What Are SMART Objectives in Digital Marketing?

Clear measurable objectives are the foundation of the successful digital marketing plan. Unless you know what you wish to accomplish precisely, it is almost impossible to measure your performance or to streamline your campaigns successfully. That is the place where SMART objectives enter into play. They give you a well-organized system capable of both making your ends specific, attainable and in tandem with your business vision.

What is the meaning of SMART?

SMART represents an acronym that helps a marketer to establish viable objectives. It is an abbreviation of:

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-bound

So, let us discuss every aspect using the example applicable to digital marketing.

1. Specific

You should have simple and clear goals. Instead of general objectives such as to boost up the traffic in the website, be specific on what you want to accomplish. For example:

Gain an organic increase in website traffic through Google by 20 percent within three months.

There is a definite objective that determines what is to be accomplished, whom by and why. It eliminates a mix up amongst your staff and directs your online marketing in one single direction.

2. Measurable

When you do not have a measurable goal, you do not have where to measure yourself and see how successful you are. Measurable goals are metrics in digital marketing, which can be measured by a number or percentage or figure that can be measured through such tools as Google Analytics, Facebook Insights or your CRM.

e.g. instead of saying:

Obtain Facebook adverts.

Measure it:

Created 300 qualified leads on Facebook Ads by the Q3.

In this manner, you will be able to keep checking the performance at all times and alter your campaigns on time to keep you on the right course.

3. Achievable  

The goals should be realistic and reachable using resources, our capability as a team, and market conditions. Unrealistic targets will deflate your marketing team and may also cost a lot of money.

E.g. when you have 2,000 visitors a month to your site now, then expecting 50,000 visitors within the month is absurd unless you have a huge great advertising budget or a viral promotion. A more realistic aim may be:

growth in the number of visitors on the web site (2,000-3,000 per month) on basis of the improvement of the SEO and the content marketing in the next two months.

Achievability makes you confident in your plan and gives the necessary momentum later towards bigger things.

4. Relevant

Your goals should coincide with your business planning and marketing strategy. It is important to consider bringing the objectives directly to your revenue, growth or brand positioning.

To give an example, when this quarter is the time to sell more of a new product in your company, then your digital marketing goal must contribute to that:

In the first two months, create 500 leads as a part of the new product launch campaign.

Relevance makes sure that you do not waste your time in business activities that do not mean anything.

5. Time-bound

Lastly, goals need a limit. Goals are indefinite without time frame and their sense of urgency will be lost.

For instance:

Gain additional 1,000 subscribers in the next six weeks.

Measurable Time Bound A time-bound goal will make your team plan strategically, make effective implementations and measure the results after a specified time so as to make better campaigns in future.

Advantages of SMART Objectives on Digital Marketing

There are some essential benefits of using SMART goals implementation:

• Transparency and Concentration- Everybody understands very well what ought to be attained.
•  Optimum Use of Resources- Time, budget and manpower are utilized in the best manner.
• Performance Tracking Performance tracking offers the opportunity to see what is going right and what should be improved.
• Inspired Team- Well defined goals make everyone responsible and energizes them when they are met.
• Better ROI – Every campaign can be done with meaningful purpose thereby improving the returns on investment.

SMART Objective in Digital Marketing

Goal: My conversion rate is to be boosted by 15 percent within 45 days through optimising the products pages, tweaking my CTAs and pursuing some specialised Google Ads.

Specific: Boost the conversions on the e-commerce site

Measurable: 15 percent

Realistic: This is easy to achieve according to the previous monthly growth of 5-10% with an improvement

Relevant: Directly linked to revenue targets

Time bound: 45 days

This is how you can use SMART Objectives in Your Strategy

Look Backward at Data – Get a feel of what has happened in the past so as to make achievable goals.

Piggyback on Business Purposes – Every measure must be aligned with missions of the company at large.

Be Clear- Convey the targets to your marketing unit so that they work together.

Employ Analytics Tools – ensure that the right tracking processes are in place that allows precise measurement of results.

Measure and Modify – Measure and adjust the performance after meeting deadlines and restructure the strategy according to the knowledge gained.

Final Thoughts

SMART objectives enable your digital marketing to shift the nebulous idea to an identified response. They make your campaigns clearer, allow you to measure the success well, and keep your team focused on the vision of the company.

SMART objectives are a vital part of any digital marketing campaign we have here at Conversions, and they play a big role in how we provide a measurable result to the growth of our clients. Through the use of this, you will be able to plan campaigns with confidence, create efficient optimizations, and actually have business impact.