Marketing objectives are the broad-based statements and goals of an organization. Companies use these objectives to align marketing activities with their mission and goals. In order to determine which marketing objectives are ideal, an organization will use a SWOT analysis to analyze their strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. What activities do we need to implement to arrive at our goals? In order for a company to achieve these goals, the objectives help keep them on track on specific points that need improvement. All objectives must align with SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time frame) in order to be effective. As technology continues to advance, companies are now able to handle clientele through their CRM (customer relationship management) software, which will allow them to record detailed information. Constantly managing your existing customers as well as promoting to new ones is an on-going objective of many firms. An objective could be determined on how to keep current customers satisfied and happy, while another objective is how to gain the attention of new clients all at the same time.
In essence, the objectives/SMART goals of a company’s marketing plan will require hard work and dedication to achieve the specifications of each to serve their purpose. How many visitors do you want to the site? Determine a specific number, not just “more.” A company needs to track these goals and see how they are impacting the business overall, and each objective simultaneously. Do not set un-reachable expectations. Objectives need to be direct statements of what the company is capable of, not to set the team up for failure no matter how hard they work towards each. An organization must provide their teams with the appropriate resources and needs in order to meet these objectives. Set a realistic end date, a specific month, date and year. Another resource an organization can apply to these SMART goals are key performance indicators (KPI) that they will use to determine how they are progressing toward each goal. Tracking the number of webpage views, page likes and un-subscribers are all KPI’s that will relay beneficial information on the progress. In simple terms, an organization creates a SWOT analysis to determine their objectives, SMART goals are developed to reach these objectives, and KPIs are used for data-tracking of each goal.
Legally speaking marketing objectives and their ensuing campaigns should be honest. The desire to reach objectives shouldn’t lead to dishonesty. Objectives should be attainable, and to the benefit of the company, but they shouldn’t set the bar so high as to overwhelm those doing the work or to mislead potential investors and customers. Setting the bar too high may lead to big investment, which may in turn lead to a big decline in value if the results don’t meet expectations. Most importantly marketers should always be straight with the customers, they should paint a picture of the product in its best form, but no more. False advertising is a gateway to distrust, failure and lawsuits. Ultimately you can never truly go wrong with honesty and transparency.
References:
Ranasinghe, M. (2012, February 22). How to Develop Marketing Objectives. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.slideshare.net/maxwellranasinghe/how-to-develop-marketing-objectives
Strategy Beam. (2019, March 12). How To Align Your Marketing Strategy With Your Business Goals. Retrieved September 20, 2020, from https://www.strategybeam.com/blog/how-to-align-your-marketing-strategy-with-your-business-goals/
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