10 Marketing Objective Examples To Guide and Focus Your Strategy

As marketers, there will never be a shortage of things to work on — strategy, content, video, social media, sales alignment, the list is long and growing. 

Prioritizing work that will actually make an impact on the business is key. That’s why having objectives is important. 

The problem is, marketing objectives are often too siloed, losing sight of the greater goals of the organization — sales, revenue, and growth. 

Most successful small businesses we work with have marketing objectives that tie directly back to revenue and sales (thanks to the development of a revenue team). 

Revenue is the lifeblood of every business, and when sales and marketing work together to drive it, the results can be incredible.

This also helps small to medium-sized businesses (SMB) achieve results in the leanest way possible because your marketing objectives are closely aligned with the organization’s monetary goals instead of being treated as a separate animal altogether. 

With all that in mind, and after working with hundreds of companies over the past 10 years, we’ve found the following to be some of the best marketing objectives examples that align digital strategy with the rest of the organization’s goals.

In this article, we will share:

• The difference between marketing objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs)
• Ten examples of marketing objectives
• KPIs that can be used to track those objectives

Use this list to help you determine how to measure your success with the right objectives and KPIs.

Marketing objectives vs. KPIs – and why your sales and marketing goals should align

Some say objectives and key performance indicators (KPIs) are the same things. Others disagree. 

We're the latter at IMPACT. 

Here is how we define objectives and KPIs:

• Objective: The state you’re trying to achieve; SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) goals.
• KPI: A measurable metric used to determine if you are on track to achieve your objective (often multiple KPIs contribute to one objective).

In other words, objectives are what you're trying to achieve, a KPI is a number you track to often measure objectives. 

From company and sales objectives to marketing objectives

We coach our clients to begin by aligning sales and marketing teams, especially when it comes to defining marketing objectives and KPIs. 

The best way to do this is by forming what we call a revenue team.

A revenue team is made up of the key players in your sales and marketing units.

Even though different members might focus on specific parts of the process, the team will come together and plan to work toward a common goal: driving revenue.

If sales and marketing are not aligned and working toward the same goals, a number of problems ensue, including marketing campaigns that fall flat with potential customers. 

One of IMPACT’s digital sales and marketing coaches, Zach Basner, gives us his take: 

“If the marketing and sales team aren’t aligned, the greatest consequence is an inconsistent buying experience. 

“Prospects and customers have one experience on the website or other digital channels, and a totally different experience in the sales process. For most organizations, this also means that content the marketing team produces is considered ‘fluffy’ by the sales team (i.e., it doesn’t actually lead to revenue).

“For sales and marketing to align around what will actually result in revenue, they have to spend time together. If they don’t unite their efforts, it becomes extremely difficult to make progress with buyer communication.”

Whether you’re a large or small business, here are ten marketing objective examples (plus one bonus objective) that keep this all and mind and can inspire yours.  

Examples of marketing objectives

1. Increase lead quality

This objective is about increasing the probability that the sales team closes a higher percentage of deals. The more quality leads you can attract as a marketing team, the happier your sales team will be. 

Your KPIs for this objective should be focused on initiatives that define what a “quality lead” is or indicators of whether your efforts are working along the way. 

Examples of related KPIs:

• Number of good fit leads
• Number of booked initial sales conversations.
• Number of closed deals associated with marketing.

2. Shorten the sales cycle

It’s not just up to the sales team to be more efficient or effective with their conversations, marketing can help shorten the sales cycle too.

Because modern prospects get so much information before talking with sales, it’s marketing’s job to deliver consistent messaging, branding, and relevant materials to help them progress toward making a purchase. 

KPIs for this objective can be focused on enablement materials.

(Note: The They Ask, You Answer framework is a great starting point for creating sales enablement materials that empower the sales team and shorten the sales cycle, which includes wielding the power of assignment selling.)

Examples of related KPIs:

• Number of content pieces created to educate the prospect before sales conversations.
• New product pages launched.

3. Reduce the percentage of lost deals/sales

Though sales can certainly impact this objective, marketing can have a significant influence as well.

