SOSTAC - Setting Objectives for Digital Marketing Plan - 13/10/2026

AM

• SOSTAC

  • Objective section:

• Goal

  • a broad direction

    • eg increase online sales

• smart objective

  • a precise that can be measured

    • eg increase uk online sales by 10% within 6 months

    • s, specific, what exactly will change, name the result, audience, channel or behaviour you want to change

    • m, measurable, how will we measure it, include a number, percentage, rate, quantity, or other clear measure

    • a, achieveable, can the organisation realistically do it? check the starting point, budget, people, time and avalible resources

    • r, relevant, why does this matter to the goal, connect objective to the brand wider marketign or business goal, why does this matter

    • t, time bound, by when? give the objective a clear deadline (use a year for AS1) by when will we judge success

      • best sentence structure to use for SMART objective ‘To…by X% through…by (DATE)

    • goes straight after situational analysis

    • kpis go at very end of plan

• Objective

  • what we want to achieve, gives direction

    • increase online sales by 10% within 6 months

• KPI’s, key performace indicator

  • what we number, helps you judge progress

    • website traffic

    • conversion rate

    • average order value

    • online sales revenue

• use ‘smart insights’ online

PM

5 S’s

• sell

  • increase sales

  • eg grow sales

    • direct online sales

    • online influence on offline sales

    • wider distribution or producte range

    • eg increase online sales by 20% within 12 months

    • how could digital activity help this brand generate more revenue?

• Serve

  • add customer value

    • give customers extra benefits

    • improve the digital experience

    • support retention and satisfaction

    • eg increase website dwell time by 10% within six months by improving product guidance

• Speak

  • Build dialogue

    • social and email communication

    • surveys and online research

    • monitor and respond to customer conversations

      • eg increase emaial coverage ti 50% of the customer base within 12 months

• Save

  • Reduce cost

    • reduce print, postage, or service costs

    • encourage self service

    • use digital channels more efficiently

      • eg reduce direct marketing costs by 15% within nine months through greater use of email

• Sizzle

  • strengthen the brand experience

    • create new digital experiences

    • develop communities or distinctive content

    • build brand presence and engagement

      • eg increase branded content engagement by 15% within six months

• 3 smart objectives that would benefit your brand

  • speak

  • sell

  • serve

• smart marketing objectives

  • specific

    • can the detail in the information sufficient to pinpoint problems or opportunities? is the objective sufficientley detailed to measure real world provlems and opportunities?

  • measurable

    • can a quantitative or qualitative attribute be applied to create a metric?

  • actionable

    • can the information be used to improve performance? if the objective doesnt change behaviour in staff to help them improve performance there is little point in it

  • relevant

    • can the information be applied to the specific problem faced by the marketer?

  • time-bound

    • can objectives be set for different time periods as targets to review against?

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