4 Things Brands Must do Right Now to Prepare for 2021
By: Fab Giovanetti
Tags: Marketing, Creativity, Business, Productivity, Work

Set a SMART goal

Business mentors, coaches, marketing gurus, and experts really like to wave a very threatening statistic around our faces. Apparently, 90% of startup businesses fail within the first year. If, as a creative, you thought you’d be exempt from being part of the failure complex, you may be wrong.

If we do the maths correctly, setting up a website can take as little as 15 minutes, or as long as a month. More than the feeling of failure in itself, what really packs a punch is the amount of time we spend setting up something that we do not see following through.

However, I do not believe in failure. That’s why I believe that goal setting is a key aspect of creating a great strategy and a glorious brand. This leads me to another key point of this discussion. If you are not seeing the results you expected, chances are you’re not going to achieve your goals by accident: it takes purposeful planning. If you don’t define those goals and create a plan to work toward them, you’ll never reach them.

This is why, today, I am introducing one easy way of setting meaningful goals for your brand. Before you ask, Fab is not re-inventing the wheel here. S.M.A.R.T. goals are not a new thing. They have been used by many very successful professionals and individuals for many years. S.M.A.R.T. is an acronym that helps you set the right type of goals.

Specific

This is quite straightforward. The more specific you make your goal, the more likely you are to achieve it. Instead of saying “I want to make money from my content” make sure you set a specific goal to make enough money from your content to pay, for example, for a week-long holiday.

Measurable

Setting targets can be scary, hence why we are more likely to shy away from them! Just like how people struggle to “grow their Instagram” because they do not know what that actually entails, you need to get clear on what true results mean to you. You want to know how many new followers you are expecting, how many articles you want to write in a month, how many new emails you want to collect in a specific amount of time — this makes your achievements measurable and more manageable.

Achievable

Less is more, especially when it comes to goal setting. Choose one big goal, and work toward it. Then move on to the next one. Remember, you can only achieve so much before your willpower dwindles and you jump straight into burnout. Don’t get fooled by the shiny object syndrome: if you create many goals to accomplish at the same time, you’ll burn through your willpower very quickly.

Relevant

Your goals should be consistent with what you want to achieve with your brand, hence you need to know WHY you are in business altogethr. There’s no point in wasting time on a goal that won’t help you achieve your overall purpose. Think carefully about how your goal is helping you to achieve your purpose in your brand. Is doubling your Facebook likes really going to help you make the money you want for that holiday?

Time-bound

A time-bound goal gives you focus and allows an end date for achieving your goal. Let’s use the weight-loss analogy just one more time. You don’t want to just set a goal, such as “I want to gain 1,000 followers”. Instead, you want your goal to be time-bound, such as “I want to get to 10,000 followers by the end of the year.” By adding a deadline for achieving the goal, you will be able to see how close you are and keep yourself on the right track. Remember, you are always encouraged to adjust your deadlines accordingly to the goal, and how achievable it is.