As a marketing agency, or marketing services provider, you’re no doubt always thinking of ways to improve your clients’ marketing strategies — but what about your own?

Now that we’re into the new year, have you taken some time to think about your own marketing?

Don’t just proclaim this will be the best year for your clients, also claim it for yourself!

With a few, often overlooked, goal setting tips aimed explicitly for marketing agencies, you can put yourself in the fast-lane to success.

So how do you create specific, attainable, and ambitious goals that will lead you to take action?

Let’s take a look at the steps.

Step 1: Set SPECIFIC goals

You took a good hard look at your website and — yikes — when did it get so out of date?! It might need updating to be mobile responsive or include some client testimonials to help you attract prospects into calling you. Don’t just make your goal “update website” or “add testimonials.”

Break the goal into specific actions that are doable and lend to achieving them. For example, a more specific goal might be, “submit mobile responsive project to two web designer contacts — need a bid and proposed timeline,” or “email all clients from the past six months a link to leave feedback and a testimonial.”

Being specific will help you better define your goals and shed more light on what needs to be done by providing step-by-step instructions.

Step 2: Set ATTAINABLE goals

You’ve made your goals specific, now make sure they are attainable. This may sound simple, but it’s probably the hardest thing to do.

It’s great to know what your goals are. It’s better to break them down into specific actions that require specific instructions. But, if the chance of you completing them is little to none, well then, you’re not setting yourself up for success, are you?

Here are some suggestions to make your goals more attainable:

• Make your goals non-negotiable. Set them in firm language and set parameters and expectations as you would for your client. Your goals should not be an option; they should be an obligation you have to yourself and your business.
• Build in accountability. For some, accountability means publicly declaring or sharing your specific goals and your plan to achieve them with those within your company or close network. For others, this means having an accountability partner who also is looking to improve their business.
• Don’t go it alone! Partners, like us here at Constant Contact, can offer you expertise, advice, and resources to help you achieve your goals.

Step 3: Set AMBITIOUS goals

Now that you know your goals and have been specific with steps that will make them attainable, it’s important to remember to be ambitious. Don’t sell yourself short!

As marketers, we know how to map out carefully constructed plans geared towards our client’s goals, normally holding little to nothing back in making them successful. However, when setting our own goals, many of us shoot for just being able to check off the box vs. breaking out of the box.

Part of this is due to the fact we’d rather succeed than fail, that’s understandable. But part of the reason many of us are not setting ambitious enough goals is that we don’t take the time to ask ourselves the why behind our goals?

For example, maybe you want to offer social media marketing services to all of your clients in 2018. But why? Is it because everyone else does? That’s not a genuine why and ambitions are likely to run flat.

Is it because you’ve been fine-tuning your social media marketing for the past year on yourself (and one test client) and you’re excited to bring that same plan to increase engagement to your clients just as you have done for yourself? Well then, that is both an ambitious and motivating why.

Knowing your why will make the purpose clear and fuel your ambition.

Step 4: Set TIMELINES

Don’t overlook timelines when setting goals. Without them, you diminish your accountability and the likelihood of completing your goals.

Why are timelines so important?

• They provide the framework for what needs to be done by helping you break goals into specifics.
• They set clear expectations by allowing you to realistically mapping out what it takes to reach each goal.
• They often serve as the connection between two or more goals that rely on one another to be completed before the next step may be taken.
• They establish a set of benchmarks in the event something needs to be shifted or modified.

When following these four steps for successful goal setting for marketers, we’re certain this year you’ll do more than meet your needs, you’ll most likely exceed them!

(Hint: If you’re already a Constant Contact Solution Provider partner, your Account Manager is a phone call away — they’ll help you set goals for a successful 2018!)

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