With 2023 just around the corner, it’s that time of year when we all start to plan our new marketing goals.
Where do you hope your business will be in 12 months’ time? Wherever you want it to be, chances are you’ll need some marketing support to help you get there.
“We’re not focused on the numbers. We’re focused on the things that produce the numbers.”
Tim Cook, Apple CEO.
Business goals and marketing objectives go hand in hand. When we think about what we want our businesses to achieve in the next 12 months, it’s always worth considering your marketing objectives at the same time.
We believe that at the core of all marketing activities there are desired business outcomes.
Making sure your marketing activities align with your business goals seems like an obvious point, but one that many companies overlook, simply because they consider each plan independently.
We may be bias, but we believe it’s critical that marketing budgets and plans are entwined with your business plan – to ensure optimal business growth – alongside realistic expectations for your organisation.
Whether you’re seeking small-scale results such as directing more traffic to your website, or ground-breaking outcomes, like launching a new product range, you always need to ensure your marketing is focused on achieving your strategic business goals.
In this blog, we’ll talk you through how to set realistic marketing goals that can help grow your business in 2023.
Step 1: Assess your market
First up, you need to analyse your current situation.
By collating information on the internal and external environment that impacts your business, you’ll build a substantial insight into your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities for growth and what your competition is up to. It will also help inform your budgets, preferred marketing channels and any limitations that could impact your marketing activities.
It’s also worth considering what you’ve done in the past and what you could have improved on, to learn and grow from your own experiences.
Step 2: Examine and re-evaluate your target audience
Your target audience isn’t always the same, especially if your business has changed. Therefore, your marketing strategy needs to reflect this moving audience. A few things to consider:
- Are their age, gender, or demographics the same as they always were?
- Have they become more local, national, or international?
- Have their interests changed over time?
- Has their digital media usage changed?
- How has your competition changed your audience?
- Have their needs evolved or stayed the same?
Once you’ve answered these questions, you should have a clearer understanding of your current target audience. This, in turn, will help you with your marketing significantly.
Step 3: Define your S.M.A.R.T Goals
S.M.A.R.T goals are a great way to create actionable marketing plans to support your longer-term, wider business objectives. They eliminate guesswork and create a clear timeline, so that you can track your milestones with ease.
Standing for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Timebound, S.M.A.R.T goal setting helps you to assess the most effective course of action and establish a clear to do list.
There’s nothing better than a clear and concise to do list, is there?
Step 4: Build your strategy
To achieve a higher return on your marketing spend, you need to take your goals from step three, and model the appropriate mix of tactics to achieve them.
To do this, you should think about the entire lifecycle of your product or service – from new product launches, all the way through the funnel to customer retention.
Think about how you want to generate new leads, where you want to spend your budget, and how you want to treat those that turn into customers.
Do you want to direct more traffic to a landing page on your website, start an email newsletter, or increase engagement on social media? Now’s the time to put all your learning into a clear and comprehensive calendar, so you know what you need to do, and where you’re going to do it.
Step 5: Stick to the plan (sort of)
When you’ve got your plan together, your priorities, and processes will become clear. But it shouldn’t be set in stone. Think of it like a map that will guide you through a constantly changing landscape.
Be sure to keep your eye on the market, your activity, and your goals, so you can constantly evolve your marketing, and pivot when necessary.
Once you’ve completed this process, you should have a marketing plan that will drive a high return on your marketing spend, no matter what your budget is.
Give us a call to chat through your goals, and we’ll help guide you through the rest.
Unsure as to what a marketing plan actually is? We wrote about it: What IS a Marketing Plan anyway? https://octima.co.uk/what-is-a-marketing-plan-anyway/
