Complete Guide to Social Media Marketing for Small Businesses
Learn how to use social media marketing to grow your small business using social media strategy that will help increase brand awareness, and boost website traffic.
Smart Marketing Goals: A Guide To Its Elements, Benefits, and Examples
“Make more profits”, “Have a bigger market share”, and “Increase brand awareness”. These were the goals that Mark, the VP of Marketing at Ecks-Why-Zee Retail Stores outlined as the company’s goals for the new year. The company’s leadership was expecting Mark and his team to deliver on these goals. But as Mark began to think about how he was going to achieve these goals, he realized that they weren’t very specific. They didn’t take into account what the company’s customers wanted or what would be realistic to achieve or when they would be achieved. It was at this point that he realized that he needed to make his goals more “smart”. The only problem is, he doesn’t know how. Your mission, Agent X, should you choose to accept it, is to help Mark and his team understand and set some smart marketing goals for Ecks-Why-Zee Retail Stores. The rest of this guide is to help you understand what SMART goals are, the benefits of setting them, and how to set and measure SMART marketing goals. It’ll also provide some examples of common smart marketing goals that you can use as inspiration for helping Mark’s team. But first, let’s start with the basics. What are SMART Goals? SMART is an acronym that represents the words, Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. A SMART goal is a goal that meets those values,in other words, a well-defined goal that you can track and measure progress towards. Specific A specific goal is clear and concise and provides detailed information about what needs to be done. For example, rather than setting a goal to “increase sales,” Ecks-Why-Zee might set a goal to “increase sales by 10%” This specific goal is more likely to lead to concrete action and results in sales. Similarly, rather than setting a goal to “improve customer service,” it might set a goal to “reduce customer wait times by 30%” Once again, this specific goal is more likely to lead to tangible improvement in customer relations. Measurable When setting goals, it is important to make sure that they can be effectively measured. A goal is measurable if it can be expressed in a quantifiable value. To create a measurable goal, businesses need to have specific criteria that can be used to track progress. For example, a business might set a goal to increase sales by 10% over one year. To measure this goal, they would track sales figures regularly and compare them to the previous year or timeframe. To ensure that a goal is truly measurable, it’s important to ask questions such as how will we know if we’ve achieved this goal? What metrics will we use? How often will we track progress? Achievable For a goal to be achievable, it must be realistic. This means that businesses need to set attainable goals that they can work towards given their resources and timeframes. It’s important to note that an achievable goal should still challenge businesses to push themselves to see results. Relevant When setting SMART goals, businesses need to make sure that they are relevant to their overall mission and vision. A goal is relevant if it furthers the business’s objectives and helps it move closer to its long-term goals. For example, a goal to increase sales by 10% would be relevant for a business whose objective is to increase profits. However, a goal to increase social media followers by 10% would not be relevant for a business whose objective is to reduce costs. Time-bound SMART goals need to have a timeframe associated with them to keep businesses on track and accountable. A time-bound goal has a specific deadline associated with it. This deadline provides a sense of urgency and encourages businesses to take action to achieve their goals. For example, rather than setting a goal to “increase sales,” Ecks-Why-Zee might set a goal to “increase sales by 10% within the next year.” This time-bound goal gives the business a clear timeline to work towards and ensures that they take action promptly. The Benefits of Setting SMART Goals For a Marketing Team There are numerous benefits associated with setting SMART goals. Some of the most notable benefits include: Improved Clarity And Focus Setting SMART goals for a sales team helps its team members have improved clarity and focus. When businesses set SMART marketing goals, the team has a clear roadmap to follow. This helps them to focus their efforts on the things that matter most and achieve their desired results. More Effective Decision-Making SMART marketing goals lead to more effective decision-making because by having a clear understanding of what task needs to be achieved teams can make better decisions about how to allocate their resources. This helps them use their time, money, and energy in the most efficient way possible. Increased Motivation And Productivity Another benefit of setting SMART goals is that they can increase motivation and productivity. When team members have a clear goal to work towards, they are more likely to be motivated to take action and see results. This can lead to increased productivity as businesses can get more done in a shorter timeframe. For example, if a team’s goal is to increase lead generation by 15% within two months, they are likely to be more focused and driven to achieve this goal than if they simply had a goal to “increase lead generation. Enhanced Team Communication SMART goals also help to enhance team communication. By having a clear goal to work towards, team members can easily communicate their progress and identify any areas where they may need help. This open communication can help to improve the overall efficiency of the team. Improved Time Management Another benefit of setting SMART goals is that they can help with time management. By having a clear understanding of what needs to be done and when it needs to be done, businesses can better manage their time. This helps businesses to avoid wasting time on things that don’t matter and ensures that
