What SMART Goals Are

You’ve probably heard of SMART goals before, but do you understand exactly how your company’s campaigns can benefit from them? SMART goals allow you to build a “plan” of what needs to get done, how it will be accomplished, and when it will be completed, rather than simply writing down a goal and calling it a day. This type of planning allows for complete transparency in your company’s expectations for a campaign.

What SMART Stands For

Specific. What is it that you or your team wants to accomplish? Make sure to set a detailed and specific goal. By doing so, your progress can be easily measured. Measurable. Is your goal measurable? How will you know when you have reached this goal? Use certain metrics to gauge your performance. Attainable. Is your goal realistic? Do you have the tools and resources to attain it? Before starting on a campaign or project, make sure you have access to correct tools and materials to make this goal possible. Relevant. Does your goal agree with your company’s mission? Does it contribute to the growth of your company? If your end goal doesn’t align with your company’s objective, it might not be worthwhile to pursue. Timely. When can this goal be accomplished? Ensure that your goal has a realistic timeline. This will help with task prioritization and motivation.

Benefits of Campaigning with SMART Goals

The very first step in creating a successful marketing campaign is defining your goals. Therefore, building out these specific goals is incredibly important. Not only do SMART goals help the entire company see the campaign and vision clearly, but they also help track the success of your campaign. Another benefit from utilizing these goals is task prioritization and motivation. Having clear, written goals can help your team prioritize their tasks and create motivation to meet that deadline. Short-Term and Long-Term Goals: When creating SMART goals, it’s important to have both short-term and long-term goals. Setting both types of goals helps maintain a strong balance. Only setting long-term goals can result in your campaign diminishing and not being in the forefront of your employees’ minds. It can even cause slumps and frustration due to how far off the deadline is. To ensure this doesn’t happen, you should set short-term goals. These goals will help you and your team remain on course and focused. Although these goals are smaller and relatively short, they contribute to your long-term goals after time. Team and Individual Goals: Although you mostly see SMART goals as a company plan, individual members of a team can also develop SMART goals for their personal jobs/goals of the campaign. While it’s beneficial for your company to see the big picture of a campaign, it can also be beneficial for employees to have their own job-specific SMART goals. This ensures they know what their individual goals are and exactly what is expected of them.

Team SMART Goal Example

Specific: We want to generate a greater number of qualified leads from our summer social media posts. Measurable: We want to grow the number of monthly leads generated from our summer social media posts by 25%. Attainable: Because we generate about 100 leads per month from our summer social media posts, we want to grow this number of leads to 125 per month. Relevant: We want to grow the number of leads per month from our summer social media posts to 125 leads because we have found that our social media engagement is extremely high during this time, and our audience engages more with our social media posts than our emails. Our company’s mission is to grow, gain more customers, and generate sales. Timely: We will reach 125 leads per month from our social media posts two months from today.

Individual SMART Goal Example

Specific: I want to generate more engaging summer social media posts that result in more clicks to our website. Measurable: I want to grow the number of summer post clicks to our website by 25%. Attainable: Because I generate about 100 clicks per month from my summer social media posts, I want to grow this number of clicks to 125 per month. Relevant: I want to grow the number of clicks per month from my summer social media posts to 125 clicks because we have found that our audience clicks on our links more during this time. Our audience engages with our social media posts more than our emails. Our company’s mission is to grow, gain more customers, and generate sales. Timely: I will reach 125 clicks per month from our summer social media posts two months from today.

Now that You Have the SMART Goal Formula

Now that you know the ins and outs of SMART goals, you are well on your way to creating a successful campaign! Not only will your company now have clear and concise goals, but you will also dramatically increase your chances of success by utilizing these goals. So, the next time you’re planning a campaign, make sure to do the SMART thing and use this type of goal planning and management to give your company the upper hand.