SMART BLAST

When March roars in like a lion, it’s easy for the madness waiting in the wings to sneak in and try to derail your marketing objectives. So before visions of brackets start dancing in your head, use this time to make sure your plan is on track.

A few weeks ago we talked about planning ahead with your partners when it comes to laying out your marketing plan for the year – or even just one project. By now you’ve made the first few steps of implementation, but perhaps your plan still needs clarity. So we suggest using a simple, structured hierarchy that puts your plans into clear, understandable language: goals-objectives-strategies-tactics.

Many marketing executives use the terms “goals” and “objectives” interchangeably, but if you think of them as different animals, it will help you organize your thoughts.

Think of it this way:

Goal: You have one goal for your entire project – just one. It’s very broad and states the general outcome you want from the project. Example: To make more money.

Objective: These are your desired project outcomes, and you can have as many as you want. They each address the larger goal, “To make more money,” but more specifically state how exactly you’re going to do that. Your objectives differ from your goals in three main ways:

1. When you write them, they complete the sentence, “Our objective is to ______” and you fill in the blank;

2. They are measurable; and

3. Each one has a time frame or target date associated with it.

So, with the goal “to make more money,” one of your objectives might be, “to sell 20% more widgets by December 31, 2008.”

Strategies and tactics follow the same pattern. Under each of your objectives, you have strategies that address how you’re going to accomplish that specific objective. And tactics are the minute details that make up each strategy.

Put a clear game plan in place now before March Madness derails your marketing objectives.