What are marketing objectives?
Marketing objectives are the results that a brand wants to achieve from its marketing activities. They need to be measurable (and realistic) so that you can strategically and purposefully plan your efforts. Not to be confused withmarketing goals,Identify your goalsAsYou'll know if you met a goal, ie "Increase voice share by 20% by the end of Q3" (goal) vs. "Be considered an industry leader" (goal).
Why marketing objectives are important
Have you ever tried throwing spaghetti at the wall and see what sticks to it? Most of the time it gets chaotic. Without marketing goals, you don't have a concrete way to steer your marketing ship. They not only give your team direction and a goal to work towards, but they also help you with follow-up andmeasure ifarethe efforts are worth it.In addition, it is important to establish clear goals to determine whichspecific marketing tactics and tasksYou will run to catch up with them. When you're ready, you can organize your goals with yoursFree marketing calendar.
Below are examples of 17 marketing goals and objectives that you can use in your business.
1. Improve brand reputation
Improving the way customers view your brand results in better reviews, higher customer satisfaction ratings, and a more enjoyable customer experience. The happier customers are, the more repeat purchases you'll secure, and the higher your profits will be in the long run.Example target:Get and keep a 90% positive result part of the votebefore the end of the calendar year so potential customers know, like and trust us.You can use a social listening tool to track your voice share. Those
2. Increase brand exposure
The more visible your brand is, the better chance you have of reaching potential customers. Increasing your brand exposure can seem like getting featured on different platforms or posting more on the channels you're already active on.Example target:Publish 4 articles each month on external sources that our audience follows to increase brand exposure.SaaSlaunchrran a guest blogging campaignto drastically increase traffic to your clients' websites.
3. Optimize brand positioning
Having a clear path forward means knowing exactly who you are and what you want to say. Identifying your market position will help you communicate your USP and attract the right customers and customers.Example target:By the end of the month, define the brand positioning statement and communication frameworks so our team understands our strategic differentiators from the competition.Mailchimp's communication and style guide will help you maintain a consistent message within your market.
4. Increase traffic
More traffic means more conversions. By focusing on bringing new potential customers to your website, you can improve your search engine rankings, improve your industry reach, and access more detailed information.Example target:Try 3 new traffic generation methods each month to increase traffic by 3% month over month.Google Analytics can tell you which sources are driving the most traffic to your website.
5. Increase pipeline potential
As the number of prospects in your sales pipeline increases, the chance of converting more people increasesin factCustomers. Even adding just one or two new prospects to the mix each month can have a big impact on your sales and profits. The more specific you can be with the numbers, the better, as they are much easier to track and measure.Example target:Increase website conversion rates by 2% by the end of Q2, allowing us to increase the number of leads in our marketing-to-sales pipeline from 500 to 510.TouchBistro used Facebook adsto expand your lead pipeline to over 135 demos per month.
6. Diversify your sources of leads
Diversifying your sources of leads means finding new ways to attract and convert customers, whether it's through social media, paid ads, or guest blogging on external platforms. This helps you reach virgin markets and reach customers you might not have found otherwise.Example target:Test 2 new lead generation sources each month in 2022 to find at least 2 new successful demand generation methods that we will implement by the end of the year.
7. Attract more prospects from existing markets
You're unlikely to get offinpotential customers from your currently active platforms. Experiment with different ways to convert more people you already know or are on your way.Example target: Roll out content updates to every blog post by the end of the calendar year to convert 30% of our website visitors into potential sales leads.Shopify has a number of different content updates to appeal to different market segments.
8. Starter product
Launching a new product can bring a number of benefits to your brand: reaching new customers, improving brand awareness and consolidating it as one of the best brands in your market. However, launching a new product involves many steps, so it's important that you plan strategically to reach each milestone.Example target:Define the go-to-market strategy for Product A by the end of the week so the team can create all the content before the launch date.Eight Sleep has partnered with IFTTT for its direct marketing planThis included an initial email, a landing page to educate customers about the new product, and a promotional campaign on social media that resulted in a lot of buzz about the new product.
