Module 4: Setting Marketing Goals & KPIs

Okay, let’s talk about goals. I know this might not be the most exciting topic, but stick with me. This is what separates designers who are just “posting on Instagram sometimes” from designers who are actually growing their businesses strategically.

Why You Need Marketing Goals

Without goals, you’re basically throwing things at the wall and hoping something sticks. You’ll post when you remember to, try random tactics you heard about, and have no idea if anything is actually working.

With goals, you know exactly what you’re working toward and can tell if you’re making progress. It’s the difference between wandering around hoping to stumble on your destination and actually having a map.

What Makes a Good Marketing Goal

You might have heard about SMART goals before, but let me break it down in a way that actually makes sense for fashion designers.

Your goals should be:

  • Specific: Not “get more followers” but “grow Instagram following from 500 to 2,000”
  • Measurable: You need to be able to track if you’re hitting it or not
  • Achievable: Challenging but realistic (not “get 100K followers in one month”)
  • Relevant: Actually connected to your business (follower count only matters if they’re your target customers)
  • Time-bound: Have a deadline (“by the end of Q2”)

    • Different Types of Marketing Goals

    Depending on where you are in your business, you might focus on different things:

    Awareness Goals (getting discovered):

  • Grow Instagram following to 3,000 targeted followers in 3 months
  • Get featured in 2 fashion blogs or publications this quarter
  • Reach 50,000 people with social media content this month

    • Engagement Goals (building relationships):

  • Increase Instagram engagement rate from 2% to 4%
  • Grow email list to 500 subscribers by end of quarter
  • Get 100 saves on Pinterest pins per month

    • Conversion Goals (making sales):

  • Generate 20 website visits per day from social media
  • Convert 5% of email subscribers to customers
  • Get 10 sales per month from Instagram

    • Starting Out: Pick 2-3 Goals Max

    Don’t overwhelm yourself trying to track everything. Pick 2-3 goals that matter most for your business right now.

    If you’re just launching, you probably want to focus on awareness (getting discovered) and building your email list.

    If you’ve been around for a while but aren’t converting, you might focus on engagement and website traffic.

    If you have decent traffic but few sales, you might focus on conversion rate and customer retention.

    What Are KPIs?

    KPI stands for Key Performance Indicator. Fancy term, simple concept: these are the numbers you track to see if you’re hitting your goals.

    Let’s say your goal is to “increase brand awareness among your target customer.” Your KPIs might be:

  • Instagram follower growth rate
  • Reach and impressions on posts
  • Website traffic from social media
  • Brand name searches on Google

    • Or if your goal is to “drive more sales through social media,” your KPIs might be:

  • Click-through rate on links
  • Website visitors from social
  • Conversion rate of social traffic
  • Revenue attributed to social channels

    • How to Track Your KPIs

    You don’t need fancy tools to start. A simple spreadsheet works perfectly.

    Create a sheet where you track your key numbers monthly:

  • Instagram followers (start and end of month)
  • Email subscribers (start and end of month)
  • Website visits from social media
  • Engagement rate on posts
  • Sales from each channel

Check in on these numbers once a week or once a month. Look for trends. What’s working? What’s not?

Real Example: Emma’s Goals

Emma designs sustainable swimwear. When she started thinking about marketing, she set these goals for her first quarter:

Goal 1: Grow Instagram following from 300 to 1,500 (awareness)
KPIs: Follower count, reach, profile visits

Goal 2: Build email list to 250 subscribers (engagement)
KPIs: Email subscriber count, opt-in conversion rate

Goal 3: Generate $5,000 in sales (conversion)
KPIs: Revenue, conversion rate, average order value

She tracked these weekly and adjusted her strategy based on what she saw. By the end of the quarter, she hit 1,200 followers (not quite her goal, but close), 300 email subscribers (exceeded!), and $4,200 in sales (pretty close).

More importantly, she learned that her email subscribers converted way better than her Instagram followers, so she shifted more focus there in the next quarter.

Don’t Get Obsessed with Vanity Metrics

Here’s something important: not all numbers matter equally.

Follower count feels good to watch grow, but if those followers never buy anything, what’s the point? That’s a vanity metric – it looks impressive but doesn’t actually help your business.

Focus on metrics that tie back to your actual business goals. Would you rather have 10,000 followers and no sales, or 1,000 followers and consistent orders? Exactly.

Review and Adjust

Set your goals, track your KPIs, and then every month or quarter, look at what’s working and what’s not.

Maybe you realize TikTok is driving way more website traffic than Instagram. Great, focus more energy there. Maybe you see that your email open rates are terrible. Time to work on better subject lines.

This is how you get smarter about your marketing over time instead of just doing the same things and hoping for different results.

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