Digital Marketing Goals: Projects for Improvement or Business as Usual

As the year closes out, digital marketing goals should be set for the following year. This can be especially true in digital marketing because campaigns can be repetitive and trainers, consultants, and professional coaches might allow that to lull them into complacency. This can cause swift declines in results due to the digital marketing environment changing so rapidly. As you set your goals they should fall into two categories: Business as Usual (BAU) or Projects for Improvement (PFI).

The reason to break goals into these categories is to ensure that at least a couple fall into PGI. Often times, digital marketing goals look more like a checklist of current activities rather than a list of strategic initiatives. We don’t want the status quo to be the standard moving forward. Each year should have targeted improvement.

So yes, your goals should include your website updates, email marketing outlines, social media schedules, SEO tasks, report/download call to action creation, etc. But these are BAU goals and should make up no more than 75% of your total goals. These goals, while important, should be a given for completion as it’s the action items required to run an effective online marketing campaign.

Put some real thought into PFI goals. What changes can be made to get better results? Does the website need an updated layout or additional sections to drive calls to action? Does the email marketing campaign need updated segments or additional content? Do social media channels need integrated with a particular app to refocus on a particular audience? Whichever PFI goal(s) you choose, it should serve to get marketing tasks done more quickly/efficiently or seek to improve conversions.

PFI goals are often the most difficult to set for digital marketing because they usually involve an element of the unknown. Resist the fear of the unknown and commit to the goal. In doing so you’ll find your campaign improving rather than just happening.