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Digital marketing is a great field to be in. With the ever-growing world of online sales, digital marketing can be a very lucrative career. This is not to say that digital marketing does not have any obstacles to overcome. In fact, this career has many challenges that you will face on a daily basis.
Today, we are here to help you overcome those challenges by using what are known as SMART goals. In fact, we are going to provide you with digital marketing SMART goals examples, six of them. These examples will help give you a great idea of what exactly these SMART goals need to look like.
Before we do that, however, we do first want to explain what SMART goals are. We also want to explain why they could be useful for overcoming the obstacles posed by being a digital marketer. When that is done, we will then move on to providing you with examples of these SMART goals, specifically for digital marketers.
What Are SMART Goals?
First, you need to know what SMART goals actually are. So, SMART is an acronym, one which stands for specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. This is a specific type of goal setting methodology that is widely recognized as being by far the best way to set goals for the best chances of success. Let’s quickly take a look at what exactly SMART means and what each of those five words pertains to.
If you are interested in learning much more about SMART goals, check out this Ultimate Guide to Setting SMART Goals.
Why Are SMART Goals Important for Digital Marketing Professionals?
The simple reality is that as a digital marketer, there are many obstacles and challenges that you will face throughout your career. Right off the bat, one of your first challenge in this field is going to be getting certified. Yes, being educated on the topic will certainly help you on your path to success.
Another big challenge that so many digital marketing professionals face is building their own brand and image. If you want more clients, people need to know who you are, and they need to know that you have the skills they need to complete any task at hand.
On that note, starting off is really hard because people want professionals with experience, but getting experience is difficult when nobody wants to hire a newbie.
Moreover, another challenge that you may face as a digital marketing pro is knowing what all of the most current and popular trends are, as well as what the best ways to perform marketing in specific situations are too.
Simply put, finding clients, whether at the onset of your career or three years down the road, is always going to be a challenge that you must overcome. Related to that, there is of course also the fact that as a digital marketer, you need to be able to make money.
Now, these are just some of the biggest challenges that you may face as a digital marketing pro, but there are also many more. The point here is that you need a good way to help you overcome these obstacles. This is where these so-called SMART goals come into play.
By utilizing this SMART goal setting methodology, you can effectively determine your problems, how to overcome them, and how to achieve specific goals in relation to those problems.
SMART goals will then also allow you to determine how far along the path to success you are by allowing you to measure your progress in quantitative ways. Let’s move on and take a look at some SMART goal examples that can help you overcome obstacles faced in the world of digital marketing.
Examples of SMART Goals for Digital Marketing Professionals
1. Complete Certification from Accredited School
“My goal is to begin the process of receiving my digital marketing certification from an accredited school. I will begin looking at various options at my disposal, pick a class to take, finish it within the allotted amount of time, and aim to score at least 95% in this course by the time it is done.”
S: This goal is specific, to go to a school to receive a digital marketing certification to further your skills in the field.
M: This goal is easy to monitor because you will either pass or fail the course in the allotted time, and you can also easily determine what grade you get in the course.
A: This goal is attainable, because mostly all digital marketing professionals have to go through some kind of training.
R: This goal is relevant because you need to be certified in the field in order to find any sort of position or clients.
T: This goal is time bound, to complete the marketing course within the allotted time provided.
2. Create Own Website
“My goal, to get the word out about my skills, is to create my own website where I will feature an in depth portfolio. By uploading at least one new piece of work to my portfolio every week, and by using SEO and other tactics, I aim to increase website traffic to my portfolio and professional site by 10% per week, with the overall goal of getting at least one new client per week.”
S: This goal is specific, to create a website that will feature your marketing portfolio, and to use SEO in order to increase website traffic to get new clients.
M: This goal is easy to measure because you can easily see what website traffic is like and how many new clients you get on a weekly basis.
A: This goal is attainable because creating a website to get traffic, to get new clients, is a proven methodology.
R: This goal is very relevant, because you obviously need more clients if you plan on making a living in this field.
T: This goal is time bound, to get at least one new client per week.
3. Create Facebook Business Profile
“My goal is to create a social media profile on Facebook which I will heavily promote by posting at least three new pieces of work per month, and by utilizing paid advertising. My goal is to get at least 100 new followers per month through social media, with the overall goal of getting at least two new clients per month thanks to my efforts on Facebook.”
S: This goal is specific, to use social media and various related means to get a certain amount of new followers and clients within a certain time period.
M: This goal is measurable because you can easily track how many people follow you on social media and how many new clients you get.
A: This goal is attainable, because using social media is a proven marketing and outreach method.
R: This goal is relevant because you need new clients and a brand name to make money.
T: This goal is time bound, to get a certain amount of new followers and clients in a certain amount of time.
4. Learn One New Skill Every Month
“My goal is to learn new relevant digital marketing skills by taking a variety of classes and seminars. I will create a list of the top 10 skills I need to learn and will aim to learn at least one new skill per month, with the end goal of learning all of my listed top 10 skills by the end of a 12 month period.”
S: This goal is specific, to take classes to learn the top 10 skills you need to be a successful digital marketer.
M: This goal is easy to measure because you can make a list of the skills you need to learn and check them off as you go.
A: This goal is attainable because further education is a rather normal part of any career like this.
R: This goal is relevant because if you want to provide high quality services to clients, you need to know how to perform many jobs.
T: This goal is time bound, to learn all of these necessary skills within 12 months.
5. Find One Client Per Month for the Next 6 Months
“My goal is to brand myself as a top tier digital marketer by promoting top quality services. My goal here is to keep finding new clients, at least one per month for the next six months, who pay more on a per project basis than any previous client, with the end goal of having the sixth new client (in the sixth) month, paying me 100% more than any original clients at the beginning of this six month period.”
S: This goal is specific, to promote top quality services and to get clients that pay more than any previous ones.
M: This goal is easy to measure because you can easily determine how many clients you have and how much they each pay you.
A: This goal is attainable because if you have top quality skills, finding top quality clients should not be too difficult.
R: This goal is relevant, because if you plan on being the best in the business and making the most money, you need to have the highest paying clients.
T: This goal is time bound, to find higher paying clients within six months.
6. Grow Client Base
“My goal is to grow my client base by at least 10% per month for the following 12 months, for a total 120% increase in clientele by the end of this 12 month period. To do this, I will use social media marketing, word of mouth advertising, paid advertising on Google, and create a high-quality SEO website.”
S: This goal is specific, to grow the client base by a certain amount using proven tactics.
M: This goal is easy to measure because you can easily keep track of clients and revenue using accounting and other record keeping tools.
A: This goal is attainable because all of the advertising methods mentioned are proven to work.
R: This goal is relevant simply because it pertains to your overall profits.
T: This goal is time bound, because you are looking to increase clientele within a certain timeframe.
Final Thoughts on SMART Goals for Digital Marketing Professionals
As you can see, although digital marketing does come with certain challenges, they really aren’t impossible to overcome. This is especially the case if you use this proven SMART goal setting methodology. Determine what your goals are, figure out exactly how to achieve them, then use quantitative analysis to keep track of your progress. Overcoming obstacles as a digital marketer has never been so easy!
And if you want more SMART goal ideas and examples, be sure to check out these blog posts:
- 6 SMART Goals Examples for Social Media Marketing
- 7 SMART Goals Examples for Administrative Assistants
- 7 SMART Goals Examples for Creatives & Artistic People
Finally, if you want to take your goal-setting efforts to the next level, check out this FREE printable worksheet and a step-by-step process that will help you set effective SMART goals.
