Ready Set Send Challenge Week 1: Goal Setting

[TraceyLeeDavis]

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!

[Chris-S]

@VictorFarmingtonL Hey! Just wanted to say I'm a big reader and I love my local library, so this is totally speaking to my heart. 📔❤️

Great job on setting your SMART goals! Your goals of making people aware, getting people to sign up for events, and raising money are clearly defined and in line with the overall goal of getting the community involved. Using list growth, click rates on content, and donation amounts provides tangible metrics to track success. 

Suggestions for improvement

Make sure to use targetable goals, for example, engage 1,000 new residents by promoting events, driving library card applications, and securing donations. Try some cool ways to get more people to sign up for library cards and donate, like offering special deals or rewards (like helping out the community or getting a shoutout).

Make sure to join us in week 2 of the ready, set, send challenge.

We welcome you to share the latest email you have sent to your subscribers, and our experts will be happy to provide you with suggestions on how to enhance your objectives.

[YouthMinistry222]

A little different working in a church / non-profit!

[Nick_S]

Hi @YouthMinistry222,

I love the detailed responses. Thanks for sharing! Have you done drives like this in the past? Do you feel like it was successful and there is something you can replicate? If this is for a youth program, I assume you are primarily engaging with their parents, right? Maybe there are testimonials from other parents about how much their children have enjoyed the program that could be included? You might already be doing this, just brainstorming!

[NKarin]

[Nick_S]

Hi @NKarin,

As someone that was a caregiver to my elderly father, I can appreciate the goals you're trying to achieve and provide resources for those who need them, but not realize they are available. Thank you for sharing!

[KellyR9206]

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.

[Caitlin_M]

Wow @KellyR9206! I love the amount of detail that went into this. It's never too late to change your strategy by targeting your contacts by zip code. We have an Update Profile email template that you can use to send out to your contacts and ask them to update their contact information to receive information that is most relevant to them.

[StPat2844]

[Caitlin_M]

Hi @StPat2844  This is a great goal! I like how you're targeting those who frequently read your emails. They're already engaged so they're more likely to take another step in helping your organization. Something I'll suggest is to include what programs or services are benefitting from their donations and offerings, such as an extra $5 will help to buy a personal hygiene product. Good luck and I hope we'll see you in Week 2! Share one of those emails with us!

[user405849]

 

[Caitlin_M]

Hi @user405849. Great detail for what you'll do on each marketing channel. As you post on your channels, maybe include a thermometer image that fills in as people donate. Or a cactus if you want to keep the Arizona theme!

[Caitlin_M]

WOW! Look at all these goals. You all have crushed Week 1. Your badge is on its way.

➡️ Now that you've set your goals and have a clear expectation of what you're working towards, hop into Week 2 of the Ready, Set, Send Challenge where we start to turn our attention to the ins-and-outs of crafting the perfect email. Complete the weekly activity and earn your next badge!

[Marc-AndreN]

[Caitlin_M]

Hi @Marc-AndreN. This is a good start. Let's think more about how you'll accomplish this goal. What will you include in your emails to acquire new donors? What will make them want to give? Think about sharing stories of those who have benefited from donations or what you were able to accomplish with past donations. 

If you've sent out an email in the past, feel free to share it in our Week 2 post. We're discussing how to create effective emails and we'd be happy to give it a peek!  

[AlexT2778]

[Abigail_S]

Awesome goals! One question would be how are you going to increase your response rates? The "how" of a goal is just as important as setting the goal. I think you have a great goal in mind, so how will you be designing your emails with this goal in mind? You can also head over to week 2 of the challenge and submit your email idea! 

[RandyE01]

Completed Goal Setting Assignment Worksheet

[Caitlin_M]

Hi @RandyE01! Would you like to share the worksheet here in the Community? This will award you the Week 1 badge.

[user3500695]

[Chris-S]

Hi @user3500695, Is it possible for you to upload a bigger image of your SMART goals? I am having trouble reading the current one.

[SheridanM]