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!

[TraceyLeeDavis]

Hi @MVPSports,

Let's get specific about two things in your worksheet: The specific number of followers and engagement, as well as the time frame. "We would love to increase our social following to X, as well as X% increase in engagement through September 23, 2025."  Making sure you get specific with those things will allow you to be able to successfully measure your results to see if you hit the mark or not! Keep it up!

[kirsten.blake]

 

[TraceyLeeDavis]

Hi @Kristen.blake, 
This is perfect! This is definitely a SMART goal! Well done! 

[TerryK59]

[Chris-S]

Hi @TerryK59 

Thanks for sharing your SMART goal worksheet. You have clearly identified the need to expand your branding and product visibility, which is an excellent goal for attracting new customers. Here are a few thoughts you could consider as you move forward. Totally up to you.

1. Have you thought about focusing on specific industries or customer segments that might need your services the most? For example, local businesses, nonprofits, or event planners could be especially in need of promotional products.

2. Combining email, Facebook, and signage is a great beginning! Have you considered utilizing automated email campaigns to effectively cultivate potential customers? An automated series can be set up for new contacts to share success stories and showcase how your products have aided other businesses in improving their visibility.

3. If you wanna get the word out, you should check out Constant Contact's social media ad options. Putting up ads on Instagram and Facebook can help get your stuff seen by more people, especially if you make cool pics of your stuff in use.

Have you considered utilizing SMS marketing? For companies that offer physical goods, SMS can be an effective method to notify potential customers of new deals or time-sensitive promotions. Keep up the excellent work!

[TraceyLeeDavis]

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!

[BettyS1010]

We are a church. So much of what you offer us is SELLING. We do not sell anything except. We promote volunteer activities.

[TraceyLeeDavis]

Hi @BettyS1010,

It is wonderful to see that you already have such a high open rate for your emails. The goal you put together here is definitely SMART! Keep it up!

[KatrinaC834]

[Caitlin_M]

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.

[LibbyH7]

We want to register 100 people for our January 2024 training

[Caitlin_M]

Hey @LibbyH7 ! This is a great goal. Here are some things to keep in mind as you are working towards that training registration goal:

1. 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
2. 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!

[user32634]

 

[LibbyH7]

Ambitious goal!

[Chris-S]

@user32634 

Your goals are about to take off like a traffic safety lover’s fantasy! Your SMART goals are solid:

• Goal: Achieving 2,000 registrations is quite an accomplishment, but setting smaller goals on a monthly or bi-weekly basis can assist you in reaching that ultimate goal.

• Timeline: That’s great; six months is just the right amount of time! Just remember to regularly review your "mirrors" (progress reports) to ensure you stay on track. (Do you catch my drift?) 🏎

As I was reviewing your objectives, I came up with a few suggestions that may be helpful. Feel free to take them or leave them.

• Automated emails are like cruise control, where you can set them up and then forget about them.
• Segmentation: Focus on your audience with the accuracy of a traffic cone.
• Boost your RSVPs with event tools that work like self-driving road signs.

You’ve got the road map—now floor it!

[BES]

This is my first time setting SMART goals. I know I will achieve them!

[Chris-S]

Hey, thanks for sharing, @BES  I checked it out and I have a few more questions. You don't have to answer them, but they're just to help you reach your goals. We all want to see you succeed!

A few questions to reflect on and refine your approach:

1. Who is your intended audience? I remember you mentioned wanting to reach financial institutions in various states. Can you provide any information on which specific group within these institutions would see the most advantage from your service? Are you primarily targeting decision-makers or those in operational roles?

2. It's great that you're utilizing both digital and offline methods. Have you thought about how you will monitor engagement from your offline tactics, like the proposal boxes? Consider utilizing digital tools like QR codes or landing pages to gauge interest.

3. You’ve chosen click-through rate, close rate, and ROI as key metrics, which is excellent. Would it also be beneficial to monitor other engagement signals, such as content interaction frequency and email proposal opens?

Lastly, it’s awesome that you’ve aligned this goal with your broader company restructuring. Keeping this in focus will help ensure that your marketing efforts stay relevant and impactful.

Keep up the fantastic work, and I’m looking forward to seeing how your marketing goals progress! 😊

[WhisperingC]

[TraceyLeeDavis]

Hi @WhisperingC ,

Let's examine what success will look like for your goal. Creating a business presence is certainly a good goal, so think about how you can measure that. You mention social media shares and event attendance. Try to provide some specific numbers: 10 attendees at each event, 5 post shares. When you quantify your goal with a specific number, it is then possible to measure your results. Keep it up!

[TimothyD706]

• What influenced you to choose this goal? I picked this goal because I am new to the marketing field, and I would like to build my confidence up and not shoot to high with an unrealistic goal for my first time.

[Caitlin_M]

Hi @TimothyD706. It looks like a blank sheet was uploaded. Were you able to fill it out? We'd love to know more about those SMART goals!