The onerous reality about advertising goals is that you simply shouldn’t have a look at a number of examples and select people who appear to suit the very best. The examples ought to solely be used as inspiration.
It’s on you to set particular advertising goals as a result of each enterprise is totally different and the best precedence wants in advertising change over time. Deciding the place your advertising focus needs to be for the yr forward is an important a part of each advertising plan.
On this article, we’ll dive into examples of nice advertising goals, together with methods to measure them. It’s then adopted by the very best practices it is best to apply to both alter these examples based on your wants or give you your individual advertising goals from scratch.
However first…
Advertising goals are particular and reasonable outcomes that your organization desires to attain with its advertising efforts over a sure time period. They information what it is best to focus your advertising actions on, mostly for the yr forward.
Nice advertising goals present benchmarks to judge your advertising efficiency, which is essential to creating modifications to your advertising technique and plans.
Let’s dive into the examples.
Arising with a great advertising goal is one factor. Having the ability to correctly monitor the progress towards it’s one other.
That’s why every level right here comprises a brief “How you can measure it” part pointing you towards metrics, KPIs, and methods you should utilize to observe by way of.
1. Improve share of voice (SOV)
Instance goal: Improve SOV from 11% to 16% by the top of 2023.
Share of voice (SOV) is historically a measure of your promoting share in comparison with rivals. Nonetheless, with most manufacturers now combating for visibility on natural channels like social and search, we will broaden that definition to how seen your model is available in the market.
This is a superb advertising goal as a result of there’s a robust relationship between SOV and market share. As soon as your SOV is increased than your market share, you create extra SOV (eSOV). Your market share ought to observe in the identical course within the lengthy run.

In fact, that is an undeniably tough metric to trace throughout all channels. The answer is to interrupt the target down into your most necessary channels.
Listed here are a number of examples:
Improve natural search visibility within the U.S. from 6% to eight% by the top of 2023.
Improve search advert impression share from 47% to 65% within the U.S. amongst Site Audit device patrons by the top of 2023.
Improve advertising podcast viewers month-to-month attain from 300,000 to 500,000 by the top of 2023.
How you can measure it
Measuring SOV is dependent upon your alternative of channel. For instance, for natural search, the best technique is to trace your primary key phrases in Ahrefs’ Rank Tracker, add your rivals’ domains, and examine the SOV within the Opponents overview tab.
Right here’s what it appears like for key phrases we goal on our weblog:

It reveals you the proportion of all clicks from tracked key phrases that land in your and your rivals’ web sites.
This can be a subject by itself, so examine the next information in the event you’re inquisitive about measuring SOV across channels.
2. Improve model consciousness
Instance goal: Improve unaided consciousness of our model among the many complete market of entrepreneurs from 31% to 38% by the top of 2023.
Model consciousness represents your model’s stage of familiarity amongst your audience. For instance, the model that first involves thoughts whenever you consider electrical vehicles might be Tesla, not Rivian. That’s as a result of Tesla enjoys a better stage of name consciousness amongst shoppers.
There are a number of metrics you could examine concerning your model consciousness:
- Aided model consciousness – The proportion of respondents who’re conscious of your model when requested explicitly.
- Unaided model consciousness – Also referred to as model recall, that is the proportion of respondents who point out your model on their very own with none immediate.
- High-of-mind consciousness – The proportion of respondents who point out your model as the primary one in your area of interest.
- Model recognition – The proportion of respondents who acknowledge your model primarily based in your emblem, visible identification, or different model property.
How you can measure it
Measuring model consciousness metrics requires market analysis sources since you want solutions from a consultant pattern out of your market. Market analysis businesses specialize on this and are your solely choice to get complete knowledge.
Nonetheless, in the event you already measure SOV, you should utilize it as a tough proxy metric for model consciousness.
3. Enhance model notion
Instance goal: Improve notion that we’re the very best search engine optimisation toolset from 44% to 51% by the top of 2023.
Familiarity along with your model is one factor, however do folks resonate with the way you need them to understand your model or merchandise? In different phrases, does your positioning work? Is your advertising communication creating the precise associations round your model?
If you happen to get unsatisfactory solutions to those questions, then this goal could also be for you. You’ll additionally doubtless get different helpful data concerning your model notion. That is all an awesome start line to work in your communication and positioning.
How you can measure it
Just like model consciousness, this one nonetheless requires surveys and sure the assistance of specialised businesses. However on this case, you’re capable of collect a great chunk of the information your self by surveying your present and misplaced clients.
You may as well monitor your model’s mentions to see how folks speak about it on-line. Instruments like Brand24 acknowledge the sentiment, so that could be a great start line in the event you’re merely trying to enhance your status.

