Every goal should be a SMART goal
March 22, 2012
I’m sort of astonished at how loosey goosey most companies are about setting goals. it could be organizational goals, marketing goals or even specific campaign goals.
How can you know if something is working — if you haven’t defined success? Many people say they have goals but they are fuzzy goals at best.
A goal isn’t a goal if you can’t measure it. If you aren’t currently using SMART goals — you need to start. The acronym forces you to think through all the requirements to define a rock solid goal.
Here’s how you build SMART goals:
S – Specific (Fuzzy never makes for good goals)
M – Measurable (Real numbers, not impressions or guess work)
A – Attainable (Be realistic. You are not going to triple your sales in 3 months)
R – Relevant (If it does not support where the organization is headed — why are you taking yourself off course )
T – Time bound (A deadline is critical)
So let’s look at a couple statements and see if we’d call them goals.
Increase awareness and get more people to try our product. (Not a SMART goal)
Produce a 15% increase in trials for product A by December 2012. (SMART goal)
See the difference?
