Marketing goals: how to define, measure and achieve them (2023)

Main conclusions:

• marketing goalsare actionable goals that provide overall guidance on a specific campaign.
• the mnemonicINTELLIGENTGoals can help you remember how to define your marketing goals.
• Examples ofmarketing planesto containRevenue growth, lead generation, increased brand awareness, website traffic,Yconversion.
• use keyperformance indicatorsto monitor your goals.

According to a study by CoSchedule, the best marketers always set goals. In fact, marketers are goal-oriented.376 percentthey are more likely to report success in their campaigns. Before we explore how to do this, let's start with a simple question.

What do marketing objectives mean?

marketing goalsare actionable goals that provide overall guidance on a specific campaign. think about yourmarketing planas a goal your team wants to achieve within a specific time frame. It also includes a metric that serves as a symbolic goal. for example amarketing objectiveThis could mean increasing your social media conversion rates by 30%.Goalsgo beyond picking any number. You also need to specify how you intend to achieve your goal and measure that end point.

This brings us to the next part of the post.

How to set marketing goals for your business

marketing planesIt must be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-based. the acronymmetas SMARTcan help memorize these words.

Specific

Consider using specific metrics in yourmarketing goals. For example, you can't just say you want to increase sales. Instead, describe how much you want to raise, using a percentage or dollars.

Having a clear outline of your objectives ensures that your team understands the objective and why it matters. Additionally, marketers with a documented strategy report a 313% higher likelihood of success.

Measurable

Don't just draw amarketing strategy. You must also establish how you intend to measure your success.

It doesn't matter if you want to improvebrand awarenessoto search for Traffic, your plan should include guidanceKey Performance Indicators. This way you will know if you are on the right track to reach your goals.Goals.

Accessible

They arelookmaybe increaseorganic trafficto your website by 200 percent. But is this goal achievable?

When setting up yourmarketing objective, consider choosing a benchmark that is both reasonable and achievable. As tempting as it is to set the bar high, you could inadvertently cause your team to fail.

Important

Consider setting goals that are relevant to your brand's mission and overall business plan. You should also consider current trends in your industry.

For example, you might reevaluate whether it's feasible to increase your site's search traffic to agoogle algorithmto change. Taking these relevant factors into account will allow you to set more realistic goals.

limited in time

Consider setting a reasonable timeframe for achieving specific benchmarks. Not only does this help you stay consistent, it also puts pressure on your team to hit the target.

Keeping your goals within a time limit can also help you avoid falling into the procrastination trap.

Most brands put their ownmarketing goalsbased on a fiscal quarter or year. However, this time period can vary depending on the amount of work required to reach the benchmark.

Five examples of marketing objectives

1. Sales growth

The main objective of any business is to grow.revenue, and this only happens when sales increase. As a result,sales growthit's straightmarketing objectivefor brands

Your goal might be to increase online sales by 15% over the next three months. Once you've identified your goal, the next step is to define how to get there. It can include actions like:

• Increase in lead generation
• average customer orders
• automation of yourjunk mail

2. Lead Generation

The objective ofleading generationIt's simple. It's about increasing the number of people who end up in your sales funnel. That way, you can work on converting those leads into sales.

In other words, lead generation makes your sales team more likely to close more deals.

For example, your goal might be to increase the number of leads by 25% in the next quarter. This often involves launching new lead generation funnels.

3. Exchange rates

exchange ratesrefers to the number of people who will take the desired action when given a choice. It could be an audience clicking a link in an email or a website visitor signing up for a free trial.

Unsurprisingly, increasing conversion rates across different mediums should be one of your tasks.marketing goals. This includes website subscription, email links, free trial registrations, and more.Call to action.

4. Increase brand recognition

brand awarenessrefers to how good it istarget groupknows or recognizes your brand. business withhigh brand awarenessthey are often described as "trending" or "fashion-worthy".

Tracking brand awareness can be challenging without a clearly defined goal. Therefore, it is important to write your ownlook.

