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As I mentioned in a previous post, understanding the difference between goals and objectives can help clarify your marketing planning processes.

Remember that objectives are specific and concrete, as opposed to goals, which are somewhat abstract and difficult to quantify.

When you’re setting your small business’ marketing objectives, there are five categories that will help your planning stay focused.  They’re called SMART, and the system was first put forth by Peter Drucker in his classic volume The Practice of Management.

When creating your marketing plan, your objectives should be:

• Specific – Is the objective clearly defined? Will key players grasp it easily?
• Measurable – Can you track progress? Do you know when you’ve reached it?
• Attainable – Is this a realistic objective? Is it within the project’s scope?
• Relevant – Does it contribute to attaining the goal?
• Time-bound – Have you set a deadline?

Note that there are alternatives for a few of these letters, but I think those listed above offer the most well-rounded and relevant approach.

Examples of SMART Objectives

• To increase our average ticket by 10% by January 1, 2010.
• To grow our email database to 350,000 by the end of the second quarter 2010.
• To achieve 70% client awareness within our target market over the 12 months.
• To average 6 homes sold per month by the end of 2009.

While the Attainable and Relevant points will vary depending on various factors, these examples should give you a decent idea of what a SMART objective looks like.

SMARTER Objectives

Some have added another two points to the SMART planning system:

• Evaluate
• Revaluate

Any successful marketing plan will have budget and timeline allocations for evaluating the plan’s success. Build these mechanisms in from the beginning to ensure your small business’ marketing plan meets its goals every time.

The distinction between these marketing foundations comes up often in discussions with small business owners. Many people like to start with a tactic, like “we’ll do some email marketing,” and call it a strategy with no connection to the overall marketing goals.

So what are the differences between goals, objectives, strategies, and tactics?

• Goals: high-level planning targets that your marketing plan will achieve. Usually somewhat abstract and unmeasurable.
• Objectives: the measurable results that combine to achieve a goal. These are concrete and trackable and have a timeline associate with it.
• Strategy: the broad plan to fulfill and objective. Like goals, these are more abstract than tactics.
• Tactics: actionable tasks to support the strategy. Concrete things you can “do.”

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What does this process look like for your small business marketing plans? Here’s an example:

• Goal: to become the market leader in water hose sales by the end of the year
• Objectives
  • Increase brand awareness among target audience members by 20% by the end of the fourth quarter
  • Increase sales by 5% each quarter until the end of the year
• Strategies
  • Use print advertising to increase brand awareness
  • Use seasonal pricing promotions to boost sales
• Tactics
  • Advertise in distributor’s Sunday inserts (e.g. Home Depot) each week through the fourth quarter
  • Place half-page ads in Gardening and Home Improvement magazines every other month
  • 2-for-1 pricing promotion during summer (June–August)
  • 10% off special during autumn (September–October)

So you can see the progression from abstract and somewhat long-term down to the executable tasks what happens where and when.

Once you have a clear vision in mind for the direction of your small business, you can plan through the necessary steps to bring about the realization of your vision.