In marketing and all business activities it’s important to make sure that you have goals in place. Without goals you risk having little aim for you business, no real structure on your activities and can end up hopping from task to task coming up with lots of ‘great ideas’ and not focusing on what really matters to your business.
Goal help provide focus, ensure that we stay on track and hold us accountable. One of the best tools that will help you set goals is the S.M.A.R.T. method. This acronym first appeared in the November 1981 issue of Management Review. “There’s a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management goals and objectives.” was the title and it was written by George Doran, Arthur Miller, and James Cunningham.
The whole point of the SMART method is to create goals that are clear and fulfil a number of criteria that will ensure they will be completed.
- Specific – You goal has to have details, just having “more likes” is not enough, you need to set a time, how many likes, may a specific demographics and quality.
- Measurable – Your goal must have a form of measurement, you must be able to track it and see if it is succeeding or not.
- Attainable – Your goal must stretch you a little but not be so far reaching that you can never realise it.
- Realistic – If your goal is not realistic within the confines of your abilities then you may need to rethink it.
- Time-bound – You need to give your goal a deadline, this makes you accountable to your work.
When setting your marketing goals take the time to run through the SMART method to help you be more successful.