SMART Goals

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Let’s start off with the differences between goals, strategies and tactics.
A goal is something the company sets out to achieve that has a positive outcome. Typically goals are descriptive and measured through observation. A strategy is the high-level plan that is used to achieve the company’s goal. The strategy is how the objective will be acquired. The tactics are the actions used in the strategic planning of reaching the goal. What actions will be implemented in achieving the objective?

What are SMART goals?

SMART goals is the method that helps you reach your goals in the workplace. It is a structured plan for achieving success while working through a marketing campaign. While there are different types of questions that should be asked when using SMART goals, these work in all areas.

Specific: Determine the who, what, where, when and why. What is your company trying to accomplish? When is the best timeline for a new promotional item? Who will be the best to represent our brand?
Simple. Sensible. Significant.

Measurable: To see success in your goals, you must address the quantifiable questions. How does the company know when the goal will be achieved? How is success being measured?
Meaningful. Motivating.

Achievable: Create goals for your campaign that are attainable and realistic. Ensuring your team has the skills and resources will bring success when reaching for your goals. How can you expand your target audience without keeping it out of reach?
Agreed. Attainable.

Relevant: Your business goals should line up with your company’s vision and values. Will achieving this goal help with any internal problems of the marketing campaign? Is this the right time to be launching a marketing campaign?
Reasonable. Resourced. Results- based.

Time-Based: Setting a realistic, but ambitious end date for your campaign and set up milestones that the team can work towards. How long do you need to achieve optimal results from your marketing campaign?
Time-sensitive.

So how do marketing tactics align with strategies?

When a marketing tactic is implemented into action it will influence an end goal. If you are looking to expand your target audience, you would need to research who you are looking to reach and where to find them. The next step would be to make a plan of tactics to acquire the wider audience base. A tactic for getting more customers would be to increase your social media presence. You would choose posts that align with your branding and choose how often to post to engage audience interaction.

Meeting SMART goals using KPIs

A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is an actionable scorecard that gives the company the advantage to control and manage results to keep them on the correct path to achieve their goals. KPIs help determine how well a business is meeting it’s objectives. Some examples of KPIs are keywords used to attract customers, click through rates and even bounce rates.