I want to talk to you about establishing your goals for this next year, 2022. Establishing goals is an integral part of your strategic plan. 

 

Honestly, if you don’t know where you want to go, how do you create an effective roadmap to get there? 

 

Let’s start this off by looking back. Take a good look at what your goals were for this year. Celebrate the wins even if you didn’t quite make it to those big goals. I’m sure that you reached some important milestones in your business. 

 

Take some time to celebrate that. Acknowledge what you have accomplished so far this year. Seriously this accomplishment is an important part of your business development. We so often look at the mistakes we made and negate the strides forward that we made each year. 

 

Think about it this way, when a baby is getting up to walk and falls we celebrate the steps they took. We don’t focus on the fall. We want them to continue to try again and again. 

 

Our business, our teams, and most importantly, our brains also need that encouragement. So take some time to focus on what you did really well this last year. It’s going to help to focus on those goals for next year. If you know what you did well this year, you can take it into next year.

Let’s look at some numbers.

According to a Harvard Business Study, 83% of the population does not have goals. I find that totally crazy and fascinating! 14% have a plan in mind but have not written those goals down. Only 3% actually have goals written down. 

 

That same study found that the 14% of people who have goals are ten times more successful than those without goals AND that 3% that wrote those goals out are three times more successful than those that didn’t write their goals down. 

 

So what does all of this really mean? We have a much higher possibility of success in business and marketing if we set goals and write them down!

Practice SMART Goal-Setting

The best way to set a goal is to make sure that it is a SMART goal. 

 

SMART goals are… 

  • Strategic
  • Measurable
  • Attainable
  • Realistic
  • Time-bound

Set Business and Marketing Goals

When it comes to my business and marketing I plan for goals in both areas. 

 

In business, I look at my revenue, what is good, better, and best for the year. I always want to have a stretch goal, which is the best goal. And I also have a minimum revenue goal I want to be able to accomplish. This helps me to focus on creating a plan to reach those goals. 

 

For me, business goal setting doesn’t stop there. I also ask myself, “What do I need to accomplish in 2022 to achieve my vision? What are my team goals? What staffing am I going to need in order to reach these revenue goals? How many clients do I want to take on and in what timeframe? How am I going to reach those clients?” 

 

And this is where my marketing goals come into play. 

 

When it comes to my marketing I look at my funnels and paid traffic. What was my marketing investment for last year and what is my investment going to be for this coming year? 

 

Here’s the thing, I know if I want to increase my revenue, I’m also going to need to increase my marketing investment. It just goes hand in hand. HOWEVER, I also want to make sure that I’m setting realistic KPI goals surrounding my marketing. 

 

Your marketing goals should include things like, “How am I going to grow my brand? What are the tactics that I’m going to use? Am I going to do lives, or reels, or podcasts? And if so how many of those each day, a week, or a month?” Setting these types of goals will also help you to achieve that success in revenue. 

 

By setting goals that are specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound (SMART), you and your team will know exactly what you are working towards, with no questions. 

Now that you have identified new goals for your business in the new year, it’s time to start the planning process

Make sure you’re planning the: Who, what, when, where, and why of each of your goals.

 

Ask yourself questions like:

  • Who is my target audience?
  • Where can I engage with my target audience?
  • What platforms do I need to be on?
  • How often do I need to post?
  • What type of content will I publish?
  • Who will create and publish the content?
  • Who will manage our communities?

 

It is important to note that what you plan for can be changed as needed. Things happen beyond our control (in case you haven’t noticed the last two years) and we need to be able to adapt to those changes. We may misinterpret the opportune time to post and need to adjust what we have planned for. A major event within our industry may happen like the IOS updates, and we need to make adjustments. 

 

Being able to adjust your plan is really what makes for successful marketing. When you’re setting goals, make sure they are clear and be willing to be flexible.

If you’re ready to start planning your marketing for 2022, contact me today! For more about Planning for the New Year, listen to the latest episode of the Marketing Matchmaker Podcast! And, if you want to grow and scale your business to 6-7 figures, take the Profitable Scaling Quiz today to make a difference in your tomorrow!