How would you like one simple trick that could make you better at Internet marketing in the blink of an eye? What if you could improve your ROI, in a short period of time, just by changing your perspective on one thing?
If that sounds good to you, try this: start setting goals and budgets with a three-month timeframe in mind.
It might sound too simple to be effective, but taking your plans one quarter at a time can yield big results. That’s because a lot of business owners and executives either find themselves changing strategies week-by-week, or looking so far ahead into the future that the short-term outcomes they generate don’t seem all that meaningful.
By keeping your focus on the next 90 days, you can move towards concrete targets and still have the flexibility to assess new ideas and best practices at regular intervals. To give you a better idea of how and why this works, here are some things you can do to set the right three-month goals…
Work Backwards From What You Really Want
You probably have some important Internet marketing goals you want to reach in the long run. Perhaps you want your website to be generating 10 sales per day, or to attract 1,000 new visitors a month from Google. For a lot of businesses, starting from nothing, those targets aren’t immediately achievable. They might be months or years away. But, by looking ahead 90 days, you can move yourself closer to a bigger strategic aim.
Balance Ambition With Realism
You always want your business goals to be ambitious. At the same time, they shouldn’t be so lofty that you’ll never actually achieve them. When that happens, they become useless wishes that won’t ever be fulfilled. Think about what you can realistically accomplish in three months, and discuss it with your web design team. Together, you should be able to come up with some achievements that move your goalposts ahead without stretching your budget or workload too far.
Devote the Right Resources
Speaking of budgets and workload, incorporate some brainstorming about time, money, and expertise into your three-month planning. It’s no good to set a big goal if you don’t have the resources to reach it, or if you decide you’d rather devote them to another project in the meantime. Think about what you can use, and what your other commitments look like, early on in the process so you can properly evaluate what you have to work with.
Reach and Re-Evaluate
The beauty of this system is that every three months you can get together with your web design team, look at the progress that has been made and the things that have changed around you (like new search engine algorithms or social media strategies), and develop a plan for the next three months. This continual process of reaching and reevaluating should drive your Internet marketing campaigns to greater heights and increased efficiency.
It’s easy to get buried in the details of Internet marketing when you’re chasing a new trend every week, or working toward a future goal that seems so large you aren’t sure if it’s attainable. By maintaining a three-month perspective, you get the best of both worlds and naturally start to improve the results you get from your website.