4.8 • +11k Ratings
Save
Print
Edit
The best marketing strategy is to destroy your industry before the competition does."
- Seth Godin
'Destroying the industry' might be an example of a marketing objective. Setting marketing objectives, however, is not that simple. It comes with certain challenges but it may also provide a lot of value to a company's strategy.
First, let's take a look at common marketing objectives that different types of organisations might set.
Marketing objectives outline the goals a business wants to achieve through its marketing practices.
There are usually five main marketing objectives that firms set for themselves:
Increasing sales volume: where the business objective is to sell more of their product or service.
Increasing sales value: where the business objective is to increase revenues.
Sales growth: where the business objective is to increase the size of the business through sales.
Increasing market share: where the business objective is to increase the percentage of the market that they dominate.
Loyalty: where the business objective is to increase customer retention (customers keep coming back).
You can find calculations related to marketing objectives in the market calculations explanation.
Marketing managers need to make numerous decisions to become successful at addressing customer wants and needs.
First, they have to identify what a specific customer segment needs through initial screening and market research.
They also have to anticipate customers' future wants and needs. They can do this by interpreting and analysing the data they have gathered during the market research phase.
Marketing managers also need to target the right customer segment. This can be done by conducting extensive customer segmentation and coming up with a plan for marketing campaigns.
Marketing decision-makers then have to satisfy their target customers' wants and needs by positioning products appropriately and by implementing the marketing plan successfully.
Finally, they need to make sure that this entire process is profitable.
There are numerous reasons why a business sets marketing objectives. The reasons might include the following:
One way to make sure that your marketing objectives are realistic is by setting SMART goals.
SMART is an acronym that stands for:
Specific: the objective should be stated in enough detail - what exactly do we want to achieve? A company should avoid setting broad objectives, as these can end up causing confusion.
Measurable: objectives should be quantitatively or qualitatively measurable. This is useful for determining how much of the objective a company has achieved.
Actionable/Achievable: the objective should be considered achievable by those carrying out set tasks.
Relevant: is the goal relevant to the business's overall mission? Objectives should also be relevant and understandable to the people who are working on achieving the objective.
Time-bound: a specific deadline should be set.
Unfortunately, businesses may face some difficulties when setting marketing objectives.
One of the limitations arises when marketing objectives are not aligned with the company's corporate mission. A misalignment between different departments can lead to a huge issue with the image a business portrays to stakeholders.
In certain situations, there may also be some conflict between different market objectives.
If the company's main objective is to increase sales volume (sell more of its products), one of the ways it can do this is by decreasing the price at which the product is sold. However, this can lead to problems if the cost of goods sold is greater than the sales revenue.
This may damage the profitability of the business even though the specific marketing objective was achieved.
Businesses can sometimes set objectives that are too ambitious. For example, a small business may aim to own 50% of the market share of a certain industry by the end of the year. This objective, however, could prove to be unattainable if they do not have the right resources and capabilities to do so.
External influences are influences that a business cannot directly control. Sometimes these can also cause conflict with marketing objectives. An example of an external influence is competition.
Imagine a company decides that its main objective will be increasing sales growth. However, a competitor brand enters the market with a newer, more innovative product that satisfies the wants and needs of the target customer segment. In this case, the competitor brand is most likely to experience the sales growth our company hoped for.
Competitors are an external influence that our business has no control over.
Another example of an external influence is legislation. Legislation is created by governments and other official bodies. Legislation can include new advertising regulations, environmental regulations, or other legislation that can impact whole industries. Such regulations can substantially impact the operations and marketing outcomes of a business.
Finally, average customer income is also an example of an external influence that can affect marketing objectives. A firm may have set all the correct objectives, targeted the right customer segment, and mastered their marketing decision making, yet with decreasing customer incomes, customers are likely to cut back on their consumption - especially when it comes to luxury or non-essential products .
Benefits of Setting Marketing Objectives | Limitations to Setting (Bad) Marketing Objectives |
| Keeps focus on objectives. | Could lead to issues with the corporate image. |
| An incentive for the marketing team. | Could result in conflict between different market objectives. |
| Allows you to measure success/failure. | Damage to profitability. |
| For budgeting and allocating resources. | Objectives that are too ambitious. |
| To make sure marketing strategy is aligned with corporate objectives. | External influences. |
Table 1. Benefits and Limitations of Marketing objectives
Table 1 above summarises the advantages of setting appropriate marketing objectives and the downfalls of setting bad marketing objectives. Marketing objectives can have a significant impact on organisations, which is why it is important to set them in a specific, measurable, relevant and achievable way.
Marketing managers set marketing objectives to address customer wants and needs. First, they have to identify what a specific customer segment needs. They also have to anticipate customers' future wants and needs. They can do this by interpreting and analyzing the data they have gathered during the market research phase. Marketing managers also need to target the right customer segment, which can be done by conducting customer segmentation and coming up with a plan for marketing campaigns. Marketing decision-makers then have to satisfy their target customers' wants and needs by positioning products appropriately and by implementing the marketing plan successfully. Finally, they need to make sure that this entire process is profitable for the business.
There are usually five main marketing objectives firms set for themselves. The objective could be increasing sales volume (the number of products sold) or sales value (increasing revenues). Another objective of marketing could be increasing sales growth and market share (the percentage of the market that the firm holds). Finally, an important objective in marketing is to increase brand awareness and brand loyalty - the objective is to increase customer retention (encourage customers to return).
An example of a marketing objective would be increasing sales volume. A business would decide that during the upcoming year they will increase their sales volume of Product X by 10%. This is an example of a marketing objective that is specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. In this example, the marketing team would focus their attention on this specific goal throughout the year and implement different types of marketing activities to achieve this goal.
Marketing objectives outline the goals a business wants to achieve through its marketing practices. As a result, setting marketing objectives is essential as they help the marketing team stay focused on the firm's main objectives, they provide incentives for employees, they help measure marketing success (or failure) and they can be used as effective tools to help with budgeting and allocating resources.
60%
of the users don't pass the Setting Marketing Objectives quiz! Will you pass the quiz?
Start Quiz
Be perfectly prepared on time with an individual plan.
Test your knowledge with gamified quizzes.
Create and find flashcards in record time.
Create beautiful notes faster than ever before.
Have all your study materials in one place.
Upload unlimited documents and save them online.
Identify your study strength and weaknesses.
Set individual study goals and earn points reaching them.
Stop procrastinating with our study reminders.
Earn points, unlock badges and level up while studying.
Create flashcards in notes completely automatically.
Create the most beautiful study materials using our templates.
Sign up to highlight and take notes. It’s 100% free.
