Why You Should Make Your Digital Marketing Goals S.M.A.R.T. in 2024

Setting S.M.A.R.T. digital marketing goals is the perfect way to gain better results from your marketing campaigns, strategies and projects! They give you the exact layout you need to break up your goals into more precise and attainable ones, allowing you to figure out where to devote your energy to.

What the heck even are S.M.A.R.T. goals?

The S.M.A.R.T. in S.M.A.R.T. goals stands for: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Based. It provides you the structure you need to create precise goals that are achievable for you within a specific timeframe. They also make creating goals easier, because you already have the framework for what you need to include!

An example of the framework for a S.M.A.R.T. goal might look like this: “My goal is to increase [KPI] by [measurable number] before my deadline of [specific date]. We will accomplish this through [specific steps you will take].

Keep reading for real life examples!

Workshopping non-S.M.A.R.T. goals

So now you know what S.M.A.R.T. goals are, and you’re probably wondering how the heck you turn the goals you already have into S.MA.R.T. ones. Those goals may be to increasing your followers, make more sales, gain more clients, etc.

Let’s workshop these non-S.M.A.R.T. goals into shape so we know exactly what we need to do and in what timeframe!

“I want to gain more followers”

By now, you should ready know that this is NOT a S.M.A.R.T. goal. It’s not specific or measurable (how many followers), and it’s not time-based (by when do you want to achieve this?).

Turning this into a S.M.A.R.T. goal could look a little something like this:

As a social media management company, I want to increase my Instagram following by 2% (the average IG growth rate) over the next month by creating content that is easily shareable five times per week.

Let’s break down the pieces of what makes this a S.M.A.R.T. goal:
Specific: I want to increase my Instagram following
Measurable: by 2%
Achievable: (the average IG growth rate)
Relevant: As a social media management company,
Time-Based: over the next month

“I want to make more sales”

This is another example of a non-S.M.A.R.T goal. What exactly do you want to sell more of? How much do you want to increase sales by? In what timeframe?

Turning this into a S.M.A.R.T. goal could look a little something like this:

As an e-commerce company, I want to increase my overall profit by 20% (the average is between 15% and 45%) over the next 12 months by running more social media ads and working with influencers to promote my products.

Let’s break down the pieces of what makes this a S.M.A.R.T. goal:
Specific: I want to increase my overall profit
Measurable: by 20%
Achievable: (the average is between 15% and 45%)
Relevant: As an e-commerce company,
Time-Based: over the next 12 months

“I want to gain more clients”

This goal, while a great start, is extremely vague: How many clients? In what timeframe? What are you going to do to achieve this?

Turning this into a S.M.A.R.T. goal could look a little something like this:

As a digital marketing company, I want to increase my clients from eight to 10 over the next two months by asking my current clients to provide me with reviews I can add to my website, and networking to leverage referral marketing.

Let’s break down the pieces of what makes this a S.M.A.R.T. goal:
Specific: I want to increase my clients
Measurable: from eight to 10
Achievable: leverage referral marketing
Relevant: As a digital marketing company,
Time-Based: over the next two months

Getting to know the S.MA.R.T. goal framework can make goal-setting for both yourself and your clients a breeze, no matter how big or small the goal!