Before venturing into the realm of strategic marketing plans, it’s imperative to define what we want to accomplish. Whether the objective is to enhance brand visibility, boost sales, or explore new markets, aligning our marketing strategy with these business goals is paramount. In this article, we explore how to create objectives that provide a roadmap for entrepreneurs to navigate the complexities of goal-setting, and define models for assigning ownership of your goals.
UNDERSTANDING OUR BUSINESS GOALS
Before delving into the intricacies of a strategic marketing plan, entrepreneurs must have a clear understanding of our business goals. What are we aiming to achieve? We might want to increase brand awareness, drive sales, or expand into new markets, for example.
We recommend the SMART model for setting goals to ensure our objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. SMART goals are a popular framework used for setting effective and achievable objectives. When creating goals using the SMART criteria, each element ensures that the goals are well-defined, quantifiable, realistic, aligned with broader objectives, and have a clear timeframe.
Here’s a breakdown of each component:
- Specific:
- Clearly define the goal to avoid ambiguity.
- Specify exactly what needs to be accomplished.
- Answer the questions: Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How.
- Measurable:
- Establish concrete criteria for measuring progress.
- Use quantitative metrics to track success.
- Define how we will know when the goal is achieved.
- Achievable:
- Ensure the goal is realistic and attainable.
- Consider available resources and constraints.
- Goals should be challenging but still possible.
- Relevant:
- Confirm the goal aligns with broader objectives and the company’s mission.
- Ensure that achieving the goal contributes meaningfully to the overall strategy.
- Consider the relevance of the goal in the current context.
- Time-bound:
- Set a specific timeframe for achieving the goal.
- Establish deadlines for intermediate milestones.
- Use time constraints to build a sense of urgency and help with prioritization.
Grab our SMART goals template for free below.
WHO OWNS WHAT TASK – DEFINING RESPONSIBILITY
When putting together our goals, it’s important to think about who will be involved in accomplishing them. RACI models are often used by companies around the world to designate who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, and Informed:
- RESPONSIBLE: The individual(s) with responsibility for the task or deliverable, who take ownership for developing and completing the project.
- ACCOUNTABLE: The accountable person or people ensuring the team sticks to their deadlines, and ultimately, owns the project completion.
- CONSULTED: Consulted team members’ opinions and input helps guide the progress of the project.
- INFORMED: Informed team members just need to stay in the loop, getting regular updates throughout the project.
We’ve also seen similar models used at larger organizations, trying to streamline this model even further. For example, DAI is common but can lack clarity on owners and assigned tasks. DAI breaks out into:
- DECIDE: Who makes decisions for the team? They ultimately own the project, and are responsible for it – but may not be involved in the day to day.
- ADVISE: Which team members need to be consulted in order to complete the project? They are not actively involved but provide information and insight to help move the project along.
- INFORM: Who are the people who need to stay in the loop, getting regular updates throughout the project?
Models like these can help us delegate and assign responsibility to accomplish our goals. A clear understanding of the people involved is critical to ensuring our project comes to completion and hits milestones along the way. Even if we are a solopreneur and a team of one, this process can be helpful to consider if there are tasks or areas of a goal that could potentially be delegated to other resources.
TAKE ACTION
Take the first step in creating a Strategic Marketing Plan by using these tools to create, or update, business goals. Remember, clarity and precision in goal-setting are indispensable ingredients for success. As our business charts a path toward brand prominence, increased revenue, or market expansion, the SMART model is an important tool to help clarify our priorities. RACI, DAI and other models help us refine these further so we can action our SMART goals.
In the next part of this series, we talk about getting a better understanding of our target audience, and some of the tools available to help us conduct audience research.
