Want effective marketing? Start with clear business goals.
To achieve effective marketing, it is essential, to begin with clear and well-defined business goals. Often, when people claim that “marketing isn’t effective,” it is because the business lacks clear goals. Without a clear direction, it becomes challenging to develop effective marketing plans.
What are you trying to accomplish?
Are you aiming to expand into a new market? Do you need to retain current customers in the face of competitive threats? Or, perhaps you want to increase the average revenue per customer?
The marketing priorities, tactics, and budget will vary significantly based on the specific goals that your marketing needs to support in your overall business strategy.
Even a few specific goals can have a substantial impact. For example,
- Revenue Goal: What specific revenue target are you aiming to achieve? Clearly defining your revenue goal allows marketing to focus its efforts on generating the necessary leads and sales to meet that target.
- Customer Acquisition: How many new customers do you need to acquire in order to reach your revenue goal? By quantifying the number of new customers required, marketing can develop strategies to attract and convert potential leads into loyal customers.
- Average Revenue per Customer: What is the average amount of revenue generated by each customer? Understanding this metric enables marketing to identify opportunities to increase customer spending and maximize the lifetime value of each customer.
- Customer Retention: Do you want your existing customers to make repeat purchases, increase their buying frequency, and or broaden the breadth of products and services they buy from you? Encouraging your current customers to buy more from you can lead to increased revenue. Marketing can develop strategies to foster customer loyalty and drive additional sales from your existing customer base.
These examples illustrate how setting clear goals empowers marketing to develop effective plans. It’s important to note that business goals may change over time, and it is crucial to keep your marketing team informed of any updates. By sharing your current thinking and goals, marketing can adapt its strategies and tactics to align with the evolving needs of your business.
Align Sales & Marketing Efforts
When clear goals are effectively communicated across the organization, Sales, and Marketing naturally work together to align their efforts. This integration between Sales and Marketing is a game-changer, particularly in business-to-business channels. Without alignment on goals, these teams struggle to collaborate and achieve optimal results.
By making sure business goals are clearly articulated and shared with your Marketing and Sales teams, you create a unified vision and foster collaboration. This enables both teams to work towards common objectives and increase the likelihood of success.