Digital Marketing Goals

As another year draws to a close, it’s time to establish new digital marketing goals for the upcoming year. Keep your strategy smart and your business on track for success with this digital marketing goals checklist.

Digital Marketing Goals

How to Create Digital Marketing Goals in 6 Steps

Step 1. Review This Year’s Goals

Remember everything you were doing last year? Me neither. Marketing trends can change quickly and it can be tempting to judge your efforts based on what you know now rather than what you knew then. Do yourself a favor and look back at the goals you set for the beginning of the year before checking out the data.

Step 2. Evaluate the Data

Numbers don’t lie, but they do tell great stories. Gather data from every possible source — Google analytics, social platforms, ad impressions, and of course, sales. Line up the information against your goals to get an idea of how your marketing efforts performed. If you met your goals, job well done! Time for a new challenge. If you didn’t, go back to the numbers to see where you can improve.

Step 3. Get Customer Feedback

Before you set a single new goal, ask your customers what they’d like to see. Do they need more real-time customer service options? Do they love your product and want a way to share their stories? Remember that satisfied customers are your best marketing strategy, so asking for feedback about their experience with your business is always time well spent.

Step 4. Set Realistic Goals

Now is the time when you look to the future. What do you want your marketing to achieve in the next year? More social engagement, greater revenue, thought leadership? Whatever it is, make sure your goals are grounded in reality and have a business impact. “Get 500 Followers on Twitter” only works as a goal if your Twitter following is highly engaged and consists of the right audience.

Step 5. Align Customer Expectations With Your Needs

Great marketing isn’t about the business — it’s about the customer. To align your customer’s desires with your business needs, it may be helpful to make two columns on a piece of paper. In one column, write down all the things your customers want. In the other, state your digital marketing goals. Your job now is to find ways to connect as many items from these two lists as possible.

Step 6. Create a Marketing Plan

Once you have your goals, you need a plan to reach them. Your digital marketing plan should include your goals, the resources you will need, and the tactics you’ll be taking. Don’t be afraid to reinvent the wheel. Maybe it’s time to tap into influencer marketing or ramp up link-building. Line up your total marketing budget and what you plan to allocate for digital. Create a high level schedule for rolling out new marketing initiatives.

Identify the measurements you will use to track your efforts (also known as key performance indicators or KPIs).

This checklist should help you review your marketing performance and plan next year’s digital marketing goals.

Need Help?

If you’re stumped by what your goals should be or aren’t sure what your data is saying, your first step may be to partner with an agency that can help you make sense of the numbers and create your custom-tailored digital marketing plan. Let’s chat!