Marketing Objective

A marketing objective is a marketing target or goal that an organization hopes to achieve, such as to boost market share from 9 to 12 percent within 2 years. Marketing objectives steer the direction of the business. Operating a business without knowing your objectives is like driving a car without knowing where you want to go. Some businesses achieve a degree of success without setting marketing objectives; stumbling across a successful business model by accident. But why should anyone rely on chance? If firms set marketing objectives, the probability of success increases because decision-making will be more focused. Marketing objectives must be compatible with the overall objectives of the company; they cannot be set in isolation by the marketing department. Achieving the marketing objective of boosting share from 9 to 12 percent will help realize a corporate objective of growth. To be effective, marketing objectives should be quantifiable and measurable. Targets should also be set within a time frame. An example of a marketing objective that Nestle might set is 'To achieve a 9 percent increase in the sales of KitKat by the end of next year'.A car manufacturer, such as BMW, could set the following marketing objective: 'To increase the number of BMW 3 Series cars sold in China from 250,000 to 400,000 over the next 12 months'. Setting sales volume targets can be particularly important in industries such as car manufacturing because of the high fixed costs associated with operating in this market. If sales volume can be increased, the high fixed costs of operating will be spread across a greater number of units of output, reducing fixed costs per unit.