“What are your social media goals?”. 

Talk about a loaded question! From getting more followers to driving more sales, there are plenty of goals you can choose from when it comes to your social media strategy…so many that it can be overwhelming, to say the least. So, how do you set realistic social media goals and reach them? 

First things first, deciding you’re going to try and set multiple goals at once and reach them all simultaneously is a recipe for disaster, especially as a small business owner with limited hands on deck. Instead, setting one goal at a time is the best way to ensure social media success. We like to think of social media as a marathon, not a race, so take your time! 

If you’re looking for guidance with your goals, you’ve come to the right place! Here is a step-by-step guide on setting realistic goals on social media and making the right moves to reach them. 

Step 1: Define Your Marketing Objective

First, let’s decide one thing you want to accomplish with your social media strategy. This could include any of the following common objectives: 

• Growing your following
• Expanding your reach 
• Boosting your engagement
• Getting more website visits
• Providing more clear education 

…and the list goes on! While everything may seem appealing, it simply isn’t possible to get it all done at once. Pick your top priority and go from there. For the purposes of this blog, let’s pick “providing more clear education” as our primary marketing objective. 

Step 2: Perform A Self- Audit

Now that you’ve selected your marketing objective, let’s take a look at your previous efforts. When information isn’t provided clearly enough, you will likely receive lots of e-mails or DM’s asking for clarification. You may also notice that people are asking similar questions over and over. You could perform a self-audit for this goal by looking through your e-mails and DM’s to see what comes up most frequently. You can also take a look to see which educational posts got the most engagement, as the ones with the more clear information are likely to receive the most likes and shares. 

No matter your goal, looking at what you’ve previously done is the best way to develop a game plan for how to move forward successfully! In fact, experience is the most valuable asset you can have when crafting a strategy and setting goals. 

Step 3: Identify KPIs 

A KPI is a “key performance indicator,” also known as a metric that will help you to measure your success. For our goal, some great KPIs could be the following:

• Number of e-mails with questions
• Number of DMs with questions 
• Number of likes on educational graphics/posts
• Number of shares on educational graphics/posts

Alternate goals, like expanding your reach and your following, will have clearer KPIs.

Step 4: Set A Goal (..And A Realistic One)

So, now we have a goal, previous data, and KPIs to work with. Let’s set the goal! When setting a goal, it’s important not to overshoot. For example, a lofty goal for this situation would be something like “never get another e-mail again with any questions on how to use our service.” Instead, you could try something like “decrease the number of e-mails and DM’s with questions by 50% within the next three months” or “receive 25% more likes on educational posts in the next six months”. 

With your previous data noted on these KPIs, you will now have a great launching pad to get started.  

Step 5: Select Your Tactics

Now what? You’ve got the goals; how will you make them a reality? To expand your reach, you may choose to increase the number of Reels you post. For increased website visits, you may choose to do more Instagram stories with direct links to your site. For our example, we’d play around with different styles of educational posts and re-wording your copy in a few different ways to see what performs best. 

Step 6: Measure Your Results

Every week, keep track of your progress. Don’t wait until the end of your designated timeframe to see if it worked. Check in every week or so, and don’t be afraid to pivot your tactics if one is working better than another. By the end of your timeframe, you should see some increase in your KPIs. The next step? Celebrating, of course! 

This guide gives you a clearer idea of how to set tangible goals and work to achieve them. Remember, one goal at a time…there’s no need to rush. Good luck, social media gurus!