The Ultimate Guide on Repurposing Content for Businesses
Are you looking for ways to get more mileage out of your content? If you’re like most business owners, you’re probably always on the lookout for ways to get more bang for your buck – repurposing content is a great way to do that. Reusing and repurposing old content can save time and money while still delivering fresh, relevant, and engaging content to your audience. This guide will show you how to repurpose content for maximum impact. We’ll cover everything from how to choose the right pieces of content to the different ways you can go about doing it. What is Repurposing Content? Repurposing content simply means taking an old piece of content and using it in a new way. This could mean turning a blog post into an infographic or a video, or converting an ebook into a series of blog posts. By repackaging your content in different formats, you can reach a new audience, generate more leads, and achieve other marketing goals. There are endless possibilities when it comes to repurposing content. The key is finding creative ways to reuse your existing material to resonate with your audience in a new and different way. For instance, blog content can be easily repurposed into a video or a guest post for another blog or made into your blog. In the same way, you can create social media posts Youtube videos, or other video content. Sometimes, all it takes is to look at your content from a different perspective to come up with new ideas for how to repurpose it. Other times, you may need to do some research to find a suitable format for your audience. The important thing is that you take the time to consider all of your options before settling on a particular approach. Whichever, make sure the final product still contains your original message. It not only gives you a better chance of success but also helps you avoid any potential pitfalls. Why Repurpose Content? There are many reasons why business owners choose to repurpose their content. In most cases, it boils down to the following objectives: Get More Mileage Out of Your Content: Repurposing content allows you to get more mileage out of your existing content. Instead of creating all new content, you can reuse old material in a new way that still adds value for your audience. For example, let’s say you have a blog post that performed well, with many shares and comments. Repurposing this content into an infographic or video can help you reach even more people and drive further engagement. That way, you don’t have to create new content; instead, you can focus on repackaging and promoting your best-performing pieces. It is like hitting two birds with one stone. Saving Time and Money You would agree that creating high-quality content takes a lot of time and effort, especially when you’re doing so from scratch. If you’re only going to use that content once, you’re not getting the most out of it. Why? Because once you’ve published a piece of content, it doesn’t just disappear into thin air. It remains on your website (or wherever else you published it) and can continue to generate leads and traffic long after you hit the publish button. By repurposing old content, you can get more mileage out of it without having to start from scratch every time you want to publish something new. This saves you time and money – because you’re able to get more use out of the content you’ve already created. Reaching a New Audience When you create new content, it’s crucial to think about how you can reach a new audience with it. For example, if you have an entire blog post that’s doing well with your target audience, you can turn it into an infographic and share it on social media. This allows you to reach people who may not be familiar with your brand but who are interested in the topic you’re discussing. Generating More Leads One of the main goals of content marketing is to generate leads – repurposing content can help you do that. A good example is that you can turn an engaging ebook into a series of actionable blog posts and use it as a lead generation tool. By including a call-to-action (CTA) at the end of each post, you can encourage people to download your ebook and become leads. Building Relationships with Customers and Prospects Another goal of content marketing is to build relationships with customers and prospects. And one of the best ways to do that is by creating helpful and informative content. If you have just one blog post that’s doing well with your target audience, you can turn it into an email course and use it to nurture prospects and build customer relationships. By sending people valuable information regularly, you can keep them engaged with your brand and build a rapport with them. Increase Your Visibility Repurposing content can also help you increase your visibility and get more eyes on your brand. When you create new content, be sure to promote it across your social media channels, email list, and other marketing channels. You can also submit it to directories and aggregators such as Alltop and the like. The more places your content is, the more likely people are to find it and learn about your business. Boosting SEO Rankings Finally, repurposing content can also help you boost your Search Engine Optimization (SEO) rankings. When you publish new content, it gives you the opportunity to include relevant keywords and phrases that people are searching for. Optimizing your content for search engines can improve your chances of ranking higher in the search results. Not only that, but republishing old content also allows you to attract new readers and keep your existing readers coming back for more. Types of Content That You Can Repurpose Almost any type of content can be repurposed, including: How Best to Repurpose Content Now that you
