When you define clear goals or final product and service sales numbers you want to achieve, you’re creating your marketing objectives. They’re extremely important for formulating cohesive strategies and tactics to run a successful campaign. They are also necessary to the growth and expansion of your business, and play a intricate part within your marketing plan.
The motivation behind your objectives should always be connected to an action you want your customers to take. Do you want them to purchase more often? Try a new product? Recommend your services?
Outline reachable objectives for your company that can be met in a specific time frame (usually a 12-month period) to use for your marketing focus.
The ‘SMART’ Approach
Keep your goals simple and attainable. Ask yourself what you want your customers or company to do, and design your objectives with that in mind. This is an easy anagram for focusing your business needs:
- Specific: detailing precisely what needs to be done
- Measurable: define how you’ll monitor the progress and success
- Achievable: make certain your goals can be reached and by what means
- Realistic: within the frame work of your resources and time
- Timed: clearly outlining a set time frame
These steps can be tweaked and matched according to your aims, to help you design a comprehensive plan of meeting your set objectives.
The ‘5Esses’ Approach
With more focus and attention on online marketing, it’s not surprising that companies are integrating and adapting new formulas within their objectives. Some emarketers use the 5 Esses, also known as:
- Sell: selling products or services online
- Serve: increase the efficiency of customer service
- Speak: use various types of communication with both loyal and potential clients via online social sites
- Save: decrease marketing costs (online is significantly lower than traditional)
- Sizzle: heighten brand awareness and online identity with the use of mixed media such as content, video and mobile integration
There’s no doubt that a successful campaign that meets your objectives should include social media (Youtube, Facebook, Pinterest, Twitter) and more traditional methods, such as customer-based emailing for target marketing.
Examples of Objectives
Your company’s goals give your marketing objectives definition. The strategies that you choose will be dependent upon your business’ identity. Do you want to:
- Increase or maintain your company’s market share?
- Raise brand awareness with your target audience, and potential new customers by using up-to-date online marketing techniques?
- Increase customer shopping, purchases and referrals?
- Innovate or develop new products or services to gain a larger audience?
- Raise customer satisfaction?
These are all legitimate goals, but the individual needs of your business will help you decide what you need to focus on. It might depend on the market; your direct/indirect competition; your target audience and/or your current resources.
Examples of Marketing Strategies:
The strategies and tactics that you use for meeting your goals successfully are determined by the objectives. By incorporating several different methods, integrating up-to-date technology and monitoring the process you can measure which ones work best for your company’s needs.
- Increase market share: expand current share and brand awareness by 10% in 12 months- increase online credibility (using 3rd party testimonials-reviews of products/services on social media sites)
- Raise brand awareness: enact a marketing campaign which highlights your online identity through email/social site surveys to target audience
- Increase customer base: focus marketing tactics (coupons, special offers, etc.) on loyal customers/a referral campaign using social media and emailing with the aim of a 20% increase
- Raise customer satisfaction: create an FAQ section on your website for clients and write follow-up emails to decrease the amount of complaints
The objectives have a set timeline, but the strategies can be altered and monitored throughout that given period for the highest level of success. You can actually see how well you’re meeting your marketing goals, and change accordingly as you go.
Whichever types of marketing you decide to use, don’t forget the importance of having clear and crisp objectives identified. They are a clear measure of how successful your business is, and where or how you can grow it.
