3. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals
If you don't know where you're going, how will you know
when you get there?
4. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals
- Start with “why?”
- “Identify the purpose, cause, or belief that inspires you
to do what you do.” – Simon Sinek
- Why social?
5. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals : Example
- I’m investing in social media to create a contemporary
perception of my brand, to increase the reach of my
message and to generate new customers.
6. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals : Example
- 1. Create social media profiles for my business that
perpetuate my existing branding
- 2. Build my social network from the users of select
social media sites
- 3. Use the social network to generate leads that turn
into clients
7. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals : Example
- 1. Create social media profiles for my business that
perpetuate my existing branding
- Pass or Fail
8. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals : Example
- 2. Build my social network from the users of select
social media sites
9. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals : Example
- 3. Use the social network to generate leads that turn
into clients
10. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals : Rubric
- 7,026 connections
- 43,561 points
- Average 6.2
18. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals : SMART Example
- Specific – My company will invest to create a social media platform on Facebook, LinkedIn,
and Twitter.
- Measurable – We will share one message a day for three months to build an audience of
1,000 people for each social media network. The audience will consist of 50% Decision
Makers, 25% Influencers and 25% Referrals.
- Achievable – I am responsible for the direction of the content, my assistant is responsible for
developing it, posting according to a communications plan and engaging with the community.
We will both review the performance of each site twice a month and make corrections to the
communications plan.
- Relevant – We have set a goal of five new retainer clients generating $500,000 in new
revenue.
- Timely– We will repeat this process for 12 months and measure the value of the social media
network. We will also report the revenue generated from new conversations from social media.
20. Kevin Popović | @SatelliteMktg
Identifying Goals : Group Exercise
- Organize into groups of 5.
- Discuss and select a purpose, cause, or belief that
inspires you.
- Create 3 goals.
- Identify how you will measure your goals.
- Create a SMART approach for each goal.
Intro
Class Discussion: What is your purpose, cause or belief?
Class Discussion: Why do you want to use social media? What do you think you can accomplish?
I'll give you an example. My reason for using social media for my business is: I’m investing in social media to create a contemporary perception of my brand, to increase the reach of my message and to generate new customers.
It's nothing complicated, it's nothing extraordinary, and it's easy to understand. It's the same as many businesses using social media, and it would be difficult for anyone to argue these weren't realistic and achievable.
Based on my statement for using social media, I have three distinct goals to achieve:
Create social media profiles for my business that perpetuate my existing branding
Build my social network from the users of select social media sites
Use the social network to generate leads that turn into clients
Each of the goals is clear in its direction, and each is measurable, albeit in different units of measurement.
Pass/Fail
Goal No. 1 is either done or it isn’t, like a to-do. I can identify when a social media profile is complete: all the fields are completed, and I have some content in all the places where content goes. I can confirm that it has maintained established guidelines for my company branding: the logo is in place, sized appropriately, and the current tagline is included. Using these guidelines, when I meet the criteria, I will have reached this goal.
Quantitative
Goal No. 2 measures numbers. Cumulatively, I can count and organize my social media network. The audience of each social media profile is quantifiable – the system tells me how many friends, followers, connections, subscribers, et al. that I have. It will tell me their names, where they are located, their job titles and other data. I even can get peripheral data, like how many connections my connections have (LinkedIn) or how many people my post reached (Facebook).
We can also measure the numerical activity on social media like number of posts, re-tweets, recommendations, reviews, links – more data. Each social media site provides some type of quantitative information to users about their profiles and pages ("likes," fans, followers, posts, comments, etc.) - you just have to look for the data. Third-party tools and services can access profiles to interconnect social media (using API's and Open Source) to show cumulative data across multiple platforms then generate reports (so you don't have to) for a complete social media network.
Qualitative
Goal No. 3 is qualitative. Some people are more valuable to you in reaching your goals than others depending on who they are, what they do and what type of relationship you can generate with them. The types of people in a social network are a critical yet frequently overlooked part of the ROI equation. When you don't account for the value of a connection, you're not providing an accurate measurement of your success.
