I can safely bet that you either set some great goals for 2023 or you’re still trying to brainstorm the perfect goals for the year. Thanks to the power of the internet, you don’t have to tell me I’m right! If you’re in the latter camp, don’t fret. It’s likely that the eager goal-setters are already feeling behind on their lofty 2023 goals and that’s because setting goals for your brand or yourself simply is not good enough.
So, then what is good enough? Well, as PR teaches us, goals need to be created first, then followed by measurable objectives, strategies, tactics, and activities. Following this process ensures that you can easily evaluate your success at the end of the year or whatever timeframe you set.
Goals should be broad, long-term, focused statements. For instance: “to become a top brand within the industry.” You’ve likely heard a lot before about SMART goals and how to write goals, but stick with me here. Following the PR structure for planning enables you to start at the top and then break down your steps into smaller bites, which is ultimately what leads to success.
After you’ve written your goal, it’s time to come up with your objectives. An objective statement articulates the desired result, among which audience, by what measurement, and within what timeframe. This breaks down your goal into multiple, measurable parts. It is not uncommon to have several objectives for one goal.
To increase dinner reservations by 25% among young professionals by June 2023.
The strategies then answer how you will reach your objectives from a broad sense. When writing your strategies, do not include specific actions and instead use verbs such as “demonstrate, collaborate, showcase” etc. To follow up on the previous objective, an example of a strategy could be: “showcase that this restaurant is popular among young professionals in town.” You should have at least one strategy for each objective.
The tactics follow the strategies, and the tactics explain how you will implement the strategies. For instance, a tactic could be “posting on social media.” However, tactics are not specific. So, if you want to have meetings, publications, news releases, or engage with social media, that is simply all you say here.
Then, the activities are where you break down each tactic. For instance: “to post three times per week on Instagram.”
When you follow this linear process of thinking, there is no guesswork as to the path you will take to reach your goals. You create your own roadmap for success, which has a built-in evaluation plan. Creating and setting goals are simply not enough. So, take a look at your 2023 goals and try to create strategies, tactics, and activities, and let me know how it goes.