‘Goals’ and ‘objectives’ are words you often hear in business and life, often interchangeably. They describe where you are now and where you want to be in the future. However, in the marketing industry, these two terms have different meanings. Knowing the difference between business goals vs. objectives can make it easier to achieve the desired outcome and save you from lost time and productivity.
Every brand nees goals: specific measurable purposes that help you grow as a business. Without a clear goal, such as increasing brand awareness, website traffic or leads, there’s little point in investing time and money in a marketing campaign.
This article is the Anchor Digital guide to business goals vs. objectives: the key differences, how to measure each and the strategies for success.
Business Goals vs. Objectives
The key difference between goals and objectives is that goals provide direction, while objectives provide the steps to achieve them. A goal is an achievable outcome, typically with a long-term focus, while an objective is a measurable action.
When it’s business goal vs. business objective, goals are the destination (e.g. a more profitable year), and objectives are the vehicles. You might take a number of different vehicles to get you where you want to be. The most important thing is to keep moving forward.
If you compare a business goal vs. a marketing goal, the definitions are separate but intertwined. A marketing goal is a plan of action conceived by the marketing team, which correlates with the business goals in turn.
Marketing goals come in different varieties. Time-based goals describe things you want to accomplish in a specific timeframe. Outcome-oriented goals describe what the business is aspiring to and aren’t usually timeframe-specific. Process-orientated goals are prescriptive and describe what a business needs to do in order to work towards an outcome.
How to Measure Your Goals
Measurability is important for any goal, whether in business, marketing, or personal. Here’s how to determine whether the work you’ve put in has led to the outcome you desire:
Ask close-ended questions
It may sound simple, but one way to measure a goal is simply to ask yourself and your team: “Did you meet it?” If the goal is simple and clearly defined, this can be as easy as asking a “yes” or “no” question. If the general consensus is that you succeeded in what you set out to accomplish, you can consider the case closed.
Use a points system
If your goal is a little more complicated, it can be more difficult to measure. One way to simplify the process is to split it into segments. Are you looking to launch a new website by next year? Separate it into two parts: the outcome and the deadline. If you’ve achieved your goal and met the deadline, you can give yourself two points. One point if you’ve reached the goal but missed the deadline.
Follow a rubric
Without a strict guideline, it’s more difficult to measure a goal. Luckily, a rubric can be helpful. When you note what you expected the outcome to be versus how it turned out in reality, you can see where challenges arose and where your strategy was less than successful, and you can make the necessary changes.
Use KPIs
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are metrics you can use to compare how your campaign is performing towards your goals. Conversion rate and bounce rate are two commonly used examples of KPIs.
How to Measure Objectives
Like goals, marketing objectives come in various categories. Strategic objectives turn mere ambitions into something more tangible, with an overarching purpose and a long-term focus. Operational objectives break a bigger goal into smaller steps that are easy to put into action on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. Financial objectives, as the name suggests, are money-related targets.
Objectives are often simpler than goals to measure. The main methods you can use include:
Measure attainment
A lot of objectives contain numbers and figures, which makes it easy to access your results. You can measure the number of conversions, leads, clicks, etc. and turn it into a percentage that tells you how close you came.
Use surveys
If your objective is to change consumer behaviour or a similarly difficult goal to measure, surveys and focus groups can provide some much-needed clarity.
Compare past and current performance
There are some concepts like brand awareness that different marketers track differently. When there isn’t a one-size-fits-all metric for your situation, creating your own is a viable solution. A good place to start is by looking at your current performance and how it compares to your performance in the past. This gives you a starting point—sometimes even a number or figure—to assess your current campaign.
Setting Realistic Goals and Objectives
Here’s how to set realistic yet ambitious marketing goals and objectives:
Marketing goals and business objectives align
In marketing, there are so many ways to be creative. It’s easy to lose sight of your broader business goals when planning your marketing strategy. At every stage of goal-setting, it’s important to align it with the broader goals of your business.
Be specific
It’s important to clearly define your goal, even if it’s only to increase conversions by a certain degree or sell a particular number of seats to an event. The more precisely you know what you want to achieve, the more focus you can dedicate to the outcome.
Make your goals measurable
Have both an outcome in mind and a timeframe, e.g. a certain number of new subscribers by a set date.
Create a marketing plan
Your marketing plan should specify your mission, message, buyer personas and any other information you need to keep your campaign on track. Your plan should include which forms of media you plan to be on, along with the specific messaging and the timing of your rollouts.
Build Effective Business Strategies with Anchor
Are you looking for strategies that serve you, measurable goals and achievable outcomes? Anchor Digital can help you create a marketing plan that meets your needs and helps you reach your goals.
As a hybrid creative marketing agency, our full spectrum of marketing services integrates both your broader business and marketing goals. Our creative services are personalised to suit the needs of your business and help you gain the right results.
If you don’t know what your goals are yet, our strategy services can help you map them out. First, we get a clear idea of what you want to communicate and how you want to communicate it, and then we take a look at the best techniques for the task. Our tools include building brand strategy, brand identity and communication, customer and market research and any other service necessary to grow your brand, from search engine optimisation to pay-per-click advertising.
As a full-service agency, we keep every aspect of your marketing strategy under one roof instead of bouncing you from one agency to another. Through our consistent, dedicated testing and refining, we’ll ensure your strategy remains strong.
For marketing goals that will help you become even greater at what you do, contact the Anchor team.
