Identify your business objectives to unlock your marketing strategy

Oct. 26

Written By Amanda at Slow & Steady Studio

If you’re struggling with your marketing, ask yourself if you have clearly articulated business goals that you’re working towards. If the answer is no – then this is the place to start, long before you think about marketing strategies or tactics.

That’s because marketing isn’t just about building a social media presence or leaving a stack of glossy postcards in your favourite coffee shop and hoping for the best – it’s a strategic tool that contributes to the success of your business.

In order to be effective, it needs to be aligned with your business goals and objectives.

What is a business objective?

Business objectives are the results that you’re trying to achieve in your business – how you bring your business vision to reality.

Here’s an example:

Vision: Make equitable and inclusive hiring practices accessible to all companies
Objectives: Generate $100K in annual revenue, work with six to 10 consulting clients in the fintech sector

Business objectives are completely unique to you and your business; no two businesses are going to have the same objectives. Making them specific and time-bound also makes them measurable (a.k.a. SMART) which will tell if you’re on track, if you need to adjust a strategy and how.

The math & magic of articulating your business objectives

Articulating your business objectives takes equal parts math and magic.

The exciting thing about creating a business is that the only limitation is your imagination – it can literally be anything you want it to be. This is the magical part, harnessing the creative energy to dream up your business. Guiding questions to answer when creating a business vision may be:

What is the vision for your business?
What is the spirit of your business and what is it here to do?
What are you going to create together?

AND at the end of the day, in order for your business to be successful the math has to add up.

This means engineering a solid business foundation that clearly articulates your:

Business model
Budget
Revenue targets
Offers and pricing
Ideal clients and actual customers

Together your vision and business foundations will reveal your objectives:

Your business model shows you how you make your money
Your budget shows you how much your business and life cost and the revenue you need to make to afford them
Your offers and pricing show you how much you need to sell to reach your revenue target
Your ideal clients and customers show you who to sell to

Take a step back from marketing to take two steps forward

When marketing feels hard (because it is hard [LINK TO BLOG]) or business isn’t going the way you want it to, it’s natural to want a quick fix or silver bullet that’s going to make it easier and make all our dreams come true - a new channel or trend or tactic that will unlock your goals.

But taking a step back from marketing and assessing our business foundations, including goals and objectives, is truly the secret magic formula to creating simpler, more easeful marketing strategies.