Two Questions: What have you done so far to achieve your business goals? But more importantly, is your marketing and business goals aligned?
Yes, these two goals must work in concert with each other and should never operate independently. This is the most fatal flaw in the business planning process and can lead to a waste of time, effort, money and resources. When you set your revenue goals, your marketing should be planned and aligned to help your business achieve them.
Setting goals and making plans is the easy part, following through with them is the challenge. Hopefully, the questions below help make this process a little easier:
1. How much revenue do you need to generate through your Marketing efforts?
Your Marketing efforts should be a revenue generator for your business. Creating more brand awareness in the market should bring in more prospects, convert more prospects to customers and in turn increase sales.
2. How many sales do you need to make to hit your revenue goals?
Be sure to set your sales target. Set a specific sales goal, so you know exactly how many sales need to be made to reach your revenue goals.
3. How many leads do you need?
Meeting your revenue goals also means acquiring new business. You will need to create an action plan to gain these new customers through creating new opportunities to connect with new customers.
4. How are you going to increase your retention rate from current customers?
Retain current customers by making them pay attention to you. You can do this through building a relationship with your customers by implementing a monthly email campaign and/or writing a weekly blog informing customers of recent news, services and insight on how your service can help them and anything else that may be valuable to your customers. This will also position you as thought leader in your industry which will make customers trust you more.
5. What are your success metrics and do you have quarterly benchmarks in place to make sure you’re on track to achieve your goals?
Pick meaningful metrics and always track your progress. Your marketing should have a direct influence on your revenue.
6. Does your marketing tie into the overarching business strategy?
If the answer is no then why are you doing it? Make sure you can explain how your marketing strategy will bring in new business in the future.
Aligning your marketing goals with your business strategy will not only make your company more successful, but it will make your brand even more impactful.
As you hit your benchmarks, remember to treat yourself. You deserve to be rewarded for your accomplishments.
Need help? Don't hesitate to email us at info@dallasdoesgood.com.