09-Dec-2012 It’s a staple of all communications strategies but the acronym can often be overlooked when pressed for time. Nevertheless, SMART objective are ones that are effective, practical and meaningful so take those extra few seconds to make sure that your communications objectives are:
- Specific – The key here is detail. Vague objectives make for wavering commitment while specific ones breed accountability
- Measurable - Objectives that are quantifiable have baseline data against which impact and results can be measured.
- Attainable - We all want a perfect strategy to result in complete change in the shortest amount of time and using the least amount of resources but the key to an effective communications strategy objective is one with attainable parameters.
- Realistic - Similarly, do not overreach in your expected results. Being aware of your audience and your organization’s relationship with them will help you design realistic impact through your objectives.
- Time-limited - They say that, given enough time, a thousand chimps at a thousand typewriters could write the works of William Shakespeare. In the communications world, we never have infinite time; we rarely have enough time.
The goal is to make this entire exercise practical and with specific, measurable, attainable and realistic objectives set in an achievable timeline, your communications strategy can be executed in a timely manner, readjusted with new information and evaluation, and re-launched with new SMART objectives.
SMART example: Department X will publish three issues of our magazine and create two billboard ads in order to boost subscription by eight per cent by the end of fiscal 2013-14.
Passing from grand goals to impactful actions and results means outlining some SMART objectives. The holiday season may bring some time to read up on past issues of Communications World, Advertising Age or PRWeek. Take a second when reading the articles about successful communications campaigns and ask “did those organizations have SMART objectives?”