4. Increase gross sales progress
Instance goal: Improve annual recurring income (ARR) from $104 million to $120 million by the top of 2023.
Boosting gross sales progress is the primary short-term advertising goal on our checklist tied on to income or revenue. You should know which monetary metrics take advantage of sense to measure primarily based on your small business mannequin and planning.
Gross sales progress can be tied to a selected services or products. This makes choices for gross sales progress goals virtually limitless.
How you can measure it
Merely get knowledge out of your Buyer Relationship Administration (CRM) platform, checkout methods, or different types of monetary dashboards.
Alternatively, don’t depend on the numbers in your Google Analytics for this. They’re skewed by default and may not track everything properly.
5. Purchase extra customers or clients
Instance goal: Improve month-to-month lively customers (MAU) of Ahrefs Webmaster Tools from 750,000 to 1.2 million by the top of 2023.
Accelerating your consumer base progress doesn’t essentially imply extra revenue, however it has implications which are means past any monetary metrics.
For instance, we launched a free model of our search engine optimisation toolset known as Ahrefs Webmaster Tools in September 2020. Increasing our word of mouth, broadening the consumer base, and familiarizing extra folks with our product result in long-term progress.
How you can measure it
Use numbers out of your CRM. In fact, this isn’t a worthwhile advertising goal for bodily product producers promoting in supermarkets.
6. Generate extra advertising certified leads (MQLs)
Instance goal: Improve the generated variety of MQLs from 5,676 in 2022 to six,500 in 2023.
A advertising certified lead (MQL) is any lead that signifies curiosity in your model and merchandise. That may vary from downloading an book to sending a contact type.
This goal is usually a nice match for any subscription-based enterprise with gross sales reps who’ll be taking on these leads and attempting to show them into clients.
How you can measure it
Monitoring MQLs will be fairly straightforward nowadays. You should arrange a lead scoring system that routinely evaluates your incoming leads primarily based on knowledge factors like:
- Estimated buying energy of the corporate.
- Person conduct and actions taken in your app or web site.
- Trial tier and setup.
- Something the lead stated to your buyer rep or gross sales staff (e.g., that they’re on the lookout for a brand new resolution).
- Some other knowledge you gather from varieties or lead magnets.
Some CRM platforms like HubSpot have a lead scoring performance inbuilt, however I recommend you seek the advice of this with a CRM analytics knowledgeable to get every little thing proper from the begin.
7. Improve buyer lifetime worth (CLV)
Instance goal: Improve CLV amongst enterprise clients from $44,500 to $55,000 by the top of 2023.
Buyer lifetime worth (CLV) is a metric that estimates how a lot cash a person buyer will spend in your services or products. Rising your common buyer’s value not solely improves your monetary metrics but in addition permits you to spend extra on buying new clients.
How you can measure it
That is probably the most primary system to calculate CLV:
Avg. Order Worth x Avg. Annual Buy Frequency x Avg. Buyer Lifespan
In case your AOV is $100, clients purchase the product 4 occasions a yr, they usually keep loyal to your organization for 3 years on common, the CLV will likely be 100*4*3 = $1,200.
You’re employed with three totally different metrics in your CLV goals. Enhance any of these metrics, and your CLV goes up. For instance, right here’s a complete information I wrote about decreasing churn rate, i.e., growing your common buyer lifespan.
You need to now have sufficient inspiration to give you your individual goals, so it’s time to undergo three greatest practices that may guarantee they match nicely along with your advertising technique and plans.
Begin out of your most necessary advertising wants
Rising your conversion charges is at all times good. But when just one% of your audience is conscious that your model exists, you could need to reassess your priorities.
Look, nobody however your staff can inform what’s your largest advertising alternative to sort out. Because of this it’s essential to do proper market research that feeds into your marketing strategy—you’d be enjoying a guessing sport in any other case.
Your model analysis together with all the information from CRM and analytics methods have the solutions. You’ll be able to’t set the very best advertising goals in the event you don’t have a look at the large image.
Properly, the large image will be an precise image. It’s known as a marketing funnel, and many of the goals we talked about right here affect its “stream”:

