With less than 2 months left in
the year, it’s time to buckle down and create next year’s marketing plan if you
haven’t already. If you have writer’s block or early-onset Holidayitis, then
this 4-step process will help you kick start your planning season.
Before we dive in I need to
clear up an all too common misconception about marketing…
Are You Trying To Answer
The Wrong Questions?
I bet you and your team are
smart, maybe even smarter than me. ;) But here’s the deal… It doesn’t matter
how smart you are if you’re focused on answering the wrong questions!
Let me explain that point with
an example. Several years ago we surveyed 155 business owners and asked them
this question:
“What
is your #1 question about digital marketing?”
As you would expect there were
a lot of different responses, but the vast majority were essentially asking the
exact same thing. Most people want to know “What is the one tactic that
will get the best ROI?”
I’m sure if we conducted this
survey again we would get similar responses because I still hear this question
over and over again when talking to business owners. Chances are you’re looking
for an answer to that question as well!
If you are, then do yourself a
favor and read this article, which explains why one tactic alone will never
give you the best ROI. The goal of your marketing plan is not to find the
single, “Holy Grail” tactic. Instead, the goal is to set up multiple marketing
channels that combined give the best ROI.
OK,
with that out of the way, let’s move on to the 4 steps to create your marketing
plan…
1. Define Your Goals
The most critical step in the
planning process is to define your goals. Not just any goals though… we need
SMART goals. SMART is a mnemonic that stands for Specific, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant, and Time-Bound. Every goal must meet those 5 criteria so
let’s walk through each one.
Specific
Too often I hear business
owners set goals like “more leads” and “more sales.” That’s not a real goal!
How many more leads? Exactly how much growth would you be happy with next year?
How many more phone calls would you like to receive each month? If you already
set your goals, then review them to make sure they are specific.
Measurable
Your goals must be measurable
so you know if you’re moving closer or further away from achieving them. With
digital marketing, you can use Google Analytics to measure many of your goals.
Achievable
It’s fun to set lofty goals and
dream big, but make sure they are achievable within the next year. Goals should
excite and motivate you and your team year after year, not demoralize you.
Relevant
Does your goal even matter? If
you achieve it, then how does that goal impact your bottom line? Ranking #1 in
Google for “new york city pediatric dentist” is specific, measurable, and
probably achievable, but it’s not relevant for a dentist that doesn’t work with
children.
Time-Bound
Since we’re working on next year’s
goals, the absolute deadline is the 31st of next December. Some goals can and
should be completed sooner so set the most appropriate date. It’s amazing how
something as simple as setting a deadline can make all the difference in the
world when it comes to accomplishing your goals.
2. Work Backwards to
Define KPIs & Monthly Goals
OK, at this point you have your
goals set. Let’s say your goal is to generate $1,000,000 in sales by the 31st
of next December. That could be a SMART goal for a business that did less than
a million last year.
The next step is to work
backward from that day in the future when you will hit your goal. This step
will highlight the key performance indicators (KPIs) you need to track in your
business each month to hit your ultimate goal.
Start by thinking about what
next December will look like. I know this sounds strange, but trust me, this
simple mind game is critical for planning. Try to picture yourself in the
future when you’ve already accomplished your goals.
How many sales did you do in
December in order to hit your total goal? For example, to generate $1MM in
sales, you need $83,333 per month over the entire year. Of course, this is a
simplified example, and to be more accurate you’ll want to assume a growth rate
month over month so that you’re generating more sales in December versus
January.
To generate $83,333/month, then
how many sales did you make? If your average customer value is $500, then
that’s 167 sales/month. How many leads do you need in order to make 167 sales?
If your sales conversion rate is 10%, then that’s 1,670 leads. How many website
visitors do you need to generate 1,670 leads? You’ll need to look at your
historical website analytics to figure this one out. If your visitor to lead
conversion rate is also 10%, then you need 16,700 visitors per month.
See how we just worked backward
to determine the important online marketing KPIs? Now we know our monthly
website visitor goal is about 16,700 in order to hit our sales goal of $1MM.
3. Get Real
The third step is to
reality-check your goals based on the KPIs you found in step 2. Is it realistic
for you to generate over 16,000 website visitors using your traffic tactics?
Are your conversion rates attainable based on historical data or similar
businesses?
To answer the questions at this
point, you’ll need to do some research and probably talk to an expert. The most
important question to answer is whether or not there is enough online traffic
to hit your goals. For example, if you find using Google’s Keyword Planner Tool there are
100,000 searches for your product or service in Google, then could you get
16,000 visitors from SEO and Google Ads advertising?
16% of all searches may not
sound like a lot, but keep in mind that a 2% click-through rate is pretty good
in Google Ads. Unless you’re an expert in search engine marketing (SEM), I
recommend talking to someone who is to see if your goals are realistic. The
same goes for other traffic sources like display advertising, email,
partnerships, and social media.
If you find out your goals are
actually unrealistic, then go back to step #1 above and revise them. Better to
find this out now before you invest an entire year chasing an unattainable
dream!
4. Assign
Responsibilities
The final step should be fairly
quick and easy. Determine who on your team is going to be responsible for
implementing and measuring progress each month. If you have big growth plans,
then keep in mind it’s possible you’ll need to hire in-house, or outsource, to
hit your goals.
Need
Help with Your Marketing?
If you need help implementing
your digital marketing plan, contact us today.
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