What goals and outcomes should your digital marketing actually aim to achieve?
The phrase "digital marketing" refers to a variety of online initiatives, all of which can be a great and affordable way to reach your target market with your goods or services. Furthermore, you can frequently manage these campaigns yourself thanks to the abundance of "how to" content available online and the numerous digital platforms that provide easily accessible marketing options. which is advantageous for small companies. 

However, you must ensure that your efforts are truly yielding results and that your marketing budget is not being squandered! As a result, it is crucial to establish specific goals for every activity before starting and to track your progress.

This is due to the fact that any digital marketing endeavor will result in a large amount of data. We now adore data, which is essential to marketing success because it allows you to determine which activities are moving you closer to your goals and which are not. On the other hand, having too much data can cause you to look at the wrong data, which can throw you off course and result in missed opportunities, wasted time, and wasted money.

So how do you decide which goals to set and which outcomes to track? In summary, the formula is not universally applicable, as it varies based on your business model, marketing strategies, and desired results. Nonetheless, there are a few guidelines that can assist you in establishing appropriate goals for your endeavor and assessing appropriate outcomes. 
 

1. Steer clear of vanity metrics 

It can be tempting to concentrate on the impressive-looking numbers. The largest figures include total sales, total contacts, total subscribers, total social reach, total website visits, total video views, total social followers, etc. Although these figures give you a sense of accomplishment, they don't provide any insight into how well your marketing is working. 

They don't give you instructions. Even though a large number of people saw your Facebook post or came to your website, it is ultimately pointless if none of them became leads or customers. If you have gained some new clients, that's fantastic, but we won't know if that marketing was successful if we don't know how much it cost to acquire them and if they were profitable. 
 

2. Adhere to your business objectives 

The goal of any digital marketing effort you undertake should be to assist you in reaching one or more of your main business objectives in a sustainable and profitable manner. Your marketing goals and key outcomes should therefore be as closely aligned with this objective as feasible. For instance, if your company's objective is to acquire more new clients, you should ultimately evaluate marketing efforts based on the number of real, paying customers they brought in. You must then go one step further and determine the cost of acquiring these clients through this marketing (your cost per acquisition, or CPA). 

Attributing end users to a single marketing campaign can occasionally be challenging (for instance, if you have a lengthy sales cycle or numerous customer touchpoints). Here, you want to get as close to a paying customer as you can.

3. Pay attention to what you get rather than what the user does. 

Even though it can be helpful to monitor, it can be tempting to consider any user interaction with your digital activity a success. However, pay close attention to interactions where a user provides you with something tangible when identifying the results you truly want to analyze. For instance, when they have paid you money (by making a purchase) or provided you with their contact information (by completing a form, sending you an email or direct message, or calling you). The percentage of users who gave you something tangible and the associated costs can then be calculated.
 

4. Draw parallels 

You must be able to compare your marketing results to benchmarks in order to properly evaluate and then enhance them. How did your primary metrics perform this month in comparison to last month, for instance? What is the difference between Instagram and Facebook ads in terms of CPA? In comparison to last year, how many new leads will we need to generate this year? Based on past experiences, your key results should enable you to decide what to do next.
 

5. Use SMART 

Any goal or important outcome you plan to measure can be evaluated using the SMART framework as a good test. You can make sure that all goals and outcomes are precise and action-oriented with the aid of this framework. The DigitalBoost Digital Marketing Strategy - Entry Level Guide has more information on these. 

Specific: Does the goal clearly state what it seeks to accomplish? Does the measure provide enough details about opportunities or problems?
Measurable: Is it possible to quantify this goal? Does this outcome provide a particular metric?
Actionable: Will the goal alter conduct? Can we take action on the measure? 
Relevant: Does the goal relate to the main objective of the company? Does this outcome reflect the goals we have set? 
Time-driven: By what date must the goal be accomplished? Is it possible to compare the outcome to other time periods?
To put it briefly, the goals and outcomes you seek from your marketing endeavors are those that assist you in reaching your corporate objectives. You should be able to respond to the question, "Has this been worthwhile? Should I engage in this activity more or less? Examining your bottom line is the only way to genuinely be able to respond to this question.