9. Product quality improvement.
Product quality can affect other areas of your business, including brand reputation and customer satisfaction. If you can ensure that the quality of your product is the best it can be, you will improve the customer experience and generate more positive reviews.Example target:Release Product A without errors by the end of the month.
10. Attract more customers from existing markets
Unlike the acquisitionprospects, Attracting customers actually means getting people to buy from you. Of course, the more customers you have, the more sales you will generate, but it will also increase brand awareness and market share.Example target:Implement external tactics to get 5% more customers month over month through the end of the fiscal year.Trello encourages its existing customers to share its product with their friends and family to increase its user base.
11. Open new markets
Opening new markets gives you access to more prospects and helps you build a brand presence in different areas. Additionally, positioning in new markets can set you apart from your competitors and ensure you stand out.Example target:Examine the competition in Market A through the end of the first quarter so we understand how to differentiate Product A positioning to gain new market share.
12. Retain existing customers
ESit costs 5 times more to attract new customersto sell to existing customers, and those who have already bought from you will likely continue to buy from you, spending more on each purchase. Retaining your best customers is critical to your bottom line and ensuring brand loyalty.Example target:Reduce bugs to zero at every feature release, reducing user churn to 3% by the end of Q4.GrooveHQ lo hizoReduced customer churn by 71%simply defining why customers are cancelling.
13. Increase efficiency
Being efficient means you can get more done in less time at (hopefully) less cost. This can include batch processing tasks so you can create more products or build better systems so you can fill larger orders or target corporate clients.Example target:Publish 4 blog posts each week until the end of the calendar year.
14. Increase sales
VonCourseYou want to increase your sales, who doesn't want that? But as a marketing objective, you need to dig deeper. Think about how you can increase sales and what activities you can do to generate more sales and get more customers.Example target:Launch 4 new products at the end of the fiscal year to increase sales.
15. Increase your profit margin
It's all very well generating a lot of sales, but if your profit margins are thin, you may be making less than you think. To increase your margin, you can look to other manufacturers or change your product positioning to offer more value to customers (and therefore can justify higher fees).Example target:Improve brand positioning on 10 existing products by the end of the calendar year to increase product value so that we can increase prices on these product lines.Grammarly encourages its customers to sell the premium package where they can unlock more value (and pay more).
16. Improve the customer experience
The customer experience is one of the most important parts of business today. Get it wrong and customers will quickly switch to a competitor. But what does the enhancement look like in action? This may mean streamlining the customer support process or creating a simpler onboarding system.Example target: Reduce UX challenges on Product A to improve Net Promoter Scores (NPS) to more than 70%.skill cornerthey wanted to improve their customer experience, so they created an immersive website that better showcased the product's software.
17. Increase customer defense
Your customers are your best sellers. Word of mouth is still an incredibly powerful way to reach new prospects, and getting your existing customers to instantly help will bring trust and credibility to your brand.Example target: Implement a customer ambassador program at the end of the calendar year for our best customers to introduce our product to new prospects.ConvertKit has an affiliate program that allows their best customers to earn some moneyproduct marketing.
Link your SMART marketing objectives to your marketing objectives
Marketing objectives are the overall results you want to achieve and set for your team. Marketing objectives are the rungs you need to complete to reach your goal. You've probably come across SMART goals before, but to recap, they should be:
- Specific
- Measurable
- Accessible
- Important
- Punctual
Your goals should be the specific building blocks that will help you achieve your initial goals. For best results, each should build on the other as follows:Learn more: How to Set SMART Marketing Goals You Can AchieveAnd youmarketing objectiveIf your goal is to increase your online conversion rates by 25% in a year, you could set a SMART goal:
- Increase the ranking of 10 landing pages to the top 3 on Google by optimizing them for specific keywords.
- Reduce abandoned carts by 50% over the next 12 months.
And youmarketing objectiveIf you want to reach more people aged 18-35 with your brand and product, you can set a SMART goal like:
- Build an active presence on Instagram and Snapchat, with each account surpassing 1,000 followers by the end of June 2023.
- Host a themed book club aimed at engaging our audience of 2,000 active members by March 2023.
Each of your goals and the overall goal should be related to your overall business goal. It's important to be specific here: use specific numbers, set deadlines, and highlight the results you want to bring to life.