Marketing sets the tone for prospects coming to sales. And if marketing is not qualifying properly, or setting the right expectations, it will be nearly impossible for a salesperson to change course and still close the deal.

For e-commerce companies, KPIs may be metrics or initiatives around reducing cart abandonment rates. For non-e-commerce, on the other hand, marketing can assist by updating website content or other materials that prospects see before talking with sales. 

Examples of related KPIs:

• Decreased shopping cart abandonment percentage.
• Number of sales enablement materials and training launched.

4. Increase customer lifetime value

Focusing on increasing the average amount that each customer spends with you can provide more value to your existing customer base and be an easy way to impact sales with less effort because the relationship is already built. 

KPIs for this objective can be based on the activities you’ll need to accomplish to re-engage customers with new products or new deals. 

Examples of related KPIs:

• Percentage increase on average client spend.
• Number of return or upsold clients.

5. Improve awareness and demand around new products or services

If your organization is ready to launch, or has recently launched, a new product or service, aligning focus around promotion will be essential. 

KPIs could pertain to social media or the number of requests or opportunities that sales have in the pipeline related to new products. 

Examples of related KPIs:

• Number of articles written/questions answered for new products.
• Traffic to website pages for new products or services.
• Number of inquiries about new products or services.

6. Increase positive product reviews

Any brand, whether you’re B2B or B2C, can benefit from product or service reviews.

Depending on your industry, you may have a particular platform where reviews have special importance, but no matter what, they’re important. 

This objective will certainly direct more business — the more positive reviews, the more likely others will find you through review sites. 

Examples of related KPIs:

• Number of reviews in X directory.
• Number of past clients likely to recommend you.

7. Launch product or service in a new market

Beyond “make more money for the company,” you can get more specific with your objectives, like launching a product in a new market. 

Examples of related KPIs:

• Number of products/services sold in a new market by X date.
• Engagement in product trials.

8. Increase profitability

Marketing can play a huge role in increasing the profitability of the company. 

After defining what products or services are most profitable, marketing can put more effort into promoting those items, effectively driving more leads to the profit center.

Examples of related KPIs:

• Number of new opportunities.
• Recurring revenue rate (often monthly).

9. Increase brand authority 

With increased brand authority comes additional opportunities to engage audiences, and this, in turn, makes it easier to compete against other companies.

Of course, your product or services can make your brand the best of its kind in the space, but what beyond that can you do to delight customers? Marketing plays a huge role in educating prospects, and this is your opportunity to put your stake in the ground. 

Examples of related KPIs:

• Number of media interviews.
• Number of backlinks to your website

10. Develop an engaged audience

Now, this is an objective many smaller organizations think they can get away with ignoring, but for your long-term company health, it is essential. You want to grow the size of your engaged audience.

Even if they are not ready to buy from you now, they are the ones who will be most likely to turn to you when they are ready to buy or even to recommend you.

If you’re doing objectives 1-9 exceptionally well, tracking this objective is even easier. 

Related KPIs should look at email metrics or social engagement to know if you’re on track to nurturing an engaged audience. Using these metrics allows you to measure without paying for market research.

Examples of related KPIs:

• Number of newsletter subscribers.
• Number of email open/click rates.
• Number of social interactions and comments.
• Traffic to your website.

Think beyond traffic

Now that we’ve gone through these objectives, you’re probably thinking — what about traffic?

Traffic is certainly something you should be tracking, but it is something that is more useful to marketing than the company as a whole.

Traffic should be monitored as an indicator of the objective’s success. 

For example, traffic can be an indicator of increased brand awareness, which leads to other successes. Traffic alone will not mean a lot to upper management or a board of directors. 

If the focus of the conversation is not on revenue or revenue-driven objectives, then you’re not putting your energy into the right focus area.

At the end of the day, if you grew traffic but sales plummeted, no one would be celebrating marketing. 

If marketing’s primary role is to assist the sales team, then make sure your marketing objectives align with your sales objectives, and with those of the organization.

Want to learn more about working towards your marketing objectives? Check out our free course, "Investing in Incredible Digital Sales and Marketing Results."