With a new year comes the opportunity for new goals. Now’s your chance to really figure out what you need to focus on to make your marketing the best its ever been.

But defining and prioritizing your annual 2018 marketing goals can seem daunting – after all, there are so many channels to focus on, tons of tools available, countless people to answer to and things are constantly changing. Where do you start? How do you ensure your goals are helping you and not just making your job harder?

The experts at Pomerantz know how to help you answer those questions and create a plan for defining and prioritizing your marketing goals – it’s what we do! Here are some valuable tips to help you get your head around your goals. (pssst…don’t want to try it on your own? Reach out to our team now for help. Just fill out the form on the bottom of that page, and we’ll be in touch ASAP!)

Be Specific

It’s not enough to just say, “I want MORE” or “I want BETTER.” Sure, that may capture the general idea of what you want, but it’s not an achievable target. Isn’t half the fun of goals crossing them off your list once they’ve been reached? So put a number to it. Instead of just wanting MORE leads and sales or BETTER Google rankings and social media presence, define it.

Look to the Past

One of the best ways to start when it comes to defining goals is to look to your past performance. If you’ve been getting two leads a month for the past year, it’s not super realistic to think you can immediately jump to 100 a month. Back that number down a bit. What number seems realistic?

Think about what you’ve had to do in the past to get to where you are now. Are you willing and ready to contribute that amount of work and money multiple times over to achieve that goal?

Make it Challenging but Achievable

Still want to reach 100 leads a month? Think about how you can incrementally, realistically get there. Maybe state that you want to be getting 100 a month by the end of the year (and make sure you have the budget to back it up!) or by next year. Or if your company is growing and you have the budget to add to your support (internal or outsourced), hire the help you need.

Either way, make sure you’re thinking through how achievable your goals are. Goals need to challenge you and encourage you to work hard. But if they’re totally out of reach, you won’t put that much effort into it, knowing you’ll never reach them.

Start Big and Work Backward

Sticking with the 100 leads example, if you set that as your big goal for the year, create smaller goals that will contribute to its achievement. Perhaps you want to rank #1 for a few specific keywords that will drive potential leads to your site. Or maybe you want to provide three new, well-designed sales tools to your sales team to bring in leads.

Whatever your BIG GOAL for 2018 is, add a few supporting goals to help you get there. You’ll be making progress and have something to check off your list as the year passes.

Choose Goals that Get You Excited

Working toward a goal you don’t really care about won’t be nearly as successful as working on something in which you’re invested. Being authentic and true to your passions will lead to a much better result. Don’t just choose something because it sounds impressive to your bosses – they’re not the ones who’ll be working on it day in and day out. Find a way to align your passions to the ultimate business goals of your company.

Get the Team on Board

Finally, share that excitement! Get the team into the challenge and make sure you have their buy-in before you push a huge goal onto their plates. Being clear about your expectations of their involvement in achieving the goal will help them understand why they’re important to the process. You could even help them define their own goals in relation to your company’s larger goals.
On the flip side (and referenced above), you’ll also need to get your bosses, board or whomever you answer to invested in your goal. You’ll need their support (in finances, time or staffing) to meet your goal, and you want them to be just as excited about that target as you are.

Figure Out What Comes First

If you only set one big goal for the year and create smaller, supporting goals, prioritizing shouldn’t be too difficult. But if you have two, three or even four big goals (we don’t recommend having much more than that unless you have a whole lot of support), it can be challenging to know where to start.

Look at your whole list – does one jump out and scream, “Me first!” Maybe you recognize that it will give you the greatest return in the least amount of time, or maybe it’s the one your company is counting on the most. It could just be the one that gets your wheels turning – the one you immediately have the most ideas and excitement for.

You should also look at the day-to-day tasks you know need resources, and figure out which goal can fit in most easily to the resources you have available. Finally, you may just need to multitask and/or delegate. And if your goals are already overwhelming you, it’s time to go back to the beginning and refine that list. Or just hire more help!

Stay tuned for Part 2 of JUMPSTART 2018, where we’ll be talking all about target audiences!