We’ve all got big dreams. We dream about the fancy house we’ll live in one day, the trip around the world we’ll eventually take, and the heights we’ll ultimately reach in our careers. It’s a cliché that you’ve heard before, but keep in mind that there is a difference between dreaming and doing. You can dream all you want, but without taking action to make those dreams a reality, they’ll remain in your conscious mind. In marketing, setting goals is just as important to realizing your dreams as in any other aspect of life. Identifying marketing goals should be something you assess for both the short and long term as part of your marketing strategy. If you’re in need of some direction, check out the examples of marketing goals outlined below!

Short-Term Marketing Goals

Short-term marketing goals are ones that you should focus on a daily, weekly and/or monthly basis depending. Your short-term goals are not only important for providing a means to an end (i.e., your long-term goals), but also for giving you those little bursts of confidence and senses of achievement that simply feel good.

When identifying marketing goals, consider these examples for the short term.

• Attracting more social media followers. A well-followed social media page is a happy social media page! Think about what you can do on a daily basis to earn more followers for your social platforms.
• Improving social media engagement. Even more important than follower counts is the amount of engagement you have on your social posts. Engagement includes the frequency with which people interact with your content—typically in the form of “likes,” “shares,” and “comments.”
• Increasing website traffic. If your website is floating out there in cyberspace with no visitors, it’s not really doing you much good. You should be using supporting forms of media—like social, email and traditional media—on a regular basis to drive traffic to your site.
• Growing your email list. Email is a marketing tool that is still relevant and cost-effective. Growing your email list is something you can do on a short-term basis to bolster your brand.
• Producing more valuable content. Providing value to your brand followers is important for customer acquisition and retention. Evaluate the content you are currently pushing and assess where you can improve.
• Enticing followers to download your content. Along with producing valuable content, you also want people to consume it. For example, if you provide resources on your website in the form of downloadable PDFs, then tracking the number of downloads per day—and increasing that number—is an example of a short-term marketing goal.
• Generating leads. Content leads to…leads, leads lead to…sales and sales lead to…success! Each of the above short-term goals serves this short-term goal, to collect leads to business.

Long-Term Marketing Goals

Long-term marketing goals are not ones that you’ll be able to notice on a daily basis, simply because they take longer to achieve. Considering your long-term goals all at once can seem overwhelming, but that’s why you set goals in the short term to help you along the way.

When identifying marketing goals, consider these examples for the long term.

• Increasing annual sales. You’re likely no stranger to this one in identifying marketing goals. The long term nature of this goal is in the phrase itself—annual. The point of being in business is to sell, after all.
• Improving your search ranking. Every brand’s goal is to get to the first page of Google search; however, search engine optimization is not something that happens overnight. Small drops in the bucket are necessary to eventually improve your ranking.
• Enhancing brand awareness. Brand awareness simply means having others notice you. Shout outs from social media influencers, being asked to speak at your local chamber of commerce, or even strong word-of-mouth advertising can all contribute to your overall brand awareness.
• Cultivating a positive online reputation. Awareness is one thing, but reputation is another. You want people to be aware of you, but in a positive light. A solid set of positive reviews via Facebook or Google, for example, is something that you have to build over time.
• Retaining more customers. If consumers are happy, they’ll come back. You can’t have repeat customers until you have first-time customers, so this one falls into the long-term goals category.
• Launching a new product or service. Planning on putting something new out for your followers? Good for you! It takes time, and that’s OK. This long term marketing goal may warrant a build-up over several years.
• Implementing a new marketing strategy. A marketing strategy is a comprehensive plan for achieving your short- and long-term marketing goals. It’s all come full-circle!

Identifying marketing goals makes it easier to paint a clear picture for where your brand is, where it is going and where you want it to be.

McNutt & Partners is a full-service advertising and digital marketing agency. Contact us today for your marketing needs! Call 334-521-1010, or visit our contact page.