Happy 2013! The holidays are over and we survived the Mayan Apocalypse, so the big question on the tip of everyone’s tongue is, “What’s your New Year’s resolution?” So, what are they? Did you write your list of resolutions yet? No?
Even if you’re not big on New Year’s resolutions, the New Year is a perfect time to sit down and write out your business and branding goals for 2013. Sure, goals are similar to resolutions, but they’re not exactly the same thing. A New Year’s resolution is usually a promise you keep for yourself, which is typically personal and usually centered around a change in behavior for the whole year. For example, “I will only eat chocolate once per week.” (Terrible idea, by the way—but to each their own!)
A goal, on the other hand, is a specific target you want to hit. A goal is a task that can be achieved, completed (as opposed to resolutions, which often tend to be ongoing), and celebrated upon that completion.
You probably have some big ambitions for your business and for your branding throughout 2013. Here’s how to turn those ambitions into real goals.
Think SMART Goals
Maybe you’ve set a New Year’s business resolution or “goal” that reads something like this: “I want to improve my company’s branding in 2013.” Ok fine—that can be your New Year’s resolution. But if you want a real business goal, you’re going to have to do better.
Why? Let me ask you one question: How will you know when you’ve achieved this goal?
In short, there’s no way of knowing what “better branding” really is because you have yet to define what that means to you. What constitutes “better” branding in the context of your goal? It could be anything. That’s why you need to think SMART goals.
Have you heard of SMART goals? SMART goals are the key to setting great goals for 2013!
SMART is an acronym:
S – Specific
M – Measurable
A – Attainable
R – Relevant
T – Time-Bound
If you want a clear goal, that you can pin up on your wall, look at every day, work toward, and complete—then you need a SMART goal. Without SMART goals, you’re left wafting around with no direction. Before you know it, it’ll be 2014 and you’ll have nothing to show for it.
So you want “better” branding in 2013? Let’s break it down into a SMART goal…
Specific: What elements of your brand are you looking to improve? Are you starting from scratch? Do you need a complete brand overhaul, or are you looking to make your existing brand more cohesive? Do you need new brand messaging? Maybe a jingle?
Measurable: What “better” branding elements will you have in your hands when you complete this goal? New business cards? A new 5-page website? A logo in both black and white, and in color? (Remember to be specific.)
Attainable: Is this goal of “better branding” something you can achieve on your own, or do you need to hire a branding expert? Do you need a graphic designer? Do you need a content writer? Think about the help you might need to enlist to realistically achieve your goal.
Relevant: Let’s say you have your heart set on creating a jingle for your business. Ask yourself, who’s going to hear this and through what medium? If you don’t have a large advertising budget for radio or television, maybe you should trash the jingle idea and focus on an element of your branding that will be more relevant to your 2013 marketing plans and to your target audience.
Time-Bound: Every goal needs a due date, or you’ll have no timeframe to shoot for, and thus, no urgency to complete your goals. It’s very important to be realistic about what you can achieve in a certain time period. If you don’t set realistic timeframes, you’ll keep pushing those goals out into the future and they’ll always stay just out of reach.
So your SMART goal for better branding in 2013 might look something like this: “Hire a graphic designer and branding expert to create a new business card that aligns with my existing logo and complete brand look and feel, to be completed and in my hands by mid-February 2013.” This goal is SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound!
Maybe business cards are only one component of the “better branding” you had in mind. That’s ok! Write down as many SMART goals as you like, for each segment of your branding and/or your business you’re looking to improve upon in 2013.
You can do this! And hey, don’t forget to write down those SMART goals. Writing down your goals keeps you motivated and on task. It’ll also help you break each goal down into manageable steps to completion. Before you know it, it’ll be halfway through 2013 already. To be sure you’re not looking back with regret—don’t wait! Write up your list of SMART goals today.
Are you looking to improve or align your brand in 2013? Contact Spot-On Branding for a free consult.