Measurable Performance Goals for A/E/C Marketers

No matter what size firm you work at, chances are you have to identify performance goals for yourself or your employees. We all know that our goals should be SMART – Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timebound. However, crafting SMART performance goals for A/E/C marketers isn’t always easy.

New Contracts

I don’t think it would be fair to tie sales or new contract wins directly to a marketer’s performance. While he/she does play a critical part in the proposal process, the contract award is the result of the entire pursuit team’s efforts—business development, technical/operations, and marketing.

Leads Generated

How about new leads? Can your marketer’s performance be based on new leads for your firm? This is a yes and no answer. If you look at marketing professionals in other B2B and B2C industries like software, marketers’ performances are often directly measured by the qualified leads they pass to sales. If your A/E/C firm has a robust lead-generating engine, then it might be fair to give your marketing team some realistic lead-generation goals. However, if your firm doesn’t have this (yet) then it won’t be fair to measure the marketer’s performance on leads generated but maybe consider other metrics.

So how can A/E/C marketers’ performance be measured? I share a few examples of measurable performance goals below.

Measurable Performance Goals for A/E/C Marketers

Performance goals should both push the individual’s professional development as well as align with the goals of the firm. This is why it can be difficult to write those goals for ourselves and our employees. Over the years, I have asked many marketing managers and researched other industries to try to craft measurable goals for my team while meeting the strategic goals of my firm.

Below are some examples of those goals. I grouped the examples by areas within a marketing department. These are not goals for only one person.

Pursuit Related

• Develop capture plans for all Must Win Pursuits for your market by the end of Q1. Update them at least quarterly.
• Conduct at least 1 QC peer review of a proposal or presentation red team review outside of your market monthly.
• Lead at least one proposal debrief per quarter (win or lose).

Marketing Communications Related

• Develop and implement at least one traditional or online marketing campaign for your assigned market in 2025. The campaign plan should be written by Q1 and implemented by the end of Q3.
• Coordinate, including writing if necessary, at least 3 blog posts for your market in 2025 with the first one completed by Q2.
• Develop report metrics for online marketing campaigns for each market by Q1.
• Implement content/online marketing training program for marketing coordinators, market sector leads, and key project managers by Q2. This includes one marketing campaign per market sector to be completed in 2025.
• Develop a system to capture traffic from the website and transmit potential leads to business developers by Q1.
• Increase website traffic and email subscriptions (leads) by 25% by the end of 2025.

Graphics Related

• Identify one new visualization/presentation technology trend and educate the department leadership by the end of Q2.
• Update and/or create a new market fact sheet design by Q1.
• Update and/or create a new resume template design by Q2.
• Develop a creative holiday card/campaign by Q3.
• Attend at least one workshop/conference related to graphic design trends by Q4.

Business Development Support Related

• Lead the annual business development planning process for your assigned market. Plans to be ready to present to BOD by Dec 1.
• Attend 3-4 conference/networking events related to your assigned market by Q3.

Staff Development Related

• Become a member of SMPS. If already a member, obtain a board or committee position for SMPS or a market-related organization.
• Attend one marketing-related conference. Prepare and present takeaways to the team after the conference.
• Apply for and schedule a test date for the CPSM exam.

Stretch Goals

• Manage and implement one new marketing initiative in the current year.
• Develop and conduct proposal storyboarding and writing training sessions for marketing coordinators and technical proposal writers by Q2.

These are just some examples I have seen over the years. Do you have any other measurable performance goals for A/E/C marketers? If so, please share in the comments below.