Social Media goals are so important to help you move your business forward. The best way to do this is by setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound). By establishing SMART goals, you can improve your chances of succeeding by being able to express your thoughts clearly, concentrate your efforts, and make efficient use of your time and resources. While this blog focuses on social media, you can use this method for other purposes you might have.

S – Specific

When setting goals it is important to make sure they are as clear and specific as possible. Many times people have very broad objectives and then have trouble achieving it because the big objective usually entails completing many smaller tasks that were not planned for. When it comes to setting social media goals, many people have broad ideas like “get more followers” or “sell more”. While these are great, in order to be attainable, they need to be more specific. A good starting point is to think of that broad objective you initially have and then think about what achieving that means and what it would take to get there. 

For example, if your initial broad target is to get more followers on Instagram, think about what you need to get there. Think about the ways in which you will work towards reaching this. Maybe you need to post every day, make more Reels, go live more often, etc. In this step, your original plan might be broken down into many smaller goals that are specific and clear.

M – Measurable

Along with being specific, your goal should be measurable so you can track your progress toward it. This helps you stay on track and motivated. Once you have a specific goal, think about how it will be measured. For example, if your objective is to make more reels to help you reach your overall objective of getting more followers, then think about how many reels per week you want to aim to post. This way when you want to know how close to your overall objective you are, you can look at how consistent you have been in your smaller goals.

A – Achievable/ Attainable

While it is great to dream big, your goals should be attainable/achievable. It is important to be realistic if you want to actually achieve them. It is important to think about any constraints, outside or individual, so that you can achieve them. For example, if your goal is to post reels 3 times per day every week for a year, that is a lot of work. Unless reels are all you do with your life for that year, that is very unattainable. If it seems impossible to achieve it, unfortunately you probably wont achieve it. A more achievable goal would be “Make at least 3 Reels every week”.

R – Relevant

It is very important that your goals are relevant. They should be related to your overall objective somehow. You want your goal to actually take you closer to success. When making social media goals, make sure they are relevant to your business. Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in followers, likes, views, etc. Unless you are an influencer, most of the time follower count, views, and likes do not equate to more money. Make sure it actually makes sense to your business.

T – Time Bound

The time part of your SMART goal is actually one of the most important pieces in terms of actually reaching your objective. No matter how well crafted your goal is, if there is no time limit for it, there is really no way of knowing if the objective was technically reached or not. For example, if you set a goal of “make more reels every week” it’s hard to tell when it was completed or if it was completed at all. Goals that have some sort of deadline are more likely to get accomplished because you will have the pressure of meeting the deadline. A time-bound goal would be “Make 3 reels every week for 3 months, starting in January”.

This is now specific (making reels), measurable (3 reels per week), attainable (a reasonable amount of reels), relevant (if you are trying to increase your followers, increasing your customers), and time-bound (it must be completed in 3 months, starting in January).

Setting objectives is important but setting SMART goals is even more important. Having a strategy can take you very far. This year, take some time to set a few for your social media so you don’t aimlessly post things. If you need help achieving them, schedule a call with us to see how we can help you!

If you want to learn how to make a vision board, check out this blog: How to Make a Vision Board for your Social Media Goals