Setting SMART Objectives

Marketing professionals often refer to SMART objectives and these are simply your goals made in such a way so that they are:

1.    Specific
2.    Measurable
3.    Achievable
4.    Realistic
5.    Timely

If you consider each of these in turn and measure your own business objectives against them, you will see if you really do have SMART objectives. The reason you want your objectives to be SMART is so that you can see if you are moving forward and benchmarking yourself against previous results.

How often should you review your SMART Objectives?
Many companies choose to review their objectives monthly and quarterly. It is a good idea to have a number of KPIs (Key Performance Indicator) in place with your team (or even for yourself) to measure each objective against. For example:

“I want to increase my franchise network from 20 to 30 franchisees in the next 10 months, making a total of 10 new franchisees.”

An example KPI for this objective may be broken down as follows:

“10 new franchisees over 10 months equals 1 new franchisee per month. Based on industry standards 1 franchise will be sold out of every 100 leads. So KPI number 1 would be to attract 100 leads per month.”

Every style of Marketing Plan that Coconut Creatives is involved in will start with SMART objectives so that everyone involved in the business understands the key goals. We also go through objectives in more detail at our Franchisor Marketing Workshops where Franchisors also have the opportunity to discuss their individual objectives on a 1 to 1 basis as well as  in a group environment.