5 Tips for Setting Business Goals in the New Year

The new year is upon us, and it’s time to look back on 2021 and set our expectations for the year ahead. When it comes to business, regularly setting goals is a great way to hold yourself and your team accountable and keep you on track toward success.

The popular acronym, "SMART" (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, time-bound) is a great start, but we'd like to dive deeper into everything that goes into setting top-notch objectives for your brand. Here are a few things to consider when setting your goals for 2022:

Avoid goals that are too broad or easily attainable.

Make sure that your goals are specific, and while you want them to be achievable, they shouldn’t be a “given.” In other words, don’t set goals that you are almost certain you will achieve. Aim high and have narrow standards in mind.

It's also important to use specific language and avoid overgeneralized goals such as "Increase our amount of customers in 2022" or "Have a better social media presence by the end of the year." In these phrases, how much do they want to "increase" their customer base? What does "better" mean?

Be sure to address the 5 Ws- "Who (we), what (want to _) where (if applicable, such as "within the Chicagoland area"), when (by _), and why (your reason or strategy for setting these specific goals). You will also want to come up with an action plan that lists "how" you will achieve them.

Use numbers and other measurable criteria.

Speaking of standards, a good way to make sure you are setting doable but challenging goals is to focus on where you want your business to be a year from now. Perhaps you want to gain a certain amount of subscribers for your newsletter, reach a higher engagement rate on social media, or increase your amount of customers.

No matter what your goals are, have a number in mind. In many cases, it’s easier to go with a percentage. Be sure to also have a specific date in mind for when you want to achieve this goal. Example: “We want to raise our amount of newsletter subscribers by 10% by the end of 2022.”

Split goals up and re-evaluate as needed.

One way to ensure your team is staying on track is to split annual goals up into segments. This will also help you hold yourselves accountable. You can set some for each month, quarter, or semiannually.

If you reach one of those “checkpoints” and you don’t seem to be on track for reaching your end goal, take the time to take a closer look at your tactics (what you have been doing to reach your goals) and adjust your plan to see if it makes a difference. After all, business is similar to marketing in that it is all about testing what works, what doesn’t, and strategizing until you get it right.

Seek feedback from your team.

Take time to reflect on the past year as a time and talk about what the company did well, what it could work on, and how you can go about making those changes in 2022. It’s important to not only have external goals but internal ones as well. Perhaps you want to improve your company culture and find new ways to motivate your staff. Quality goals begin from within.

Remember why you started.

Your business goals should be centered around purpose. Take your company’s missions statement into account when setting goals. Set goals in different sectors of your business; financial, marketing, sales, communications, impact, and so on. For instance, if you own a travel company and your mission is to help families make lasting memories, keep track of the numbers by setting objectives such as “Successfully book X amount of trips for families across the U.S.” or “Receive X amount of positive reviews from families who had an amazing vacation thanks to our booking services.”

More examples of strong business goals:

• "We want to increase our customer retention rate by 10% within the first half of 2022. We will measure this by _"
• "Our Denver medical office would like to increase its amount of positive patient reviews by 15% before the end of 2022."
• "Our retail store would like to increase the number of new rewards members by 5% within the first quarter of 2022."
• "Our office would like to increase the number of bookings made online by 15% by fall of 2022."
• "We would like 150 of our current customers to upgrade to a higher membership by summer of 2022."

No matter how you choose to set your goals this year, be sure to utilize marketing platforms that will help you stay in touch with customers, initiate an action, and ultimately reach your goals- such as social media, your website, blog, and email marketing.

Need some help planning and achieving your 2022 business goals? Say no more. Book your FREE Discovery Call with me today to learn how we can help you strategize, connect with your audience, and accomplish your mission!