How Goal Setting Can Transform Your Marketing
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.
Your assignment:
- Complete the Creating Goals and Measuring Success worksheet to create your SMART goals. This should take 15 minutes or less.
- Reply below with a screenshot of your worksheet.
- What influenced you to choose this goal?
- 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.
Extra credit: Want to learn more about goal setting? Watch our webinar: Decoding Online Marketing Success: Your Guide to Planning, Reviewing, and Executing
Resources:
- Handout: Foundations for Online Marketing Success worksheet
- Blog: SMART Goals
- Community link: Q&A: Decoding Online Marketing Success: Your Guide to Planning, Reviewing, and Executing
TL;DR
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!
Tracey Lee Davis ZingPop Social Media Help others find this post by giving it kudos. Note: I am not a Constant Contact employee. |  |
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Hi @user1693741,
This is excellent, and I think it is a totally reasonable goal! Good luck with it and the rest of the challenge!
Tracey Lee Davis ZingPop Social Media Help others find this post by giving it kudos. Note: I am not a Constant Contact employee. | |
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Hi @OliverBrugger,
You are off to a great start here! The only thing I would adjust would be to put a specific number for the increase in your list, wither it be a percentage of growth or a set number. Keep up the great work on the challenge!
Tracey Lee Davis ZingPop Social Media Help others find this post by giving it kudos. Note: I am not a Constant Contact employee. | |
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Great goals @KieraR8
First off—major kudos on these SMART goals! 🎯 You’ve really got a solid game plan here. Focusing on amputees, individuals with limb differences, and healthcare professionals is a well-targeted approach.
Your marketing goal is clear: you aim to increase newsletter opens and grow the database by March 2025. I love it, but what’s your measurable goal? Do you want to increase open rates by 5, 10, or 15%?
I see you're all about balance – using a mix of traditional methods like letters and calls, along with digital channels. Covering all your bases. The key metrics you’re tracking—participants, support requests, and activity sign-ups — are spot on! But if you want to elevate your game even further, consider tracking more specific KPIs. For example, you could monitor newsletter open rates, click-through rates, or the number of people who go from reading your emails to attending your events.
Also, when it comes to your newsletter, don’t be afraid to throw in some catchy subject lines or maybe even a GIF or two—that could bump those opens even higher!
With December 2025 on your timeline, you’ve got plenty of runways to crush it. I’m excited to see your results and hopefully some fun newsletter experiments along the way!
Make sure to participate in our week 2 thread designing the perfect email
Elevate your marketing with Constant Contact's Professional Design Services! From eye-catching email templates to custom branding and social media graphics, our professional design services are tailored to boost your business's impact and engagement. |  |
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Looks like someone has completed their assignment! 🎯 You're definitely determined to achieve success, and I fully support it! 💼💪
With email, social media, and landing pages in your marketing arsenal, you’re ready to take on the world—and then some. Love that you’ve tied everything back to your broader business goals—growing your income by $6,000 will definitely keep the books balanced, and who doesn’t love seeing numbers climb in the right direction? Make sure you’re tracking key metrics beyond those income goals, like email open rates, social media engagement, or how many people clicked on your shiny new landing page. The more data, the better.
Elevate your marketing with Constant Contact's Professional Design Services! From eye-catching email templates to custom branding and social media graphics, our professional design services are tailored to boost your business's impact and engagement. | |
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Ready to get started!
Hey, great job on those SMART goals! It's awesome how you’re working on getting more people to know about Layton Systems by using LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook. Here are some ideas to make your plan even better:
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“Boosting brand awareness” is a good starting point, but it's even better to be more specific.
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It’s important to have clear goals for your social media strategy. For example, setting specific numerical targets for each platform can help you track your progress. For example, you can set a goal for how many new LinkedIn followers you want to gain in the next 6 months. This will provide you with a clear benchmark for success.
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You have a strong starting point with analytics, followers, and inquiries. However, it’d be beneficial to include additional metrics. Consider tracking engagement rates (likes, shares, comments), video views on YouTube, and website traffic from social posts. More data will provide a clearer picture of the effectiveness of your efforts.
You’ve got the bones of a great plan here—just a few tweaks, and you’ll be set to take your brand awareness game to the next level. Keep up the good work! 💪
Elevate your marketing with Constant Contact's Professional Design Services! From eye-catching email templates to custom branding and social media graphics, our professional design services are tailored to boost your business's impact and engagement. | |
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Hi there.
These are my goals..
@SusanL29 - Love that you have specific and measurable goals, that's so important! Consider digging deeper. Are those goals for new or existing customers? Will your messaging be different based on who they are? What about an incentive for new customers? Could be a coupon for a second purchase. Make sure that whatever marketing you create, whether email or social, reflects best practices. Email and social media appear easy to do, but it's hard to do it well - that will turn your marketing from ho-hum to outstanding.
These are two blog articles we wrote on those subjects and I hope you find them helpful:
As one the country's largest Solution Providers of Constant Contact, we can help you achieve your goals. To learn more, reach out!
David Fischer Solutions For Growth Help others find this post by giving it kudos. Note: I am not a Constant Contact employee. | |
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A little different working in a church / non-profit!
What influenced this goal? Our strategic plan and our need to provide information to our guests that is valuable to each of them.
We have seen a ton of success but wish we would have included the geographic information in the beginning.
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