MKT 229 _ 3-1 Blog: Marketing Campaigns & SMART Goals


07/13/2020
Caleb Wall
SNHU
MKT 229


3-1 Blog: Marketing Campaigns & SMART Goals


Whether an individual or a business, goals go hand-in-hand with success. Goals are desired outcomes, and are most effective when they are specific. “Having goals is like having a map. You know where you are heading, and this gives you zest, motivation, (and) more energy...” (Sasson, n.d.). 

But, how to achieve one’s goals? This is where a strategy comes into play. Forbes.com tells us “a strategy is the approach you take to achieve a goal” (Belicove, 2020). For example, if a company wants to sell more of their products than their competitors (goal), then they will need to make their products readily available to buyers (strategy). A goal is the end result you seek, while a strategy is the plan to get there. 

Still, though, a general plan is not enough. You will have to determine specific actions that will need to take place in order for the strategy to proceed… Those actions are known as tactics, and they are often performed on a regular basis. 

Goals, strategies, and tactics need focus in order to be effective, and a helpful way of ensuring that is implementing an acronym known as “S-M-A-R-T”. Corporate Finance Institute offers the following insight into what SMART means when goal-setting:

Specific: Well defined, clear, and unambiguous

Measurable: With specific criteria that measure your progress toward the accomplishment of the goal

Achievable: Attainable and not impossible to achieve

Realistic: Within reach, realistic, and relevant to your life purpose

Timely: With a clearly defined timeline, including a starting date and a target date. The purpose is to create urgency.
(Corporate Finance Institute, 2020)

Let’s take the example of a company wanting to sell more products than their competitors. Maybe, up to this point, the majority of their sales have been via their website, because they have limited brick-and-mortar locations in which to provide their products. Their products have proven to be popular, however, so if there was more awareness, and availability, then their sales would drastically increase. The strategy would then be to bring greater awareness to their products, and improve the availability by having their products stocked on more shelves. 

Specifically, they set a goal to sell more products than XYZ-Competitor Co., the current sales leader in the industry. They know that XYZ sells an average of 1,000 units per month. So, in order to measure their progress, they designate their desired sales to be 1,100 units.  Their factory will have to increase materials consumption in order to achieve this number, but it can still be accomplished with the current number of employees, and will not require too much more in labor hours. It will mostly require emails to be sent out, greater social media utilization, and Sales Representatives promoting their products with managers of brick-and-mortar locations. It will take some time to have their products shipped and stocked on shelves, as well as some time to promote awareness of what the company offers. So, it is determined that the campaign will last three months, at which time, their progress will be able to be measured, and they will know if they achieved their goal.  

How, though, will you know if you are on the right track, and will be seeing the desired success at the end of your specified timeframe? What if, midway into the term of your goal, you are not on track? There may be a need to adjust your strategy a little, or increase the frequency of certain tactics. This is where using KPIs becomes important. KPIs (key performance indicators) are the “critical (key) indicators of progress toward an intended result” (KPI.org, n.d.). A company will need to determine what these indicators are in their case, in order to know if their strategy is moving them toward their desired result.

In the example, the company will want to review their sales reports after the first month, and again after the second, in order to identify if they are on the right track or not. If not, then their tactics will need re-evaluated, or possibly even their strategy.




REFERENCES:

Belicove, M. E. (2020, July 7). Understanding Goals, Strategy, Objectives And Tactics In The Age Of Social. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mikalbelicove/2013/09/27/understanding-goals-strategies-objectives-and-tactics-in-the-age-of-social/#1d88f20f4c79

Corporate Finance Institute. (2020, June 17). SMART Goal. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/other/smart-goal/

KPI.org. (n.d.). What is a Key Performance Indicator (KPI)? Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://kpi.org/KPI-Basics

Sasson, R. (n.d.). The Importance of Setting Goals. Success Consiousness. Retrieved July 13, 2020, from https://www.successconsciousness.com/blog/goal-setting/importance-of-setting-goals/



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