Marketing success starts with setting the right goals (video)

Nine times out of ten, we get approached by companies who, when asked, "What are your goals?" answer one of two ways:

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[insert some enormous number here]

This is, all too often, because they don't have an idea of how to set actual goals. They don't have benchmarks or, when they do, they see these enormous numbers (without seeing what it took to get there).

When they've given me an enormous number, I often ask, "Why that number?" and the answer is often:

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...leading me to realize that the real answer to this question is almost always "I'm not sure."

This is a problem.

How can we know if we're succeeding if we don't set a goal? In the video, I compare setting marketing goals with losing weight. Almost every diet starts with setting a weight goal. If you didn't do this, how would you know if what you're doing is working? If you don't set a goal, you're more likely to abandon the program. That's a waste.
How will we determine which inputs work/don't work to progress towards that goal? Once again, I'll use the losing weight example. Lots of people will go to the gym every day but then eat the same. Then they'll tell their friends, "Gawd, I just can't seem to lose weight!" This will also lead to the eventual abandonment of a program. Once again, a waste.

Some goals are more measurable than others, btw. For my agency, we didn't put out ads or press releases or the like. I made videos. I couldn't say that "For every video, I made, we brought in 'x' leads." But what I did know was when I made videos, we had a steady stream of leads. When I stopped making videos, those leads slowed down (and even dried up). I also knew that speaking at conferences brought in leads, not necessarily from the audience, but from the social proof of speaking at those conferences. I also knew what didn't work. Sponsoring events didn't work (or, at least, industry events).

Our process of setting leading/lagging indicators as a services organization was to invest in things: content, networking, presentations, SEO, SEM, sponsorships, events, etc. and, over time, we got a good picture of what worked and what didn't.

But marketing business services is different than, say, marketing a fashion line or consumer goods or an app or a restaurant. And my video this week is aimed more at the latter (though business services should still heed leading/lagging indicators and SMART goal setting).

On that note, though I've been making videos regularly since 2015 (irregularly since 2006), I've launched an entirely new series to reflect the work we're focusing on now with Phlywheel (a community for entrepreneurs who want to master their marketing - that includes coaching and premium content - launching July 13).