Basics Of SMM-Strategy: How To Set The Right Goals

Any successful business begins with competent planning. The same works for SMM: without a strategy, you won’t get anywhere. This article will give you a deeper insight into the basics of strategy and teach you to set the right goals.

A strategy is a plan on how to get from point A to point B. The main task of a successful business is to correctly identify these points and create a viable scheme that will help to achieve the desired goal.

Goals can be long-term (strategic) and short-term (tactical). Use the “goal tree” technique to formulate them correctly. This technique is very popular among managers and businessmen as has proved to be simple and efficient.

The “goal tree” is a way of making a plan, where you can set a global goal and sub-goals, i.e. tasks that help to achieve it.

In marketing, this structure is as follows:

The overall goal is divided into smaller goals, which eventually comprise a single plan.

There are a few rules that will help you set these goals correctly.

 

Rule 1: formulate goals using “SMART”

Each goal that you set should be:

As soon as you write down the goals according to this template, you will realize that “to increase sales” or “to increase awareness” aren’t the goal but they are only statements that won’t make you get closer to achieving the desired result.

Rule 2: divide goals into levels

When developing a strategy, we can highlight three goals levels:

• Business goals;
• Marketing goals;
• Communication goals.

Each goal is important and should be taken attentively.

Business goals

These are the financial ambitions of the business.

You may not believe it, but we often hear customers saying something like: “We came to the market to do good.”

Guys, be honest! Any entrepreneur, whether he’s an owner of a small service centre or an owner of a chain of restaurants wants to earn money. The difference is only in the desired profit. Bringing good, joy, expertise, realising your creative ambitions, etc. — is not about a business, but about a charity.

Business goals are always about the market or the category in which the company operates. Imagine the following situation:

Fedor owns an ice cream business. His company already has an audience in the huge cities, but suddenly a more active newcomer appeared at the market. He started an aggressive policy of winning the same audience. What will be the business goal of Fedor’s company?

There can be different business goals: increased profit, market retention, new customers, etc. But the meaning is always the same — to earn more.

Marketing goals

This is the desired action of the target audience. What should a customer do to help a company achieve its business goals: make a trial purchase, increase the frequency of product consumption or something else?

Once the marketing goals branch has been worked out, it will be easier for you to formulate the communication goals. They are a logical addition to the previous two levels.

Communication goals

This is how the brand is perceived by the audience, i.e. the image of the company working to increase profits. For example, Nike encourages the audience to run, positioning itself as a mentor and expert.

After the goals are set, it is easier for a business to form KPIs of campaigns. For example, Fyodor can take the outreach of the audience aged 25–45 years as a benchmark. Then, the KPI will be formulated as follows: to ensure outreach of 90% of the brand target audience (women aged 25–45 years).

Having worked through these levels of goals, we get a ready-made strategic decision on how to come from the actual state to the desired result.

The principle of the “goal tree” is universal. With its help, you can set goals for business development in general, and for the campaign in a particular advertising channel.