Growth Planning: How to Set Realistic But Challenging Targets

What exactly is growth planning and how to even start? We’ve all been there at one time or another.

We’ve set lofty goals based on our assumptions and failed to reach our targets. Or, we’ve aimed too low without dreaming big enough and lost out on reaping in the benefits.

Creating a growth planning strategy can get tricky, especially if you’re venturing into a new business.

There are ways to set achievable targets that are both challenging and within reach that allow you the opportunity for the most potential growth.

In this post, you’ll discover five effective growth planning tips to increase your revenue.

Ready? Let’s get started

1. Make Marketing Goals Based on Your Business Goals

It seems like a no-brainer, but many businesses get this wrong. They set business goals but fail to use this as a starting point for lead generation, conversions, and client retention.

You need to base your marketing benchmarks on the business goals you’ve already set for your company. Make sure you plan all timelines and milestones according to your business objectives.

Evaluate what each marketing benchmark corresponds to. For example, your social community enables you to expand your customer reach.

You can also use your email conversions to increase products bought per customer. Always make sure to connect each strategy and metric to your business goals.

2. Make Specific Goals Specific

Some businesses make the mistake of setting broad goals. While that may be good to start with, it’s important to break them up into specific goals.

Here’s an example.

A broad goal is “I’m going to sell more products by Christmas.” Making it specific requires numbers such as “beginning in September I’m going to sell 50 components every month with a total of 200 components sold by December 31st.”

See the difference?

By setting specific goals, you’ll be able to make sure you meet each monthly goal. If not, you may need to change your marketing strategy. 

Before you make your specific goals, review your analytics so you can see the rate of current growth. This will help you set a baseline on how to set specific future goals.

What has worked in the past can guide future growth planning initiatives so you can see what realistic objectives you can achieve based on your resources.

Ask yourself if your initiatives match your goals. For instance, if you’re focusing on a marketing strategy to increase Instagram and Facebook followers, your goals should be in sync with your social media plan.

It wouldn’t make sense to base your goals off of direct mail when your marketing dollars are going into social media ads.

3. Make Goals You Can Measure with Analytics

You must be able to measure your goals with analytics. This is one of the great things about inbound marketing as opposed to traditional TV.

In the old days, you couldn’t know how many customers ordered a product based on television advertisements.

But with inbound marketing, you have ways to tie in your conversions to social media, email marketing, and search analytics from website visits.

This allows you to see what specific tactics work. It’s like a yardstick for accountability.

You can show your stakeholders or CEO that you set a goal to increase your social media following by 500 at the beginning of January, and then show them how you surpassed that goal.

Analytics Can Make You Look Good

Print out or email your social media analytics pages or send the CEO and stakeholders your website Google Analytics graph that shows improved web traffic from your social media pages.

Remember, when you make goals to always have a solid plan to track your progress. By creating a measurable growth plan, you can follow each customer’s actions.

4. Assess Your Resources and Time Spent on Projects

Do you have all the resources you need to save you time, generate leads, and organize your potential customers’ contact information?

If your answer is no, research the tools available online to see if they work into your budget. 

Successful business owners know that having the right tools at their disposal saves time and allows them to focus on other important things.

Time-Saving Applications and Programs

Ask yourself if there is an application or program that can help you make better use of your time like this Instagram growth plan for busy entrepreneurs.

You could also use a calendar for meetings or CRM software to organize contacts and meetings more efficiently.

Are your employees wasting too much time on social media? There’s an app to help you block social media access on your employees’ computers during work hours.

Regardless of what you need, there’s a good chance that you can find an application online to help you manage your time and accomplish your goals.

5. Get Stakeholders and Managers On Board

For your growth plan to be successful, you need to make sure that important stakeholders and the rest of your team are on board with the objectives you’ve set.

Communicate with your managers, salesforce, and staff. Follow up with busy managers to make sure the communication has gone down the line.

If you’re engaged in several projects, make sure you designate enough time and manpower to get things done.

Ensure that everyone knows the resources available, the time each project is expected to take, and a clear understanding of the steps each project will need.

By sharing your expectations with your team and the process of how each goal will be measured, you will not only strengthen accountability, but also improve your success rate.

The Bottom Line On Growth Planning 

These five growth planning strategies will help you make a significant impact on your business’s goals, strategies, and help you hit your target. They’ll give you clarity, uncover wasted efforts, save time, and increase revenue.

Are you an entrepreneur who’s too busy to do it all yourself? Contact our team today and we’ll show you how we can help you reach your goals with a little help.