We live in a world in which it has become something "easy" to have everything we want in a simple and fast way, which causes competition in any type of market to be terribly powerful, so having a good marketing strategy if we want our business to work, it will undoubtedly be essential to be able to succeed. Because it is possible that you have experienced on some occasion that your efforts are not giving the expected results and that the work done is not serving the way you expected..
If we have a well-planned strategy with clear objectives, this may be what makes the difference between the success and failure of our brand. Goals provide a directional focus in any business. If we do not have a clear goal, we can go from one place to another if we never get what we really want, and we will have needed to define it clearly and work in this direction for it.
First of all, we must bear in mind that, when creating a marketing strategy, it must have a clearly established objective. With this clear objective, you will be able to direct your attention and your efforts towards this goal, so that in this way you can focus on what really interests you. We can use different methods when setting our goals, but below we will see a methodology that is used to create smart goals called SMART. In this way, our path will be easier and we will know where and how to focus our actions at all times thanks to this methodology to establish objectives..
The SMART method is a methodology that is an acronym in English that defines how the objectives of a marketing project should be: Specific (Specific), measurable (Measurable), achievable (Achievable), relevant (Relevant) and of limited duration. (Time-bound). With these clear concepts, we will be able to define what each of them refers to and how we can apply them in our project to create our strategy. The basis of this method is that these objectives can be achieved and the goal is achievable so that we do not focus on something that ends in failure and that has not been clearly defined from the outset with a clear course.
Next, we will see how to break down and address these SMART criteria and the meaning of each of their conditions. In this way we can see what we must take into account to be able to apply this method since it will contribute to an effective and successful content marketing strategy..
1 What are SMART smart goals?
SMART goals are divided into five components that make up the word SMART: Specific, measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. These components look for how we see that we really establish a goal that can be achievable and that we realistically propose how to achieve it.
Setting SMART goals in our marketing project means you can clarify your ideas, focus your efforts, use your time and resources productively, and increase your chances of success in your business or service.
Each of these SMART components is described below:
Specific
The objective must be clear and precisely defined. This objective is specific because it tells us exactly what we hope to achieve. That is why this objective must be very clear and directly determine what you want to achieve in order to put all the effort into this focus to reach the final objective. In this way it will be easier to achieve it and the effort will be very focused.
To be clearer on how to select this objective, we can use the following questions:
- What do I want to achieve?
- What is the importance of this goal?
- What resources do I need?
- How many people do I need?
When we say that the objective must be specific and not general, we are referring to the following:
Example: A specific objective in a marketing project would be, for example, to increase daily sales. The general objective would be, for example, simply to increase sales. We see that in our case we clearly define that we want this increase to be daily.
Measurable
The objective must be quantifiable and measurable, so that you can determine progress and success, that is, it must be specific to be able to measure this data. It is therefore important that these are measurable, and in order to measure them you can establish a number, a certain date or some element that can be measurable or quantifiable.
To be clearer on how to select this objective, as in the previous step, we can use the following questions:
- How much do we want to increase our goal?
Example: As we saw in the previous example, our specific objective is to increase daily sales. Now we must establish in how many units we want this increase. For example, we are going to establish that we want to increase our daily sales by 3 units.
A good way to measure this is through the indicators provided by the (KPI) since through them you will be able to see how your method progresses towards your set objectives.
Note
What is a KPI: KPI stands for "Key Performance Indicator", which translates into Spanish as Key Performance Indicator. A KPI is a metric used to measure the performance of a business in relation to a specific objective.
Achievable
The objective must be realistic and achievable based on the conditions and possibilities that we have. This does not mean that the goal should be easy to achieve, but it does mean that it is realistic and that it has a chance of being achieved based on your resources. That is, the objective must be within the scope and possibilities of your project, being ambitious but not unattainable. It is useless to establish something that we will not be able to achieve no matter how much we do not like it.
Once you have established this, you will see that opportunities or new ideas to achieve it may appear that you had overlooked at first.
In this case we can ask ourselves questions of the following style to establish an achievable goal:
- How can I achieve this goal?
- Is the goal achievable based on our limitations?
Relevant
The objective must be based on your values, interests and priorities, and must contribute to the achievement of your long-term goals. That is why it must be aligned with the general objectives and strategies of your business. You must answer the following questions: Is it worth it? Is this the right time? Does this coincide with other efforts or needs? Is it applicable at the present time?
Time (Time-bound)
The goal should have a clear and specific deadline, so you can establish an action plan and work on it effectively. This helps to focus all efforts on completing the goal. A time bound goal will generally answer the questions: When should it be done? What can I do today, tomorrow, in two weeks, in three months, etc.? In this way you will have the established deadline to comply with it.
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