In reaching my last goal - using the social network to generate leads that turn into clients - an audience of Decision Makers (CEO’s, CMO’s, VP’s) is more likely to generate the clients I want than an audience of Influencers (Directors, Managers) or Referrals (Staff, Consultants). Decision Makers are motivated to improve the status of the company or to increase sales, and they have both the budget and the authority to hire a company that can provide services to do so. Influencers bring ideas to the table but don’t have the authority to engage my company. Referrals can introduce me to an Influencer or Decision Maker, but the distance to authority and from budget reduces their value in my evaluation of their contribution toward my goals (nothing personal).
By using a simple rubric – a measurement tool that rates my connections -– I can generate a quantitative value for the quality of my connections. Rubrics are used by educators to apply consistent criteria for grading assignments and can be appropriately applied to the evaluation of a social network.
Each connection is a unique element that comprises my social network. Being able to identify them, understand their characteristics and measure their individual weights gives you a very different understanding of what you have achieved.
In this Social Network Evaluation Rubric, I have identified three types of people: a Referral, an Influencer and a Decision Maker. It's a simple progression of the types of people we meet in business with one other notation: whether or not they have a budget (i.e., the money to hire my company). I considered each of these people and distributed the weight accordingly – Decision Makers with Budget were the most valuable because they can sign a contract and cut a check.
Using this metric, I can review each connection and assign points based on what I know about them today. Based on my 4,898 LinkedIn connections, my social network is worth 32,816 points, and my average connection is a 6.2 (at least an Influencer with their company). I can also measure the sales that have come from my connections to, ultimately, answer the questions I started with: Why am I looking to social media? What do I hope to accomplish? And how will I know when I have accomplished my goal(s)?
Being SMART About Your Goals
In 1981, George T. Doran wrote an article in Management Review addressing “the importance of objectives and the difficulty of setting them.*” He introduced “a S.M.A.R.T. way to write management's goals and objectives” that has become a mainstay in management and marketing.
SMART is a mnemonic acronym to remember that goals must be:
Specific – Target a specific area for improvement
Measurable – Quantify an indicator of progress
Assignable – Specify who will do it
Realistic – State what realistic results can be achieved
Timely– Specify when the results can be achieved
Specifics
A specific goal has a much greater chance of being accomplished than a general goal. Vague or generalized goals don't provide sufficient direction. Stating, “We want to be successful using social media” isn’t a very clear goal. However, stating, “We want to sell 100 products in three months” is crystal clear. It has a quantity and a time limit. Get where you want to go by defining precisely where you want to end up.
To set a specific SMART goal, you must answer the six "W" questions:
Who: Who is involved?
What: What do I want to accomplish?
Where: Identify a location.
When: Establish a time frame.
Which: Identify the requirements and constraints.
Why: Provide specific reasons for accomplishing the goal.
My company would answer the question as follows:
Who: Myself and my assistant
What: Generate five new clients and $500,000 in new revenue
Where: Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter
When: 12 months
Which: Clients must be generated from social media activity, or from Past clients
Why: To meet revenue goals for the year
Remember, your goals are determining the “what." The how is a strategy you will develop later.
Measurable: Goals should be measurable so you have tangible evidence you accomplished the goal. Invest the time to develop a process you will use to measure your progress toward the attainment of your objectives. Usually, the entire goal statement is a measure for the project, but there are usually several short-term or smaller measurements built into the goal. Establish concrete criteria for measuring the progress toward the attainment of each goal. Include the number of fans, followers, amounts, dates and the like in your goals so you can measure your degree of success. When you measure your progress, you stay on track, you reach your target dates, and you do what is required to reach your goal.
To determine if your goal is measurable, ask yourself:
How much?
How many?
How will I know when I accomplish my goal?
Your answers should be quantifiable. If you can't answer this question, you can't measure the progress toward accomplishing the goal.
