Do you always feel behind the ball on marketing? Are there too many ideas floating around your organization without enough accountability or action? Trust us when we say, you’re not alone. Shiny objects are tempting. And strategic planning is intimidating. But it doesn’t have to be this way. 

We’re breaking down the planning process so you can tackle strategic marketing with confidence. This is part two of our strategic planning blog series, where we dig into all things goal and objective setting. We’re thrilled you’re here.

Strategic marketing starts with clear direction, and effective marketing goal and objective setting is the foundation that turns big ideas into focused plans, measurable progress, and results you can actually wag your tail about. 

Quick sniff test first: have you read part one yet? If not, paws right now and head back to our introduction to strategic research. We’ll sit, stay and wait patiently. Because a goal won’t do you much good if you’re not sure where you’re starting from.

All caught up? Great. Now it’s time to turn that insight into clear goals, smart objectives, and actionable strategies.

Get going with goals.

Goals are the big dogs of your strategic plan. They are global, general, big-idea and probably organization-wide.

A few ground rules:

• You only need one to three goals.
  
• Every single thing you do should ladder up to them.
  
• If it doesn’t serve a goal, it’s probably just noise (or a squirrel).

Goals can look lots of different ways, but they are always going to be big-picture. Examples might include: 

• Increase revenue.
• Become the go-to source for unique services in our community. 
• Amplify underrepresented voices to generate public support for social services.

Are they lofty? Yep. But big goals give you direction—and direction beats running in circles every time.

Once your goals are set, you can ask the magic question:  “What would need to happen for us to achieve this?” Those answers become your objectives.

Set clear objectives.

Now it’s time to start breaking those big dreams into clear, measurable steps. 

They’re the building blocks that move you from “wouldn’t it be nice” to “we did the thing.”

Departmental objectives are where we get SMART–specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound. 

Measurement matters. Like, really.

If you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.

Define KPIs for every objective so you’ll actually know if it’s working.

Marketing objectives often focus on a specific audience or channel—that’s a good thing. Focus makes progress trackable, and trackable makes success repeatable.

Make it happen with strategies & tactics.

We know where we want to go thanks to our paw-some goals and objectives. Great! Next, let’s get to dig into how to get there. Here’s where we start to get our paws dirty with the nitty gritty of proactive communication: strategies and tactics. 

Strategies are the major categories of ways you’ll work toward each objective, and tactics are the individual things you actually do. 

Let’s put this in terms we can all understand: food. Maybe you’ve got a goal of getting healthy in 2026. A measurable objective might be to lower your blood sugar in the next six months. One great way strategy to get there? Eat more vegetables. Tactics supporting that strategy might be cooking one additional veggie-forward meal at home every week, shopping for seasonal produce at your local farmer’s market and adding hidden veggies to your breakfast smoothies.

Now that we’re all hungry, let’s get back to this marketing stuff. Basically, the strategy is the what and the tactic is the how. It’s tempting to skip ahead to tactics–they’re the bright shiny objects that everyone seens. But they work best when they’re built on the un-glamorous foundation of big goals, measurable objectives and specific strategies.

📌 Pro tip: Budget by tactic. It keeps expectations realistic and prevents surprise “how did we spend that much?” moments.

And remember those KPIs we mentioned earlier? This is where you make sure every strategy has a way to measure success. (More on measurement in part three.)

Bring it all together.

Then consider what would need to happen for that goal to be achieved–those become your objectives. 

Here are a few examples of a goal-to-tactic pipeline: 

Goal: Increase revenue.
Objective: Recruit 10 new donors per month from digital channels.
Strategy: Use social media to increase reach and persuade new donors.

Tactics:

• Consistent social posts with clear donation asks
  
• Story-driven posts showing impact
  
• Influencer partnerships to build trust and expand reach
  
• Paid social ads targeting likely donors
  

Goal: Increase donations in 2026.
Objective: Generate $500,000 in new giving between November 15–December 31, 2026. 

Strategy: Increase awareness beyond the existing audience.
Tactics:

• Organic and paid social campaigns
  
• Targeted direct mail
  
• Optimized charity profiles on platforms like Charity Navigator and GiveWell

---

Okay, that was a lot.

Go ahead—take a deep breath.

You now have:

• Clear goals
• Measurable objectives
• Thoughtful strategies
• Actionable tactics

That’s not just a plan—that’s a roadmap. Or at the very least, a solid trail leading in the right direction. And progress? Progress is worth celebrating.

You’re doing great. Truly. 

Next up: Toolkit check! We’ll dust off your marketing toolkit and make sure you’ve got what you need to succeed in bringing this strategic plan to life. Stay tuned!