FORBES, FEATURED
This article was originally published on Forbes.com on December 3, 2024
Establishing realistic marketing goals is essential for driving sustainable growth and innovation within any organization. Chief marketing officers can lead this charge through thoughtful planning at the end of the year, setting the stage for success in the new one.
On a recent Expert Panel, Forbes Communications Council asked about key factors CMOs should keep in mind when creating goals for the year ahead to ensure that realistic expectations and clear metrics lead to optimal outcomes.
OUR TAKE:
11. The Integration Of PR, Marketing And Sales
As CMOs plan for the new year, they need to consider the integration of PR, marketing and sales. A strong communications partner will work across the media and marketing ecosystem. CMOs must partner with their communications teams to ensure compelling and relevant information is usable across all channels. This is not only efficient, but it sets companies apart.
FULL ARTICLE:
Establishing realistic marketing goals is essential for driving sustainable growth and innovation within any organization. Chief marketing officers can lead this charge through thoughtful planning at the end of the year, setting the stage for success in the new one.
Here, Forbes Communications Council members share some key factors CMOs should keep in mind when creating goals for the year ahead to ensure that realistic expectations and clear metrics lead to optimal outcomes. The considerations they outline below contain effective, actionable insights that can assist in shaping achievable marketing goals for 2025 that yield measurable results.
1. Seamless Integration Across Channels
Set goals that prioritize seamless integration across channels. As consumers move fluidly between digital, physical and out-of-home environments, CMOs must focus on creating consistent, engaging brand experiences that transcend any one medium and reflect today’s omnichannel reality. - Esther Raphael, Intersection Co.
2. Creativity Aligned With Long-Term Goals
Looking ahead to 2025, CMOs should focus on aligning creativity with long-term business goals. Rather than chasing short-term trends, setting goals that encourage innovative, brand-building campaigns fosters sustainable growth. This approach ensures creative strategies drive meaningful impact and lasting brand value. - Sara Griggs, Brightcove
3. Inclusivity And Innovation Acceleration
CMOs must set goals to build inclusive cultures that actively support and accelerate innovation by equipping teams with the skills to identify, adopt and adapt new technologies. Encourage teams to track emerging trends and apply insights to actions. Empower and reward innovative thinking by aligning it with performance goals and recognition, fostering a proactive and agile approach to growth. - Mark Rainey, inQUEST Consulting
4. The Broader Economic Climate
CMOs should consider the broader economic climate and its impact on consumer behavior. In uncertain times, consumers may be more cautious spenders, which can affect ROI. CMOs should, therefore, focus on value and customer retention rather than solely acquisition. By aligning goals with the prevailing economic winds, CMOs can set realistic expectations and ensure their strategies are adaptable. - Patrick Ward, NanoGlobals
5. Required Investment Levels And Resourcing
When setting goals for the new year, it’s important to weigh the different investment levels that are required to achieve your targets. CMOs can use scenario planning to help their teams think through the resourcing—headcount, technology and program dollars—it will take to attain goals. This framing can help them assess whether certain top-down targets are realistic or not. - Rekha Thomas, Path Forward Marketing LLC
6. Alignment With Strategic Business Priorities
CMOs must ensure marketing objectives align with the company’s broader business strategy when setting goals for the new year. Marketing efforts should directly support strategic priorities, including revenue growth, market expansion, product or service innovation, talent acquisition and employee retention. This alignment is key to delivering measurable results and driving long-term success. - Toyna Chin, NOVOTECH
7. The Impact Of Artificial Intelligence
CMOs must consider AI’s saturation, which demands both efficiency and heightened creativity. While AI streamlines processes, it also raises expectations for innovation and output. Looking to other industries for inspiration—like applying music marketing strategies to healthcare—can fuel creative efforts that achieve goals and redefine them, creating lasting generational impact and differentiation. - Lyric Mandell, PhD, MOXY Company
