The importance of clear objectives

When developing new business strategies, social media campaigns or new websites, it is essential to have a clear understanding of the objectives. How else can you measure the success of each new project?

And what makes a good objective?

Well, I suppose it must involve an acronym, so let's use RAM... I learned this on a course many years ago and it has stayed with me so it must have some value (to me at least)!

Objectives should be:

1) REALISTIC

2) ACHIEVABLE

3) MEASURABLE

So when I start work on a new website or social media campaign, my first question is always "what are the business objectives?"

We then prioritise the objectives and decide which are the one or two that we must focus on.

This allows us to concentrate on the key requirements of each project and ensure that we do not get sidetracked with extraneous items.

No blur, just absolute focus on what is required on delivering your core business objectives.

Thoughts on the Visit Wiltshire Tourism Forum

Yesterday, I was invited to attend the Visit Wiltshire Tourism Forum and lead two workshops on using social media more effectively.

Prior to my workshop, there was a morning session which included four interesting and insightful presentations about tourism; its value to the UK economy and how to market it more effectively.

While it is still fresh in my mind, I thought I would share some of what I learned.

a) Tourism is the UK's third largest export and it is still growing fast.

b) France and Germany provide the most visitors to our shores. Then the US and Ireland; but the US is top in terms off spend. Australia is 10th in terms of the number of visitors, but fourth for the amount they spend. See more here.

c) Here is a video called The Sounds Of Great Britain, made by Visit Britain:

d) In times of recession, people look to the safety of the past in an uncertain world, and so the power of heritage becomes stronger. An alternative name for this could be The Downton Effect (or the Brideshead Effect in the early 80's...)?

e) At least two of the presenters encouraged the use of stories as a powerful way to communicate. I'm glad they did, as I had also included a slide on the same topic for my workshop. So, we were all in agreement. People relate to stories. They remember stories.

f) Everyone was encouraged to go and visit the Library in Birmingham. I intend to.

It was an interesting day and it was great to meet so many local tourist providers excited about future opportunities.