When starting a new digital marketing campaign, plunging into the unknown without clear goals or objectives is almost always a recipe for disaster. Without properly defined marketing aims or a plan for how to meet them, not only are you setting yourself up for a tough and uncertain road ahead, but you’re also giving your competitors a chance to steal a space in the spotlight.
That’s where SMART marketing objectives come in. Designed to help you understand what goals you want to achieve, why you want to achieve them, and if they’re actually achievable, these nifty time-bound objectives can be the difference between campaign stress and campaign success. In this blog, we’ll be walking you through how to use them, plus providing some handy examples that you’ll be able to apply to your business.
What are SMART Objectives in Marketing?
While not exclusive to marketing, SMART objectives are simple goals that follow a SMART framework. A SMART goal/objective is considered smart if it’s:
- Specific (clearly definable)
- Measurable (can be quantified)
- Achievable/attainable (realistic with the tools/timeframe you have)
- Relevant (serves a clear purpose)
- Timebound (can be achieved in a set time period)
Since they’re highly strategic and can be used to support wider marketing aims, more and more marketers are using SMART objectives for their organic and paid advertising campaigns.
How SMART Goals Evolve to Meet Marketing Aims
The helpful thing about setting SMART marketing goals is that you can easily adapt them and create new ones when needed. For example, if your goal is based on reaching a set number of leads by a certain date and you achieve it earlier than expected, you can further refine that goal to make it about leads for a specific product or service.
Equally, if your campaign isn’t going as well as expected after trying different approaches, you can quickly set a brand new goal based on a more realistic number of leads using the data from your campaign.
Remember: great campaign planning isn’t about sticking to a rigid set of rules. It’s about being adaptable. If you try to stick to a plan when the odds are against you, it can cause unnecessary stress and result in you missing valuable opportunities that arise from strategic problem solving.
Digital Marketing Goals and Objectives: Examples
When it comes to creating SMART digital marketing goals, the idea is to be as clear as possible about every aspect of what you’re aiming for. If you create a goal and find that you can’t complete a statement for every letter of the acronym, it’s possible that it’s a bit too complex or needs breaking down into chunks. Here are some simple examples that work well (and why).
Use Google PPC Ads to increase new website traffic by 20% in the next 3 months
This PPC goal is specific (increase site traffic), measurable (with traffic acquisition tools through tools like Google Analytics), achievable (using strong keywords, ad text, and a realistic budget), relevant (aligns with wider goals i.e. to boost conversions/lead generation), and timebound (in the next 3 months).
Optimise 3 non-ranking blog posts per month to achieve first-page Google rankings for at least 3 targeted keywords within 12 months
This SEO goal is specific (optimise 3 blogs/month for 3 chosen keywords), measurable (track rankings for those keywords), achievable (page 1 in 12 months is realistic for non-ranking content with steady effort), relevant (improves organic visibility and supports traffic goals), and timebound (within 12 months).
Increase Instagram engagement rate by 30% in the next 6 months by posting 5 times per week and running monthly interactive stories or polls
This social media goal is specific (increase Instagram engagement rate), measurable (track engagement rate via Instagram Insights), achievable (with consistent posting and interactive, trend-based content), relevant (boosts brand awareness and community interaction), and timebound (within the next 6 months).
When setting goals, try to follow this same formula while taking into account your current baselines. This is a big part of what makes goals realistic.
As we mentioned earlier, you can always adapt goal methods when needed. For example, you might need to experiment with different campaign formats/platforms, adjust your budgets, or tailor creatives to better suit your target audience.
You might also end up needing to change the actual goal itself e.g. aiming for a higher/lower quantity/percentage increase or extending the timeframe based upon campaign performance.
How to Meet Your Marketing Aims
When it comes to meeting your overall marketing aims, there are a few things you can do to increase your chances of success. This includes:
Focusing on your goals at every stage: When producing your creatives and setting up your campaigns, always relate back to your primary goals to ensure everything aligns effectively. For example, if you’re creating imagery or graphics to boost social media engagement, be sure to check out which of your current posts generate the most engagement, as well as which competitor posts are performing well. If there’s a common pattern in terms of format or style, aim to replicate this. Research is key.
Discuss campaign performance with your team: Proactive problem solving is a big part of successful campaign management. Check in with your team to discuss performance and address any potential issues that might be affecting your SMART campaign goals. When you come up with ideas and solutions as a team, it broadens perspectives, helps to ease stress, and allows you to maintain a clear, strategic vision that’s shared by everyone.
Don’t give up on goals too quickly if they’re not working: Taking a flexible and adaptable approach to goal setting doesn’t mean immediately rejecting your goals when things aren’t going the way you planned. If performance isn’t as expected, give your campaign enough time to generate data. Then, if things still haven’t changed after a period of time, try changing tact/experimenting with different methods to achieve your goal. If you’ve tried different approaches and you’re failing to see progress, this is when you might want to switch your goal to something more realistic. In this scenario, it’s best to go back to basics and figure out what might have been holding you back. This will help you to work out what’s ‘realistic’ for you when setting future goals.
How Flex Digital Can Help with Your Goal Setting
As a growth-driven digital marketing agency, we make goal setting SMART and simple. We take your overall business aims and break them up into realistic marketing goals that create a clear focus for your campaigns.
Whether you want to draw attention to a new brand or book more clients for your business, using our industry experience, we’ll seamlessly transform your company vision into a solid digital strategy. Keen to find out more about what we do? Book a discovery call to chat to one of our experts.