In Part 2 of this series we’ll look at goals and objectives that will focus on growing your business. We will start broad and then, in Part 3, we will drill down. Every business action must focus on achieving a known, intended and measurable result. Digital marketing actions are no different.
Why Have Digital Marketing Goals?
When you know the outcome(s) you want, you can focus on the strategy, the tactics, and the activity that will take you there. As an aside, it is worth noting that in Social Media Examiner’s 2016 Report published in May, of the 5,000 digital marketers surveyed:
- 40% said they did not know if their social media marketing traffic had declined
- 35% said they did not know if their marketing is effective. Think about that – 1,750 marketers out of 5,000 could not say if their chosen marketing methods were having any effect on business, and
- 58% said they had no way of measuring their marketing ROI (this stat is derived from the 42% who reported they could measure ROI)
One conclusion to draw is that these marketers do not know how to measure their marketing actions’ effectiveness because they have nothing to measure against. If you want successful digital marketing campaigns, then setting goals and objectives is your first step.
Goals and Objectives in a Nutshell
You know the markets where you want to get more sales, you know your Unique Selling Propositions (USPs) for those markets, you know the media you intend to use (social media, email marketing, blogging, PPC, banner ads, etc) and you know the messages you want to deliver in order to get those results.
To use a traditional mnemonic, you must set SMARTER goals (Specific, Measurable, Agreed, Realistic, Time-bound, Exciting, Recorded). Your team must not only know those goals, but they must Agree to work to achieve them, and your goals must stretch, motivate and Excite them.
- A goal to “raise our online presence” is not very Specific
- A goal to “increase our product awareness in a new niche is not very Measurable, and,
- A goal to bring in one new order may be Specific and Measurable but it is hardly Exciting and motivational
Typical Digital Marketing Campaign Goals
Your ultimate goal is to grow your business’s turnover, to increase your profits and to control costs – all by clearly measurable numbers. Part of that growth is based on your digital marketing campaigns. You may divide goals and objectives into areas of achievement. Those areas may include:
- Order quantities and values for specific products resulting from specific banner ads or PPC programs
- Acquiring an agreed number of new “followers” via, say, LinkedIn and Twitter if you are a B2B company or, say, via Facebook and You Tube if you are a B2C company
- The number of new visitors and repeat visitors to your website
- Website bounce rates (per page)
- Referrals of new leads by existing customers (or referrals by market niche for a specific product type, coming from specific customer personas, if you want to drill right down to measurable details)
There are many goals that you can set. Set the critical ones that give you the feedback you need so you can modify what could be working better, and do more of what is working well. The right marketing goals and objectives will take you forward. In our next article in this series we will explore those goals in greater detail.