Achievable: You must believe you can achieve your goals. You can attain most any goal when you plan your steps and establish a time frame that allows you to execute those steps. Goals that may have seemed far away and out of reach eventually move closer and become attainable, not because your goals shrink, but because you grow and expand to match them. At the same time, make sure it's possible to achieve the goals you set. If you set a goal you have no hope of achieving, you will only demoralize yourself and erode your confidence. By setting realistic yet challenging goals, you hit the balance you need. These are the types of goals that require you to "raise the bar," and they bring the greatest personal satisfaction.
You must be able to answer the question: "How will this goal be achieved?"
question, you can't measure the progress toward accomplishing the goal.
Relevant: To be relevant, a goal will represent what needs to be accomplished. Relevant goals set direction, motivate the team, and move the organization forward. A goal that supports or that is in alignment with other goals would be considered a relevant goal. Setting inconsistent and unconnected goals only wastes your time and resources. Goals should measure outcomes, not activities.
A relevant goal can answer "yes" to these questions:
Does this seem worthwhile?
Is this the right time?
Does this match our other efforts/needs?
Are you the right person?
Is it applicable in the current socio-economic-technical environment?
Some have argued the “R” in S.M.A.R.T. should be "Realistic." This means that logically — given your time, money, resources and level of skill — you will be able to achieve these goals successfully. If any of these is lacking, then you either need to improve your time, financial situation, skills and resources or simply set a different set of goals.
Timely: A goal should fall within a time frame. With no time frame tied to it, there's no sense of urgency. Your goal is probably realistic if you truly believe you can accomplish it. Additional ways to know if your goal is realistic are to determine if you have accomplished anything similar in the past or to ask yourself what conditions would have to exist to accomplish this goal.
A time-based goal will usually answer the questions:
When?
What can I do today?
What can I do six weeks from now?
What can I do six months from now?
set of goals.
Specific: SMART goals should be simplistically written and should clearly define what you are going to do and when you are going to do it. This means you must point out with clarity and detail exactly what it is that you would like to achieve (the more detail, the better).
Using my company goals, my SMART goals would be:
Specific – My company will invest to create a social media platform on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
Measurable – We will share one message a day for three months to build an audience of 1,000 people for each social media network. The audience will consist of 50% Decision Makers, 25% Influencers and 25% Referrals.
Achievable – I am responsible for the direction of the content, my assistant is responsible for developing it, posting according to a communications plan and engaging with the community. We will both review the performance of each site twice a month and make corrections to the communications plan.
Relevant – We have set a goal of five new retainer clients generating $500,000 in new revenue.
Timely– We will repeat this process for 12 months and measure the value of the social media network. We will also report the revenue generated from new conversations from social media.
This example is a simple demonstration, and that's intentional. I have read pages and pages of blah-blah-blah that was difficult to understand and that was open for interpretation. By all means, say what needs to be said and address what needs to be addressed. You can go into detail and depth, as necessary, but I’ve found less is more.
Side Note: There's a saying I tell my writers, "The more words you use, the less important each one is." It's always a challenge to get people who are paid to write to do less of it, but I find it to be effective. My designers are taught to take away as many elements as you can while still communicating what you need to. Both get them to the same place.
Choose SMART Goal Setting
Draft a first pass at SMART Goals (yes, by yourself – for now). Follow the process described in this chapter until it is completed. Do not take shortcuts, do not improvise (you’re not making up a process, you’re using one)
2. Document Your Goals
Type out everything you think and organize the information in an outline that follows the model you've chosen. If you're reading this on a plane with no battery power left, you can write it out. However, you end up moving so much of the information around that it is much more efficient in a Word document.
From everything you’ve written, organized and understood, identify and prioritize your goals. Depending on how many goals you’ve identified and what’s required to achieve them, you may consider addressing goals in separate phases: a different time, a different budget, perhaps a different market. The point is, you don't have to address your goals all at once. You should only address those you know you can achieve.
3. Confirm the metrics used to measure the progress toward your goals.
Each goal will have a different opportunity for measurement. Address each goal and confirm what you will use to measure the progress based on the metrics you have available. Consider the activity necessary to achieve your goals as you set benchmarks.
Congratulations, you now have real goals and a way to know how you’re doing.
