Stop 02 · Marketing Strategy & PositioningTopics · 7/9

Setting Marketing Goals (SMART Goals)

In short

'Grow our Instagram' is a wish, not a goal. A SMART goal tells the whole team exactly what to hit, by when, so you know if you won.

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound — a framework for turning vague ambitions ('grow brand awareness') into goals you can actually track and be held accountable to.

The blob does push-ups on a mat next to a wall calendar with a circled date.

Think of it like this

Your gym resolution

'Get fit' fades by February. 'Do 20 push-ups in a row by 31 March, training four days a week' actually happens, because you know the target, the deadline and if you're on track.

Watch it happen

Turning a wish into a SMART goal

Specific

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time-bound

1/5'Grow Instagram' becomes 'Get more course sign-ups from Instagram'.

The big ideas

What you need to know

Goals tie to the business

Pick goals linked to revenue, leads or retention, not just likes or views.

Use a baseline

Know your current numbers first so the target is realistic.

Leading indicators

Track early signals too, like weekly sign-up rate, so you can fix course mid-way.

Few goals, clear owners

Two or three goals per quarter, each with one owner, beat ten fuzzy ones.

See it in code

Walk through the code

text

1Increase [metric] from [baseline] to [target]2through [channel or tactic]3by [date].4 5Increase course sign-ups from Instagram6from 120 to 200 per quarter7by 30 June, through reels and story ads.

1/2The template: metric, baseline, target, how, and a date.

A fill-in SMART goal template and a filled example. If any bracket is hard to fill, the goal isn't clear yet.

Save yourself the pain

Common mistakes

Oops

Setting vanity goals like '10k followers'.

Do this instead

Choose goals that connect to sales, leads or retention, then track followers as a supporting number.

Oops

Picking a target with no baseline.

Do this instead

Look at past results first. A goal 10 times bigger than ever before needs a clear plan, or it's just hope.

Your mission

Rewrite three weak goals

~15 min

Quick check

Which goal is SMART?

Go deeper

1Rewrite a vague marketing goal ('increase engagement') into a SMART goal.
2Practice choosing a specific metric and target number for a hypothetical campaign.
3Learn to set goals tied to business outcomes, not just channel-level vanity metrics.