The year 2017 has begun, so it's a great time to sum up and make new plans. I mean not only plans like: "I'll lose 5 kg by the holidays", but also company plans. If you have a company and you want it to be profitable, what do you need most? Customers who will want to use your services and buy the products you have to offer. So you have to announce to the world that you exist, you operate and you have an offer that may interest them. You need effective marketing. So where to start with marketing activities?
Contents
Set a goal
What is the SMART method?
How to use the SMART method in practice?
Why is setting goals important?
Set a goal
It seems so simple, right? I can hear you getting offended and saying: "Well, I guess it's obvious that my goal is to increase sales, gain new customers, enter specific markets." However, until you sit greece business email list down and think about what your main goal is, and put it in some framework, it won't be your goal at all. It will be just a dream that you want to fulfill, but you don't have any plan to make it happen. That's why I want to help you set a GOAL now, and the SMART method will be helpful.
What is the SMART method?
I heard about this method some time ago and I really liked it. Following its recommendations, we can choose all the parameters of the goal we want to achieve. Its name comes from the first letters of the parameters that we should take into account when setting the goal.
According to this method, the goal should be:
S - simple. You need to define in a simple way what you want to achieve
M - measurable. The goal should be measurable.
A - achievable. The goal must be within reach.
R - relevant. The goal cannot be something that is irrelevant to your company.
T - timely defined. You need to enter the assumptions into a time frame.
How to use the SMART method in practice?
Keeping in mind the parameters that should characterize the goal, you can set goals such as:
– acquiring 3 customers within a month,
– collecting 1,000 leads within the first half of the year,
– acquiring 10,000 UU/month within a year,
– doubling the sales value within 3 months, etc., etc.
Notice that each of these goals meets the SMART rules. Each is simple, measurable, relevant and time-bound. It must also be achievable, so you have to measure your strength against your intentions. No rational person entering the market expects to immediately carve out a huge piece of the pie for themselves and take over half of the market in a given niche.
This does not mean that you should not aim high. On the contrary, I wish that the effects of your actions exceed your goals. However, it is better to achieve your goals faster and set the next ones, higher and more audacious, than to be frustrated that you do not manage to do it.
Why is setting goals important?
By setting goals, you indicate where your business should be in a month, six months, or a year. However, setting goals alone is not enough. To get there, you need to create an action plan that will get you there.
If you want to acquire new customers, then perhaps a well-thought-out and properly targeted Facebook ad will be helpful.
If you want to acquire new leads, consider whether you can create a product that will encourage people to sign up for your list. For some time, I offered an e-book called “Google Analytics Basics for Small Business Owners and Bloggers” as a lead magnet, and thanks to it, my list grew significantly.
If you want to increase your sales, analyze which activities you have conducted so far have proven to be the most effective, and try to increase their intensity.
I encourage you to create a list of goals at the beginning of the year. I am currently reviewing mine from last year and I have to admit that I did not manage to achieve all of my goals. However, I am trying to draw conclusions and lessons for the future, so that at the end of 2017 I will be able to say with a clear conscience that in 2017 all of my goals were achieved.
