It’s that time of year again … when we reflect on what we accomplished in the current year and make plans for the new.
Setting marketing goals for a new year can be energizing. It provides a challenge and gives you a direction for making decisions that propel you toward the future you want rather than moving through your days haphazardly.
When setting your marketing goals for 2016, I encourage you to be both SMART and CLEAR about what you’re going to achieve …
SMART Goal-setting
SMART goals are:
• Specific. Define exactly what you are going to accomplish.
• Measurable. So you know when you’ve achieved success.
• Achievable. Don’t set yourself up for failure with unrealistic expectations, but don’t set the bar too low, either.
• Relevant. When your goal means something, you’re more motivated to keep going until you achieve success.
• Time-sensitive. Give yourself a beginning and ending date for better accountability.
Be sure to address each of these issues when setting your goals. When you do so, you set yourself up for success in accomplishing what you want to do.
But in addition to setting SMART goals, I challenge you to set CLEAR goals as well …
CLEAR Goal-setting
CLEAR marketing goals are:
• Collaborative. Two heads are better than one.
• Limited-time. Deadlines inspire action.
• Expectant. Expectations should be defined and shared with everyone involved.
• Assignable. Tasks should be delegated to those who are best equipped to handle them.
• Results-driven. You need to know what results you want AND have a method of measuring those results in order to know when you’ve achieved success … or know what you need to change for a better outcome.
The combination of SMART and CLEAR make your goals powerful.
PLAN for Success
Your goals are the compass that guides you in the right direction, but you need to take the next step and develop a plan to accomplish those goals. Because a goal without a plan is just a wish.
So break your goals down into action steps. Write them down. Schedule them into your calendar.
Your plan is your road map to success, and it’s much easier to get to your final destination with a good map.