8. Your Budget
Keep your budget in mind. We all have great ideas and expectations when developing a marketing plan and goals. But when the axe falls on the funds necessary to execute, it can all fall apart. Ensure you have must-haves and nice-to-haves built into your plan so that it does not affect tactics too much. - Joe Ariganello, MixMode
9. Industry-Specific Marketing Trends
CMOs must research and understand trends in their markets when creating annual plans and setting goals. Planning only for what you can control leaves lots of risks. When a CMO can foreshadow certain market shifts or behaviors, this can give them a competitive advantage or allow them to plan mitigation strategies for risks. - Roshni Wijayasinha, Prosh Marketing
10. Potential Real-Life Interruptions
Great plans are interrupted by real life. An annual plan should include an “intelligence” report built to track bellwether policy or legislative movement, potential interruptions in the organization’s supply chain, tracking antagonists and more. Realistic goals track reality exceptionally well, so issues can be minimized early in their lifespan. - Bob Pearson, The Next Solutions Group
11. The Integration Of PR, Marketing And Sales
As CMOs plan for the new year, they need to consider the integration of PR, marketing and sales. A strong communications partner will work across the media and marketing ecosystem. CMOs must partner with their communications teams to ensure compelling and relevant information is usable across all channels. This is not only efficient, but it sets companies apart. - Rachel Kule, Pursuit PR
12. Your Resources
Resources must be top of mind for a CMO to set realistic goals. Resources aren’t simply marketers and money. They are the marketing skills needed to execute the goals and the potential for expenses not part of the planned budget due to a relevant trend or viral moment that creates a growth opportunity. Realistic goals that account for resources will deliver a fluid plan with clear priorities. - Deetricha Younger, Deetricha Younger, LLC
13. Future Business Goals
Aligning outcomes with business goals is crucial when setting realistic targets. Marketing should enhance business efforts, acting as a catalyst for achieving outcomes. While past performance provides a baseline, future business goals are what should shape your objectives. Remember, you can’t drive forward by looking in the rearview mirror. - Arnav Sharma, Tech Mahindra
14. Technological Advancements
Rapid technological advancements, particularly generative AI’s rise, have significantly impacted our industry and will continue to do so. This demands adaptable goal setting. Ditch rigid, overly planned approaches for agility and flexibility. Though uncomfortable, this enables us to effectively navigate evolving markets and emerging innovations. - Kayla Spiess, Searce
15. Your Carbon Footprint
As sustainability drives digital-first strategies, especially through AI, CMOs must recognize that AI itself can generate a significant carbon footprint. Shifting to AI-powered solutions without a system to monitor digital carbon output could counteract sustainability goals. Our agency is one of few that track and optimize for digital carbon footprints, ensuring brands innovate responsibly. - Brittany Garlin, The Sustainable Marketing Corp.
16. Collaboration With CEOs And CFOs
Keep a growth lens up front while recalibrating marketing strategy and investment as part of the year-end review of business and brand performance and key consumer-customer insights. Continue to lead and collaborate with the CEO and CFO to ensure marketing remains central to the company’s growth strategy, as research shows companies that do so are more likely to gain 5% annual growth or more compared to peers. - Toby Wong, Toby Wong Consulting
17. Consumer Behavior Shifts
Key factors CMOs should consider when setting realistic goals for the new year are market trends and consumer behavior shifts. By staying aligned with evolving preferences and industry changes, they can set more attainable, relevant goals. This forward-thinking approach helps balance ambition with adaptability, ensuring strategies remain effective and timely throughout the year. - Maria Alonso, Fortune 206
18. Overall Organizational Objectives
To set realistic goals for the new year, it’s essential to understand your organization’s overall objectives. Marketing plays a vital role in any company’s success, and the goals set for that department should align with and support the broader organizational strategy. This integration ensures a cohesive strategy and maximizes marketing’s impact on achieving business-wide goals. - Victoria Zelefsky, Anne Arundel Economic Development Corporation