How to Set SMART Goals
If you're a small business owner managing your own social media, it's important to set some SMART goals to help you stay on track and see tangible results. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time-bound. They can help you increase brand awareness, improve engagement, generate leads, manage your brand reputation, and even reduce business expenses.
Let’s break this down:
Most of your social media goals as a small business owner (whether you’re DIY-ing it up, or hiring a team) are going to revolve around resolving a few common pain points.
In every which way you can word your reservations towards social media, they all essentially boil down to the big three:
Not enough time
Not enough information/understanding
Measuring ROI
Many of the complaints we hear in discovery calls fall under one of these three categories, but tend to fall back towards ROI.
How do I know if I’m doing the right thing? How can I measure my success? How can I calculate ROI if I’m doing it all myself? It's simple - define your purpose for social media, set measurable goals, and collect data to compare against campaign costs (running paid ads, subscribing to user platforms, hiring a social team etc.)
***Remember, a social media strategy should be tailored to the client's (or your own) audience and business. It should address concerns, make goals seem achievable, and show that you are the best choice to execute the strategy. Careful research and analysis including audience discovery, competitor analysis, and industry standards are also important.***
Starting with S-SPECIFIC Goals:
Before you can set a specific goal or strategy for your business, you need to define your purpose.
Defining your purpose on social media as a business owner is crucial for the success of your online presence. Without a clear purpose, you risk wasting valuable time and resources on social media activities that don't align with your goals. To define your purpose, start by identifying your business objectives and determining how social media can help you achieve them.
For example, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, you may want to focus on creating engaging content that showcases your brand's unique value. Why is your brand better than the competition? What do you do differently, how do you stand out?
If you want to generate leads, you may want to invest in targeted advertising campaigns that drive traffic to your website or landing pages. This can come in many different forms, a few examples include running paid advertisements, hiring UGC creators to promote your product or service, and ultimately hiring a team to create your content for you.
Once you've identified your objectives (the WHY), it's time to develop a social media strategy that's aligned with your purpose. This involves creating a content calendar that outlines what types of content you'll post, when you'll post it, and where you'll post it. You'll also need to determine which social media platforms are most relevant to your target audience and develop a plan for engaging with your followers.
Next up, M-MEASURABLE Goals:
It's important to measure the success of your social media efforts by setting measurable goals and using tools to collect and analyze data. This will allow you to track your progress and make data-driven decisions about how to optimize your social media strategy over time. By defining your purpose on social media and developing a clear strategy for achieving your objectives, you'll be well on your way to building a successful online presence that drives real business results.
Think of it this way, when you start a fitness or health journey you have a clear goal in mind whether it be losing weight, getting fit, increasing strength or overall quality of life. You choose a way to measure this, not only as motivation but also gratification. For example, maybe you set a number of workout classes you’ll attend this month, or maybe there’s a number on the scale you want to reach.
Any way you word it, you have a level of accountability that you’re seeing in real time in order to MEASURE your success and whether or not this strategy is working for you. Without goals, you can’t see results…you won’t know what you’re working towards!
A-ACHIEVABLE Goals:
Setting achievable goals is not possible without understanding the above. You must have clarity on your WHY and also a roadmap of measurables in order to gather whether or not a goal may be achievable.
Not to toot our own horns here…but there is no better expertise to look for than that of a social media manager.
Many clients have big dreams of virality or conversion rates that simply aren’t possible overnight. If you have chosen the DIY path and opt to go about your strategy solo-dolo, it’s crucial that you are able to identify how much effort you can put in.
Do you have the time to invest in the research and the content? Over the next five months, can you confidently say that you have the information you need to achieve your goals?
We’re not saying you have to start small, but start smart. Use free tools online to your advantage, or schedule strategy calls (cough cough) to be sure you are on the right track.
R-RELEVANT Goals:
Relevant goals align with broader business objectives and can apply to anything from a single ad or organic post to a full-scale campaign. Examples of relevant social media marketing goals include increasing brand awareness, improving engagement, generating leads, managing brand reputation, and reducing business expenses. These well-made goals can help manage budget, structure and streamline workflow, prove return on investment, and align social media activity with broader business objectives.
Catch our drift? All of these goals work in succession, complementing each other along the way. Relevant goals are not only specific to your plan, but also specific to yourself.
Does your goal of increasing brand awareness make sense if you’re the only creator in the space? Does it make sense for your platform to revolve around education if you’re a restaurant? The answers can be yes, or they can be no! It’s all about who YOU are and what YOU want.
For more about relevant goals, you can also visit our podcast or previous blog post about creating content pillars pertinent to your brand.
Lastly, T-TIME BOUND Goals:
As a small business owner, setting time-bound goals for social media can help you stay on track and achieve your objectives. To set time-bound goals, you should define a specific target with a clear deadline.
For instance, if your goal is to increase your followers on Instagram, you can set a target of gaining 500 new followers within the next three months. You can also use social media management tools to track your progress and adjust your strategy if needed.
Back to the fitness journey metaphor…think of your time bound goals as your accountability markers.
5% Revenue increase by September? 3 new hires by January? 40% Engagement increase by Thursday?
By setting time-bound goals, you can stay focused and motivated to achieve your social media objectives.
So, whether you're a freelancer or an agency, setting SMART goals is a great way to improve brand performance and support professional growth. Setting goals for your social media can seem like a daunting task, but with the SMART framework in hand, it becomes a fun and exciting adventure. By being Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Pertinent, and Time-bound, you can transform your social media presence from a mere hobby to a thriving business. So, grab a cup of coffee, it's time to get started and take your social media game to the next level!
XO, TJ Team
