Targets: what they are, how to use them, and the importance of SCALE

In the next of our deep dive series, we're going to dig into targets.

Targets, also called objectives, give vital focus to your campaign. There are four key reasons why it's important to nail down your targets:

1. Targets provide a sense of purpose and direction for your whole campaign.
2. Targets help departments pull together towards the same aims in strong and consistent ways.
3. Targets give benchmarks for control, enabling organisations to see exactly how their campaigns are performing.
4. Targets motivate staff, particularly if they are tied to performance measures.

Traditionally, targets are devised using the SMART framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, and Time-bound. SMART is undoubtedly useful, but it fails to take the wider context of each objective into account. That's why I devised the SCALE framework.

Building objectives that SCALE

• S for Strategic. Why are these objectives being set? What do you want to achieve?
• C for Considered. Are these objectives tied to your wider business goals? Do they fit with your brand values, ethos, and culture?
• A for Audience. Who, specifically, are you trying to engage?
• L for Lift. What is your overall numerical performance target?
• E for End. What is the end date for achieving each objective? Be specific.

In short, SCALE adds that all-important customer focus, along with some essential context. SMART is a fantastic framework for devising specific targets, but it's very focused on the targets themselves. SCALE opens things out. It encourages you to consider each target in the context of your wider business goals, your audience's needs, and your overall strategic goals.

This matters, because it's very easy to get lost in specifics when strategising. You should never lose sight of the bigger picture.

How to use the SCALE framework

Strategic

To get, and to understand, results, we always need to prioritise strategic reasoning. Ask yourself whether each objective fits in with your strategy as a whole. If you're not sure, this is probably a sign that your wider strategic objectives need tightening.

Considered

One thing that never seems to change is the tendency of brands to create objectives without considering context. If your objectives don't fit into their context, they will fail.

Let's say you've set yourself a target of attracting new customers. Sounds reasonable. But consider this scenario: the economy is tanking, you and all your competitors are losing customers, and your brand as a whole is focusing on retaining customers rather than attracting new ones. Would attracting new customers be a considered campaign target under those circumstances? Don't set yourself up for failure.

Audience

Your audience are your current, past, and potential customers. They are the ones with the power to either propel you through your targets or to crush your campaign underfoot.

Ask yourself who, exactly, your audience is, and how they will respond to each target. For example, if your target is to increase revenue and your audience is young people with limited disposable income, you may need to adjust your KPIs or your strategy accordingly.

Lift

Lift ties into the Measurable of SMART and takes it a step further. You need to come up with specific KPI numbers, then break them down into milestones staggered throughout the campaign.

For example, if your target is to attract new subscribers, at what rate do you want to be attracting them? How many new subscribers do you aim to have weekly, monthly, or even daily? The more specific your Lift target, the better you will understand performance as a whole.

End

You can't generate any useful reporting on your campaign if your targets don't have a clear end date. A clear end allows you to see precisely how well your campaign has performed. It eliminates vagueness, which is the enemy of any campaign.

Without a clear end date, you run the risk of your campaign petering out, and you won't be able to tell exactly how performance fluctuates during key milestones. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, a clear end date crystallises your strategy.

SCALE your objectives

By adding SCALE to your SMART analysis, you can create targets that aren't just campaign-specific. Your targets will also tie into the bigger picture: your brand, your audience, your market, and the wider context in which they're all operating.

You can't put a campaign out there without it having an impact on pretty much every other aspect of your brand and your audience, and the other way round. That's why it's worth working extra hard on understanding the context of each target you create.