Want to Grow Your Business? Set B2B SMART Marketing Goals

If you want your business to grow, you’ll need clearly defined marketing goals. One of the best goal-setting principles to follow is setting goals that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. When you follow the SMART methodology, you’re much more likely to keep your entire team in sync. Just make sure, before you dive into B2B SMART marketing goals, you have a firm understanding of B2B marketing.

What Is the SMART Methodology?

Specific

When setting your goals, things like “more conversions” and “increase leads” are too vague. An example of a good, specific marketing goal would be, "Boost organic traffic by 30% year-over-year." Being specific means using actual figures and time periods in which you can track your progress. That leads to the next criteria...

Measurable

There’s no point in setting goals if you can’t track them. You’ll never know if you’re getting anywhere! Start using tools like Google Analytics, HubSpot or SEMrush to set baselines and track your marketing data as you push towards your goal.

Attainable

Your business needs to be challenged, but don’t waste time developing goals that are out of reach. It may be possible to grow your business in the first month by 1.5 percent, but it’s unlikely you'll reach 15 percent. Lean on past metrics and performance to understand what your business is capable of in a given time frame. If you haven’t been tracking metrics, look to build your business in small increments and adjust your goals as you go.

Relevant

Make sure your goals align with your organizations values and long-term objectives. Figure out why that goal is important and how it fits into the grand scheme of your business.

Time-Bound

Deadlines help you and your organization stay on track so you can achieve your goals in a timely manner. Be ambitious, but also be careful to manage expectations. If, for example, you're starting a new blog for your business, it can take between 6 and 12 months for you to start ranking for keywords and building up your organic traffic.

Developing Your SMART Goals

Now that you've created your SMART goals, it’s time to develop them with your team. According to Gretchen Bulan, Senior Marketing Manager at Oracle, “Forming the right team to get the job done is also very important. Do your team members have the time, skills and motivation to be active contributors, from start to finish? Note that these B2B SMART marketing goals don’t address responsibility for tasks, so be sure the individuals on your team are assigned ownership of tasks that help to meet the stated goals.”

So what are your company's SMART marketing goals? How do those marketing goals align with the overarching goals of your organization? To get help setting your own B2B SMART marketing goals, get your own SMART marketing goal-setting template, and schedule your free strategy session today with one of our inbound digital marketing experts!