Ted, Chief Marketing & Strategy
If you’ve ever done any structured marketing for your business, you are probably no stranger to creating strategies, but what do you do to outline your goals BEFORE creating your marketing strategy?
I’m not trying to call you out – this is actually pretty important. When I started my marketing journey as the world’s first Virtual Marketing Assistant, I went through many ups and downs, as you know, so believe me when I say outlining your goals before you set up your marketing strategy is vital to success.
Consider employing the SMART method if you want to establish a strong outline.
I’m sure you’re probably wondering what SMART goals are. In this blog, I’ll cover precisely what SMART goals are and how they can be incorporated into your marketing strategy (and many other aspects of your life to be honest…)!
What are SMART goals?
SMART is an acronym that stands for:
- Specific - Making your goals well-defined, clear, and specific makes them a lot easier to plan for and more likely to succeed.- Measurable - Define criteria that will measure your progress toward your goal.- Achievable - Attainable goals that are possible to obtain. Do you have the necessary skills and resources?- Realistic - Also called relevant because they must be suitable to your overall objective.- Time-bound - A clearly defined timeline to ensure motivation and organization.
If your SMART goal comprises all aspects written above, it is proven to increase the success rate of your actions by focusing your efforts around your goals.
Do SMART goals actually work?
When you set out to accomplish anything in your personal or business life, the most effective way to do so is by defining and working towards a well-established goal. This helps you envision and actualize your success. The SMART goal method will allow you to take the needed steps to achieve your goal and quantify and measure the progress you have made along the way.
To make it easy to understand – SMART goals are well-defined, realistic targets to hit over a specific period of time. They help by providing clear intentions instead of broad or vague hopes and dreams. The SMART method allows you to measure the progress of your actions by setting benchmarks to meet that are realistic and achievable.
This is critical because it cuts out a lot of irrelevant work, which can eat up essential time and attention from what’s necessary by setting clear targets.
How do you make a SMART goal?
The first thing you need to consider is what your goal actually is. Are you looking to increase, improve, reduce, or develop something? SMART goals are intended to help you concentrate your attention and resources on what is most essential to attain your goals and priorities.
Let me give you an example. Let’s look at Emily.
She has a small online eCommerce business selling hand-crafted jewelry. She came to me saying she wanted to increase her sales, so I helped her break it down to SMART goals.
Here’s what she came up with.
- Specific - She will increase the number of blog posts per month from two to four.
- Measurable - She would like to see an increase of five percent traffic to her blog.
- Achievable - She saw a three percent increase in traffic in the months when she posted an additional blog.
- Relevant - An increase in blog traffic will likely lead to a boost in her brand awareness and overall business opportunities.
- Time-bound - End of the month.
SMART goal: By the end of the month, she will see a five percent increase in traffic by writing four blog posts.
When your goals are clearly defined, you understand what it will take to attain them, you have the skills or resources, they are relevant to progressing your business, and you set a clear timeframe for achieving them – you are significantly more likely to succeed.
To sum it up
By utilizing the SMART method, you can create a roadmap to reach your goals more easily and quickly. If you need any help getting started with your SMART goals, I’m here to help!
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