You may want to increase your brand awareness through a variety of activities in the coming quarter.digital marketing channels.

5. Increase organic website traffic

organic trafficis responsible for53 percentof allwebsite trafficand 40 percent of income. So it makes sense that you would want to add it to your marketing plans.

The goal here is simple: it involves getting your page to the top of search results. This will likely lead to an exponential increase in traffic and ultimately increase your sales.

Again, it is essentialmeasure your goals. So you know when you've reached the goal.

How to measure your marketing goals

KPI for sales growth

Your revenue is the number one performance indicator for revenue growth. It refers to the amount of revenue your business generates or the number of units sold.

Here are more examples of KPIs to monitor your sales growth:

• Year-to-date revenue growth:The amount of profit realized since the first day of the current calendar year.
• Abandonment rate:The percentage of customers who abandon your service in a given time period.
• customer retention: The ability to persuade existing customers to continue purchasing products or services.
• gross profit:Profit after deducting the cost of products.

Consider tracking these metrics over a period of time, interval, or throughout the campaign.

KPI for lead generation

selection ofKey Performance IndicatorMeasuring lead generation can be confusing, depending on your business.marketing objective. In addition to percentage lead lift, any of these metrics will do.

• Exchange rates:The percentage of visitors to your site who reach the desired goal.
• Qualified Marketing Leads (MGLs):Potential customers most likely to make a purchase.
• Qualified Sales Leads (SQL):Leads that are further along the buyer's journey and ready to sell.
• Costos Pro Leader:It measures how profitable your campaigns are in generating new leads.

From youKPIAs lead generation comes from multiple sources, data can be dispersed quickly.

Fortunately, the right software can help simplify the process. examples of this areDashthisYhighlighter.

KPI for conversion rates

The key performance indicator mainly depends on your company's industry, campaign and growth phase. However, here are some things to consider when focusing on conversion rates.

• The open rate for email marketing:The percentage of subscribers who opened an email campaign.
• bounce rate:The percentage of visitors who leave a webpage without taking an action, such as B. Clicking a link.
• Kosten pro conversion: Refers to the cost of acquiring an actual customer.
• Time spent on the page: Records the time a visitor spent on the page.

Unique and repeat visitor to a website can also serve as a KPI. This is especially true if you are just starting out.

KPI for Brand Awareness

like with othersmarketing goals, you need to define what you want to achievebuild brand awareness. From increased brand mentions to direct web traffic, here are some ways to measure brand awareness:

• social listening:It involves monitoring social media platforms for mentions of brands or products.
• Google Notices:Use Google Alert to track web mentions.
• Brand awareness survey:Compile a list of questions to measure how much your audience recognizes your brand.
• Brand mention:Measure online testimonials about your brand, company or product.

Before measuring, you may want to first create content that can generate awareness. This typically includes guest posts, videos, podcasts, infographics, eBooks to name a few.

Website Traffic KPIs

Swindlermarketing digitalAs part of your brand strategy, monitoring your brand is now more important than ever.red Analyst. Several online KPIs can inform how your website is performing. These include:

• Page views per visit:Measures the amount of content a specific user views on a website.
• bounce rate:The percentage of visitors who leave a webpage without taking an action, such as B. Clicking a link.
• Average duration of visit:Describes the average time visitors spend on a website in one session.
• The number of unique visitors:It refers to the number of different people who visit one or more pages on your website.

These metrics not only give you insight into your site, but are also useful for evaluating how your competitors are performing.

Some monitoring toolswebsite trafficto containAlexa Site Overview Tool,Ahrefs,YSEMRush.

Final Word: Use a Marketing Goals Checklist to Plan and Execute

Effective marketing always starts with a clear, measurable objective that is relevant to your brand's short-term goals. However, memorizing the details of the plan can be challenging unless you have a photographic memory.

This is where a checklist comes into play.

Amarketing planThe checklist can help educate your team about your goals and the tactics needed to achieve them. It also allows you to define key success milestones and components to achieve along the way.

Keep reading:10 tips for creating a winning video marketing strategy