Is your marketing plan SMART enough?

A marketing department with clear objectives knows what it’s trying to achieve, right? But are your content marketing objectives SMART?

Applying the well-known mnemonic isn’t just a gimmick, or box-ticking exercise, it’ll ensure your objectives are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-scaled.

Are your content marketing objectives Specific?

When it comes to setting objectives for the year, it’s easy to get carried away with lofty goals that generalise an aim, but remember, you want to revitalise your messaging, not save the world. Apply the SMART mnemonic to assess the quality of each of your objectives, keeping them focused and precise.

Take messaging. Are you saying the right things, is your message getting you air time with decision makers? Do you need to review and refresh your key messages in order to generate more leads? Reviewing and refining your key messages, using a messaging framework will support your drive to create regular, fresh and engaging content – ensuring that you’re getting messages heard.

Content marketing support to deliver continuous stream of quality content.

How do you Measure up?

You’re in the process of reviewing your messaging, you know what you want to say and who to, but how effective is your content? It’s no good just turning up the volume, make your objectives measurable and trackable too. Set yourself and your team regular review points and you’ll be more likely to succeed. Ensure you get your analytics system in place, so that you can measure downloads, assess your click-throughs and evaluate responses.

Achievable content goals

SMART objectives are achievable. You can tell when they’ve been reached because you have a way to measure completion and before you set them you’ll have taken into account relevant factors such as resources. Just as you consider the time and budget dynamics when shaping your marketing strategy, so too will you need to select the right people to provide your marketing content. Who’s actually going to be creating your compelling content?

If you’re finding the creation of consistent content difficult, then Incognate, with its extensive knowledge and experience of working in the IT industry, has access to the right experts in the field, giving you the right content, in the right context.

Are your objectives grounded in Reality?

They will be if they’re SMART! The key to creating realistic targets is in grounding them with real-world facts and figures. It’s easy to come up with generic phrases and buzzwords, but a nebulous idea, however fantastic it is as an overall goal, might remain just out of reach, an elusive ideal.

You recognise the need to generate more marketing content, so set yourself the delivery of one new market-focused piece of content per week. By giving it real numbers and making someone or some team accountable you immediately have something tangible with which people can work.

Calling Time

Making your objectives time-bound provides everyone with a deadline to work towards, with no excuses for delays and procrastination. Making it time-focused also ensures that it is realistic. By providing regular reviews and tracking your results you’ll also help to establish the effectiveness of your content. But if you’re finding that you’re a little time-poor, Incognate can help support your content creation with our team of highly-experienced journalists, copywriters and designers.

If your content marketing objectives could be a little SMARTer, and you’d like some support in getting there, contact us now.