How to Create & Achieve Marketing Goals in 2021

As B2B buying and selling ramp up after the pandemic, it is more important than ever to have the right goals in place. Without them, you’ll risk missing out on great opportunities in the second half of 2021.

Benefits of Effective Goal Setting

Goal setting should be step one in any endeavor. Knowing your goal lets you create a framework around it and get it done. With a goal firmly in mind, you can assess your efforts and know if you are really moving in the right direction. Plus, you can capture important lessons learned along the way.

Risk of Not Setting Goals

Businesses that do not set goals have little chance of reaching their full potential. Instead, they tend to drift and rely on whatever strengths develop spontaneously. This leaves them constantly reacting to changes in the market, especially competitor activity, instead of charting their own path.

How to Set and Achieve Goals in 2021

1. Set SMART Goals

A SMART goal is:

Specific
Measurable
Attainable
Relevant
Time-Based

A goal must meet all these criteria for your teams to recognize progress and achievement in the context of the goal. Remember, every strategic goal includes sub-projects and initiatives, so it is a wise idea to focus on only one or two major strategic goals for each division, department, or team.

2. Define KPIs Around Your Goal

Key Performance Indicators are used to tell you whether you are moving toward your goal. For example, early in a website’s life, monthly traffic is a major KPI. Later, conversion rate – the percentage of traffic that turns into customers – becomes more relevant. What measurable, relevant KPIs should each team hold?

3. Establish Milestones to Check Progress

Often, the outcome a business wants is complex and relies on several inputs. Saying “we want 10 new clients in 30 days” is often a dead end, but rigorously following the processes that lead to new client acquisition is not. Instead of having a projected end date to hit your target, define the milestones you’ll reach on the way.

4. Evaluate Your Data and Revise Your Approach

With the right KPIs in place and relevant data being collected, you’ll see whether you’re moving briskly toward your milestones. Where you detect under-performance, look at the underlying factors and what could change.

AIMG’s goal-based industrial marketing strategy gets bottom-line results sooner. Contact us to learn more.