9 Marketing Objectives to Pursue
in Your Strategic Plan
Many crazy scenarios come to mind on this one.
Would you ever take off in a plane without a flight plan? How about calling the travel agent to book a trip and asking her for a ticket. When she asks where you want to go you say, “I don’t know, anywhere?” Or how about the gal that walks out the door one day and decides to find a husband, no plan, no criteria, no idea of what she is looking for, she’s just going to marry the first guy who asks her. (Actuallly this last one probably happens more often than we can recount here.)
You should by now have done some research and discovered who your target market is and you should have some market data so now you can make some educated decision on what your goals should be. Your marketing objectives should be the means to achieve your sales objectives. You should come up with marketing objectives that address every group. Your marketing objectives should follow the same rules as the sales objectives, and be measurable. Even non numbers people like me will have to come up with some quantifiable goals that can be measured later to see if you reach them.
So here are tips for the goals and marketing suggestion portion of your plan.
1. Segment Your Target Market
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You should have marketing objectives that address each group in your target market. Each demographic in your target market should have a predefined message. If you are selling cell phones to teenagers and parents and seniors, the message is definitely not the same. I read an article recently about a Las Vegas resort that targets toddler to 92 years olds. What do you think, is the message unique for each market?
2. Good Data is a Good Goal
For this reason, you need to have good data about the sizes of your market, potential market, and your current customer base. To this data, add information such as recognized opportunities, your customers' buying rates, and other behavioral issues. This information will help you estimate the numbers you need to attach to your marketing objectives.
For example, imagine this scenario:
a. You know your 2,500 customers each bought an average of 2.5 of your widgets last year.
b. You've also identified a new market of 3,500 potential customers (at your current market share percentage) that you're estimating will buy an average of 2 widgets each for the year.
c. In addition, you've identified an opportunity to add a service contract for customers that would cost 10% of the product cost.
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| Know what you have to sell! |
Your marketing objective for existing customers could then be: To increase your current customers' buying rate by 20% and sell service contracts to 50% of those customers.
Your marketing objective for new customers could then be: Sell your widgets to 50% of the new market, create a buying rate within that group of 2 units per year, and sell service contracts to 50% of that group.
3. Marketing Goal of Your Website:
A large audience of fans or members
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| Establish success metrics for your website. |
Do not assume that if you build it, they will come, your goal for your websites should be:
a. Give good information that makes it a resource.
b. Make it interactive enough that it becomes “sticky” and people revisit
c. Use a blog to make it more interactive and “sticky”
d. Engage visitors through social media
e. Make sure your numbers are measurable and you get demographics and search results, a large number of visitors tell you if your goals are being met.
4. Marketing Goal for Sales of Products or Services
Yes this information has to be quantifiable but needs also to be set apart for various segments in the market place, you should have goals for and measure:
a. In person sales if you are brick and morter
b. Website conversions, those actually coming to your from your websiste.
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| Know when you have hit your marketing bulls eye. |
c. Social media sales: how many clients do you want to convert from your social media efforts such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook Fanpages
d. Direct sales, what is your goal for those you will set appointments with and call on
5. Marketing Objectives for Referrals from satisfied customers
Referral sales, how many sales should come from satisfied customers referring you. You should have a referral program in place and goals as to how many referrals you would like to have from each satisfied customer and also be prepared to reward them.
6. Goals for Leads to Potential Customers
Also if you have professional services businesses or businesses whose products or services are too complicated to be sold directly via the web. The object is to get interested visitors to minimally fill out a form with at least an email address so that the company can follow up and stay in touch or better yet get them to make an appointment to come in.
7. Establish Long-Term Marketing Goals and Work Backwards.
First you need daily short-term goals, but how will you know what they should be if you don’t know where you’d like to be three to five years from now? Once you have that big picture, then you can work backwards breaking this ideal scene down into short-term goals, defining these milestones that need to be achieved along the way to this long-term goal. You should keep a list of resources you need, set artificial deadlines for yourself and do the best to keep them. Also it’s important to follow an “ inch by inch” plan by breaking everything into bite size pieces.
Work backwards:
· Five years,
· Three years,
· Two Years,
· One Year,
· Six months,
· Ninety Days.
Remember the old adage, “Mile by mile,it’s a trial. Inch by inch it’s a cinch.”
Try limiting your ninety day plan to three specific goals that you want to accomplish. Write out each goal and put a due date next to it. Then write out each step that needs to be taken and what type of assistance do you need to accomplish it, what tools, what resources. Finally, take out your calendar and schedule in the time like you do your business appointments that make you money. This may seem like a passive activity but marketing is what is going to convert those suspects into clients by feeding your business pipeline. The way to stay on track with the commitment you have made to yourself by developing your plan is to put it in your calendar in indelible INK. No fair using white out.
8. Stay on Track by Staying Committed to Goals That Will Increase Your Bottom Line.
Beware of marketing goals that are just keeping you busy but don’t contribute directly to the long-term goas you have set up for yourself. Some people confuse activity with results, don’t be one of them. If you don’t believe your marketing goals are worthwhile, you won’t make the necessary effort to achieve them.
9. Start Your Day by Reviewing Your Marketing Goals.
Every morning review your goals. Keep them in plain view – by your desk or next to your computer. Having them constantly in front of you will keep you aware of opportunities that cross your path to help you achieve those goals. I like to keep them on the wall behind my computer and then I have three by five cards with one goal scattered around-in appointment books, books that I am reading, on the visor in my car and yes, on the bathroom and bedroom mirrors.
Watch for upcoming E-book on this subject, “Choosing Your Customers, Marketing to Them for Life.”
Expected release date October 1, 2011.
You can listen to a fifteen minute audio version similar to this blog at: 9 Objectives to Pursue in Your Strategic Marketing Plan
For More on this Topic:
"Folly of Marketing Plan in Your Head, 101 Compelling Reasons to Write One"
This blog post can be reproduced in its entirety with the following information:
© Joanne Quinn-Smith 2011, Monday Morning Marketeer™ 412-628-5048
Or on its unique radio channel at:
Joanne Quinn-Smith is the Creative Energy Officer of Dreamweaver Marketing Associates in Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania and an expert on Web 2.0 Branding.
Joanne has also been designated by the 2009 U.S. Small Business Administration as the Small Business Journalist of the Year for her work with information relevant to and advocacy of small businesses.
Follow at: https://twitter.com/monmornmarketer
Phone: 412-628-5048
