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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Awesome goals @OAGDStaff! How many registrants would you like to see? If you have a number associated with the goal, it'll feel even sweeter when you get to it (or surpass it)! Please check back in with us after the challenge and let us know if you've seen any increase. Also- check out the rest of the challenge weeks and see how we can help you obtain these goals in other ways!
Abigail St Jean Community Program ManagerHelp others find this post by giving it kudos. |  |
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Hi @MollyB870, it's great that you're now tracking people and events.
Because your demographic is so wide (18-80), consider segmenting your list based on age. Perhaps young, middle age and older and the copy and pictures should reflect that segment. In addition, consider sending a survey to ask about their experience and for those who complete it, they can bring a free guest.
If you'd like to get a critique of your email, reply with a link to it and I'll be happy to share thoughts.
We have been managing email programs for small businesses nationwide for over 14 years and you may find some of these articles related to email marketing, of interest.
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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I started as a Communications Specialist at Southside Electric Cooperative in August. The monthly internal and external newsletter is a big part of my job,
Great goal @user5777807! What's your current branding throughout your newsletters? Check out the rest of the weeks challenges and you can submit your newsletter in week 2 so we can review!
Abigail St Jean Community Program ManagerHelp others find this post by giving it kudos. | |
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I used Google Sheets to track my campaign/goal?
The sales team asked for the second campaign and I suggested the first campaign.
I am trying to get the team to think of some value added content for our customers/leads. They are finding it overwhelming.
Hi @RitaP - love your title of Marketing Legend!
I'm unclear what you mean by "The sales team asked for the second campaign and I suggested the first campaign."
The value added content can be anything that helps customers use your product better (what is the product?). Special instructions, tips & tricks, hidden features or types of people who use the product. What else would you want these people to know?
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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Hey @user065571 thanks for sharing your SMART goals with us. The goals are pretty specific, especially when it comes to who we're trying to reach and how we want to promote. But maybe explaining "client touches" a bit more. What exactly does that mean? Are we talking about newsletters, social media, or something else?
Your numbers (Opens, Clicks, Unsubscribes) are looking good. Maybe try setting some specific goals for each one, like aiming for a 20% open rate or keeping unsubscribes under 5%. Just make sure they're doable with the resources you have. It might help to compare them to our past performance to make sure they’re doable. And you've made it clear how these goals fit into the bigger picture for the company. Don't forget to mention how hitting these goals will help the company as a whole.
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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The marketing goal is super clear -reach out to real estate investors and turn 'em into customers. But it'd be even better if you could explain how you're gonna organize all the contacts.
If you're using Microsoft Excel to keep track of how many deals you've closed with each client, that's a great idea! You might wanna think about adding in some other cool stats too, like how many people you're turning into customers or how many new leads you're bringing in.
You might want to add more ways to see how well you’re connecting with people. You could check how many people are opening your emails or responding to your QR code flyers. It will give you a better idea of how your marketing is doing. Just a friendly suggestion!
If you work on these things, you can make some really good goals that’ll help your marketing go well.
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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Hey @CarolynS13! Good start to your goals! It might help to put things into perspective if you attach an actual number you want to see your customers grow by. Do you want to acquire 10 new customers? 50? By attaching a number to the goal you can measure it more effectively.
Awesome start! Be sure to lock in for weeks 2 and 3 and we'll help you advance your goals even more!
Abigail St Jean Community Program ManagerHelp others find this post by giving it kudos. | |
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Great goals @MikeL3205! We can't wait to see what else you contribute in weeks 2 & 3!
Abigail St Jean Community Program ManagerHelp others find this post by giving it kudos. | |
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JimP925
Jim Pierce Jr
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