Being SMART in Business & Marketing

A colleague recently told me that when she worked in the corporate world, she made a presentation that included a reminder of SMART objectives. The audience was a group of senior managers, and their reaction was that SMART was something they had little use for.

If you’re not familiar with SMART objectives then, it is an acronym giving criteria to guide you in setting goals and objectives to help achieve better results in business and we cross reference this into marketing objectives too for our clients.

SMART stands for Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and, Time-bound. At Ask Zoe we say that we can help give you: “More Clarity. More Direction. More Time”. One of the best ways of achieving this is to set SMART objectives by being more SMART within your business and marketing. For example:

Specific – One of the problems that clients often bring to us is a feeling of overwhelm. They know what they want to achieve, but the objectives are far too general. As well as asking “what needs to be achieved” you need to consider what steps are required, and who will be responsible for carrying them out.

Measurable – Once you have some specific goals set, how will you know if they have been met? Tracking the progress of your objectives is important. Reviewing what is and what isn’t working will help you refine your goals.

Achievable – Unrealistic targets have hopefully been left in the 1990s. As the business owner, you will probably have to carry out any objectives you set. So, make sure you have not set yourself up to fail is a priority. Another of Ask Zoe’s goals for our clients is:” Business should be fun, and with our help, it can be”. That is an achievable objective for your business.

Relevant – Why are you setting the goals that you’re setting? Do they support your vision for the business? If they don’t, change them.

Time-bound – SMART goals should always have time-related parameters. How long will the tasks take to implement and show results? If you have followed the first four steps, then the time frame for your goals should be clear.

I’ve talked before about how I overcame the overnight changes to Hospitality in 2020 and reoriented my business to use our skills to work with other sectors. We achieved this by asking specific questions that built objectives that helped us apply our consultancy services in a new and innovative way. SMART works.

The 750% growth in Ask Zoe’s business over the last two years demonstrates that and we can help you apply the same simple strategy to your own work.

As my colleague found out, some people regard SMART as a cliché and don’t always understand that applying the principle to their business and marketing objectives can make it easier to avoid the overwhelm that poor time management and objective setting can bring.

To book a free discovery call get in touch and learn more about Ask Zoe can help you develop and support your business objectives and put you in a strong position to grow your business without the stress that a lack of focus can bring.