Get ready to level up your marketing game with Constant Contact's Ready, Set, Send Challenge! This week, we're kicking things off with the cornerstone of successful marketing: goal setting. Having clear, well-defined objectives is the foundation for success. By setting focused and achievable goals, you'll stay on track, make informed decisions, and measure your progress effectively.
I am Tracey Lee Davis, founder of ZingPop Social Media. I help small business owners become online marketing rock stars by discovering and acting on their goals. So, whether you're looking to boost sales, build brand awareness, or nurture customer relationships, this week I will help you discover how goal setting can transform your marketing efforts. If you’re not measuring, you’re not marketing, so let's discover the power of well-defined goals by watching the video, following our tips for goal setting, and then filling in our goal-setting worksheet.
Tips for Goal Setting
Well-defined goals help guide your decision-making and keep you on track. You will use these goals in the following weeks to guide how you design your emails, how you manage your contacts or grow your subscribers, and how you create engaging campaigns.
Your goals, as an email marketer, will vary based on your business needs Maybe you want to communicate with your contacts, but many new customers that come to Constant Contact have the goal of creating a brand presence. Because that’s a really big goal, it can feel daunting, and they may give up before they start. And setting those big goals isn’t SMART goal setting.
SMART Goal Setting
The goals of an email marketer will vary based on a business’ needs. The goal could be as simple as wanting to communicate with contacts, or as complex as starting a new business. If a goal is too broad, however, it can feel daunting and impossible. And setting those big goals isn’t SMART goal setting.
Hold on, I’m not yelling, at you, I promise. SMART goal setting is an acronym that will help you break down your big goals into those smaller, more well-defined objectives I talked about with Dave in the above video. SMART goals are:
Specific: What are you trying to achieve?
Measurable: What data will you collect to measure your success?
Achievable: Is your goal possible?
Relevant: Does your event goal align with your broader marketing goals?
Time-bound: What’s your timeline to achieve your goal?
So what does it mean to have a SMART goal? Let’s put it into perspective.
Examples of SMART Goal Setting
Maybe you send a regular newsletter letting your association members know about upcoming events. In this case, your Specific, Measurable, and Achievable goal might look like more opens on your regular newsletter in the next month (Time-bound), which could translate to more people at your events (Relevant).
If you’re selling goods on an Etsy store, your goal could be to sell more products, which you can easily Measure. However, the goal still needs to be translated into an Achievable goal, such as selling more products in the next two weeks by targeting repeat customers or selling more products in the next three days with a limited-time offer.
What if your goal is to significantly build your brand presence? You have to start somewhere, and growing your subscriber list is a solid beginning. The next question is “how?” You could launch a campaign on your social media that directs users to a sign-up landing page, or use a QR code in your store that leads to an online opt-in form. If you already have a list, ensure your emails align with your brand. Additionally, consider creating an email content calendar that complements your social media strategy.
You can see how breaking your big goal into a few SMART goals can give you the focus you need, help you stay on track, and measure your progress effectively.
If you had marketing goals set at the beginning of this year, have you seen any successes so far?
How you’ll earn your badge:
Reply below with your assignment, and you’ll receive the Week 1 badge and it will be proudly displayed on your Community profile! Keep an eye out in your inbox for a larger image to share on your own social channels once Week 1 is finished.
Transform your marketing by setting SMART goals. This week, learn how to set Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound objectives to guide your campaigns. Watch the video, follow the tips, and fill out the goal-setting worksheet to kickstart your progress.
Your Assignment: Complete the worksheet and comment below with a screenshot! Once done, earn your Week 1 badge.
Not yet a Constant Contact customer but want to start crushing those goals? Start a free trial.
We’re excited to see your responses and develop your marketing strategy together!
Thanks for participating in the challenge. It's helpful to attach a specific number to your goals. You mention volume of new clients. Do you have a specific number you are trying to target? 100 more, a 10% increase? Having a number that you are working toward will help to measure your success!
This is all great information. One thing I would encourage you to do is to set a specific number for the amount of website visitors. 50 new visitors a month? A 12% increase? Getting a specific number set for that goal will allow you to measure to see if you are hitting your targets!
Hi @LindaMc, Great job starting this challenge! I encourage you to get specific about increasing membership numbers. Is there a number you are trying to reach? The rest of this is great!
Hi @TerryK59, I'd love to see you get specific with a number that you can measure: A CTR of X%, X views on your site, X number of followers. @Chris-S also has some good suggestions for you!
Hi @KatrinaC834 ! This is a great start. I can tell you've put thought into this. I'd recommend applying numbers to your goals, such as "increase applications by 10%", for instance. This way, you can use that data in a meaningful way.
Hey @LibbyH7 ! This is a great goal. Here are some things to keep in mind as you are working towards that training registration goal:
Looking at your target audience, they are varied with peers (assuming you know them already) and potential peers. Your communications through email can use different language and ways to draw them in, showing what is most important to those specific audiences. Will supervisors learn something different from a peer? You can make this known
Reminder emails. If this is in-person, you'll want to start teasing the event. If people have to travel or make commitments, they'll have to make arrangements for transportation. Leading up to the event, you can send out emails to non-registrants, saying how many spots are left or offer a discount if it's paid.
I hope these are a few helpful tips! Keep an eye out next week for designing great emails. Maybe you can start planning it out!
