwidth and resources
Having a great idea and executing on a great idea are two totally different beasts. When you set goals for the new year, it is imperative to be honest with yourself about things that will impact your ability to execute your goals.
Consider things such as the amount of time you have available to dedicate to the goal, whether you have the expertise to effectively do the work, and how much of a budget will be necessary to support your efforts.
Many times we trick ourselves into believing that we will get something done when in fact we don’t have enough bandwidth and available resources. Identifying these hurdles early on will help you set attainable goals and improve your follow-through.
What to take away from this
Consideration of these four tips will help you effectively develop your business marketing goals for the year. You will ensure that your goals are not too ambitious but ambitious enough for your business to grow.
Dividing the goals into pillars will grant you the opportunity to analyze the bigger picture and how to identify what goals you should focus on first. Remember: there is only so much you can do with the resources you have, so prioritizing your goals is crucial.
Outsourcing can be your ally as well (check out The Benefits of Outsourcing to learn more). Supporting your broader goals with smaller task-oriented goals will help you determine what you can work on by yourself versus what you need to delegate out in order to execute and follow through.
Setting goals is as much about knowing your limits as it is about knowing your power. Find a balance between them and you are set to make 2022 your best year yet!
For more on goal setting, check out these other posts:
Do you need help aligning all aspects of your business so your message is clear, concise, creative, and speaks to your ideal customer? If you answered YES, book an introductory consultation to learn how we can help you! We will speak with you to learn all about your business goals and needs during this free call. Should you choose to work with us, we promise to save you time and any frustration that can come along with having a business.
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Strategizing
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