- Here are the most common mistakes
I've seen even the most experienced marketers
when writing objectives.
Not aligning business,
marketing, and communications objectives.
Not writing SMART objectives,
not obtaining approval of your objectives
from decision-makers.
Not considering the customer's perspective.
How do you avoid these common mistakes?
Here's how.
Don't rush to write objectives.
This is an important part of the marketing planning process.
If you don't get your objectives right,
you're setting you and your whole team up for failure.
Don't ignore other disciplines across your organization.
If one group doesn't know what the other group
is doing, objectives will be disjointed,
and marketing tactics will not create a positive,
seamless customer experience.
Don't be too aggressive in objective-setting.
I've seen way too many marketers
with the best of intentions overpromise
what they can deliver based on their budget or team size.
That's a setup for failure.
Don't ignore your customer or have tunnel vision.
Meaning, only thinking from an internal company perspective
about what the company means.
Never forget, without customers, you have no business.
Here's what to do.
Talk with your executives to understand
what they want the business to achieve.
Discuss your marketing
and communications objectives with them.
Make sure they support what you're setting out to do.
Make sure objectives are aligned.
Align marketing objectives with business objectives,
and communications objectives with marketing objectives.
Create a clear line that anyone
in the organization would understand.
Define each objective, and how you'll measure it.
What specifically needs to be accomplished, by when?
And what are the key performance or success indicators?
Make sure you have proper resources
to attain your objectives.
Resources like the right number of team members,
or members with the right skills,
or the budget to develop and implement your marketing plan.
Think from the customer's perspective.
What does the customer need or want?
What problem does your product
or service sell for the customer?
Know the common mistakes marketers make
when writing objectives, so you can avoid
those mistakes and write effective objectives.