Marketing objectives set out what a business wants to achieve from its marketing activities. They need to be consistent with overall aims and objectives of the business. They also provide an important focus for the marketing team.

What makes a good marketing objective?  It is often said that an effective marketing objective meets the SMART criteria:

Some examples of marketing objectives which meet these criteria would be:

• Increase company sales by 12% in 2009
• Achieve a market share of 27% for Product C within 3 years of launch
• Increase the percentage of customers who rate service as “excellent” from 80% to 85% within 18 months

It is important that marketing objectives and marketing plans support the overall objectives of the business.  Below is an example of how business objectives translate into marketing objectives and activities: