what are SMART objectives for a company? Most effective examples

Thinking, preparing and defining objectives is a fundamental process that all companies have to carry out. In this post we will talk about SMART objectives; what they are and how we can use them as well as giving some examples to start working with them. Let's see it!

How to define a SMART strategy

In order to be productive and obtain better benefits when it comes to achieving a goal, it is essential to set goals, not only in the workplace, but in any other area of our daily lives. And it is also important that these goals are real and have been set in the right way.

At this point is when SMART objectives come into play. It is true that one of the primary objectives of all brands and companies is "wanting to grow". But is this a valid objective? The answer is clear: no. Yes, it is true that all brands want to grow and go further and it is a goal that can be achieved if we work towards it, but we will not achieve it if we do not stop to think intelligently about how we are going to achieve it.

This is one of the main characteristics of these SMART objectives: they are intelligent. They are objectives that help us to achieve the goals we have set for our brand in an orderly and real way, acting according to what we want to achieve.

The creation of the word SMART corresponds to an acronym that refers to all the characteristics of these objectives.

• S (specific): Specific
• M (measurable): Measurable
• A (achievable): Achievable
• R (relevant): Relevant/Important
• T (timely): Temporary

That's right, SMART objectives are: specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. Let's look at each of the characteristics in detail so we know how we can create our SMART objectives strategy.

• Specific: When we talk about objectives that are specific, we mean that they are going to be adjusted to a specific action, moment or process. The most important thing when defining objectives is that they are specific and not that a single objective aims to cover many actions at the same time. It is preferable that they are specific objectives so that it is easier for us to achieve them and focus all our attention and work on them.

• Measurable: Once we have specifically defined our objectives, it will be very easy to make them measurable. Otherwise, it will not be possible to interpret whether the results we are achieving are within what we hope to achieve. Therefore, to be able to measure the results of our objectives it is necessary to have the means and resources: a software tool, an analysis methodology, etc. Any strategy that helps us will be beneficial to know the scope of the goals we have set ourselves.

• Achievable: When we talk about creating achievable objectives, we mean that they must be proposals capable of being achieved with the conditions and means that we have from the outset. It is not advisable to set objectives that cannot be achieved with the resources we have, since by needing other tools to achieve them, it will be much more difficult to achieve a satisfactory result. It is preferable, therefore, to set more realistic goals and then aim higher over time.
  
• Relevant: For a goal to be relevant, it has to be in line with the rest of the overall objectives of the business. This means that the goals have to be related to the rest of the SMART objectives plan that we have drawn up and to the brand itself, since everything we propose has to serve to take our company to a better place than it was at the starting point.
  
• Time-bound: Asking for SMART objectives to be time-bound means that they must be adjusted to a specific time frame, with a scope and relevance that must be achieved in the time previously established. When it comes to defining the months in which our objective will be achieved, this can lead to them not being completed if we do not take into account the margin of time that elapses from when we set the goal in motion until its results can begin to be measurable.
  
  

Examples of SMART objectives

Now that we have defined the characteristics of these objectives, let's look at some examples that will help us better understand the function of each of the steps to be followed:

Example 1: increase our followers on social networks

• Specific (S): Increase the number of followers of my brand's profile on the Instagram social network.
• Measurable (M): Obtain 25% more followers than the initial number of followers, thus obtaining 150 more users.
• Achievable (A): Achieve it thanks to the Social Media plan that we have established in our initial strategy and periodic campaigns that we carry out on our social networks.
• Relevant (R): The importance of this objective is to reach a wider audience and improve the reputation of our brand on social networks.
• temporal (T): To achieve it over the next five months.

In short, what we want to achieve with this objective is to improve the reputation of our brand and its presence on social networks. Therefore, through our Social Media strategic plan we want to increase our followers by 25% in the next five months.

Example 2: Increase the number of visits to our website.

• Specific (S): Increase the number of visits generated to our website.
• Measurable (M): Obtain 50% more visits than we currently have.
• Achievable (A): Achieve it through marketing campaigns and our Social Media plan in which our social networks will redirect more traffic to our website.
• Relevant (R): Increase sales in the spring/summer campaign in addition to capturing a greater number of users.
• Temporal (T): As we want to achieve it in the spring/summer campaign, it will be carried out between April and September.

In summary, what we are looking to achieve with this objective is to achieve a higher traffic to our brand's website in the spring/summer campaign. We will achieve this in the months between April and September with a 50% increase in visits through marketing campaigns and our social media plan.

Benefits of SMART objectives

Now that we have seen examples and know how SMART objectives work and what they are for, it is important to know how setting these goals would benefit our brand:
Setting real and achievable goals will help our company not to lose its way with unattainable objectives, but to focus on achieving the more specific goals.
They are key to not losing the focus of our company's daily work, as being immersed in achieving specific aspects will help us a lot to know what we should focus on when working.
Having SMART objectives helps us to keep in mind what we want to achieve in order to improve the vision of our company.

In short, SMART objectives will help our company to grow and go further than where it was at the starting point, which is the main objective of any brand when it begins to embark on its journey.

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