Target Specific Objectives

My family likes to play games. Whether it’s a board game or a card game, whenever someone introduces a new game it always works best to state the object of the game. “You want to get rid of all of your cards.” “You want to complete the most routes and stockpile the most points.” With that object in mind, it’s a lot easier to learn other details of the game and maybe even win.

The same goes for strategic message development. With strong objectives – knowing the “point” and what needs to be achieved – the messaging can tie back to tangible results that support business objectives. In addition to analyzing branding and identifying audiences, the discovery process should clarify the short- and long-term objectives of a specific campaign or effort as well as larger company objectives. These could be business objectives such as increasing sales, establishing brand awareness, improving productivity or driving business during slow times of the year. Or they could be relationship-based objectives like creating repeat customers, improving employee retention, changing perceptions or encouraging trials of a product or service.