SEO v. SEA  |  SMART Campaigns  |  Search Analytics
	In 1990, industrial psychologists Edwin Locke and Gary Latham published A Theory of Goal Setting & Task Performance. In this groundbreaking book, Locke and Latham unleashed SMART, a powerful yet easy to use process for setting and achieving business goals. The number of applications for the SMART process far exceeds that which its creators could have envisioned, including search engine advertising. Applying SMART to Search Engine Advertising SMART is an acronym for Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Time-Bound. When you break down your goals into these five elements, they become less daunting and more manageable, dramatically increasing the likelihood of success. As a result, when clients ask us to help them launch and manage a search engine advertising campaign, we start with the SMART elements, each of which is discussed below. 1. Specific: Set A Clear and Narrow Goal Many companies make the mistake of setting vague and overly broad goals (e.g., “Use online marketing to generate leads.”) that fail to create an identifiable target. By contrast, setting clear and narrow goals (e.g., “Use Google AdWords to generate 500 qualified leads over the next three months”) creates such a target. 2. Measurable: Set A Quantifiable Goal A goal is meaningless if you cannot determine whether you have achieved it or not. Therefore, it’s important to set a goal that you can measure. Search engine advertising is the most measurable marketing vehicle ever created, which makes it relatively easy to set such a quantifiable goal. 3. Attainable: Set a Challenging Yet Realistic Goal Setting easily achieved goals rarely results in the kind of out-of-the-box thinking that can take a company to the next level of success. On the other hand, setting overly ambitious goals leads companies to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. The trick lies in setting challenging goals that you can achieve with the right mix of talent and hard work. 4. Relevant: Set a Goal that Directly Addresses a Problem Setting a specific, measurable, and attainable goal is meaningless if the goal does not directly address a problem. Search engine advertising helps companies build and replenish their own marketing database. Virtually every company needs such a database, which explains why search engine advertising has become so popular. 5. Time-Bound: Set a Deadline As every marketing executive who has ever made a limited-time offer knows, creating a sense of urgency makes people more inclined to act. For this reason, goals need deadlines. We have found that search engine advertising campaigns often work best in successive 3-6 month periods. You're Busy. We Can Help. Setting goals for a search engine advertising campaign is the easy part. Achieving them is much more difficult. That’s why we’re here to help. Our talent and technology coupled with our unique statistical approach to search engine advertising can help you take your company to the next level. Contact us to discuss your next search engine marketing campaign