Folks drop off at every of these levels. Not everybody who sees your Fb advert will click on. Not everybody who clicks will join your publication. Not everybody who indicators up to your publication will purchase… you get the thought.
You should measure the place probably the most drop-offs happen after which take steps to rectify the concern.
However understand that perhaps the most important alternative lies in feeding far more folks into the funnel if we circle again to the model consciousness vs. conversions prioritization I discussed earlier.
So establish probably the most important bottlenecks and select KPIs that may monitor your progress towards fixing them. Listed here are a number of concepts for every stage of the funnel:
- Consciousness – SOV, model consciousness, site visitors amount.
- Curiosity – E-mail subscribers, returning guests.
- Consideration – Site visitors high quality.
- Conversion – Conversion charges, gross sales, AOV.
In fact, conversion is simply the primary win. Then comes the retention stage the place you could need to enhance metrics like NPS, churn price, or buyer lifespan.
Be aligned with SMART standards
You most likely observed a sample in all of the examples—they align with SMART goals, a widespread administration idea that stands for:
- Particular – Clearly state the fascinating consequence and reply “who, what, when, how a lot, and so forth.”
- Measurable – You need to have the ability to monitor progress with KPIs.
- Achievable – Be daring along with your targets but in addition be reasonable; use present progress as a benchmark.
- Related – Does the target align along with your total advertising and enterprise technique?
- Well timed – Arrange a timeframe for reaching the objective.
Every goal instance from earlier was aligned with all of those standards. Yours ought to too. That is greatest illustrated if we dissect considered one of our goals:

Deal with just one or two strategic goals
You’ll be able to give you tons of selling goals, however that doesn’t imply it is best to. As Michael Porter would say, technique is deciding what to not do.
So listed below are a few golden guidelines for selecting:
- Much less is extra – The less goals a advertising marketing campaign has, the more practical it’s. In actual fact, having only one or two strategic goals works greatest. That is based on analyzing campaigns that had been submitted for Effies awards, a advertising model of the Oscars.
- Deal with each quick and long run – Reaching your advertising goals ought to lead to bettering each short- and long-term advertising KPIs. In different phrases, have goals that straight translate into extra revenue and others that assist with model constructing.
As a basic rule, the perfect steadiness between advertising spend on gross sales uplift and model constructing is roughly 40:60. It’s probably the most necessary advertising ideas to maintain in thoughts.

There’s a complete publication round this idea. The important thing takeaway is that model constructing is proven to be the first driver of long-term progress and success.
So select and steadiness your goals accordingly.
Ultimate ideas
We’ve acquired the strategic goals lined. It’s the principle element for planning your advertising actions for the yr forward.
Whereas we talked about ruthless prioritization and “much less is extra,” keep in mind that this is applicable solely to the large image. Your strategic goals needs to be branched out into many smaller tactical targets, normally per every advertising channel.
That is the way in which of strategic advertising planning.
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