You’ve worked tirelessly to create marketing goals that will bring your business success to the next level, but they just aren’t working. If your current marketing goals aren’t taking you down the paths of profitability you imagined, it’s time to find out what’s wrong.

Here are five reasons why you might be failing to hit marketing goals:

1. You’re Making Mistakes While Setting Objectives

You may have thought that you spent a lot of time and effort setting reasonable objectives. You may not, however, been following goal-setting principles that are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely.

What are examples of bad goals?

• Increase leads throughout the year.
• Have a larger presence on social media.

What are examples of good goals?

• Increase marketing qualified sales (MQLs) and sales qualified leads (SQLs) by January 1 by 10 and 5 percent, respectively.
• Increase Twitter following by 250 followers per month.

Notice how the examples of good goals are well defined. They’re attainable and include realistic percentages and a timeframe. Their metrics are measurable. Adjust your current goals and create SMART goals. Your marketing and management teams will know exactly where your marketing efforts are headed and you’ll all be on the same page!

2. Your Marketing Department Isn’t Communicating with Sales

Your management and finance departments need to understand your defined marketing goals, but the sales department needs to be informed as well. There should not be a disconnect in communication between sales and marketing. According to an article in Diginomica, “Marketing needs to listen to sales. . . . They need to take these insights and mold them into a story and messaging that resonates with the audiences they want to reach.” Your teams need to work with, not against, one another.

3. Your Marketing Goals Don’t Align with Your Business Goals

You may be failing to hit marketing goals because they aren’t in sync with your overall business goals. You need to adjust your goals so that they meet objectives in your mission statement and then prioritize them.

4. You’re Not Reaching Your Target Audience

You can produce exciting content, but you’re wasting energy and funds if it doesn’t reach the right audience. Preteens probably won’t view your Tweets, and senior citizens may be less likely to receive your multimedia texts. In short, how can you continue to follow marketing goals when you don’t know their effectiveness? Software, search engines, and online tools can make tracking metrics a cinch. The data can also be used to strengthen goals for future years.

RELATED: How Should the Buyer’s Journey Affect Your Marketing?

5. Ask for a Review of Your Marketing Plan

Since it is common to be too close to your work to be able to see its flaws, ask a trusted co-worker to review your marketing goals. Submit a first draft, making sure that you’ve double-checked your goals using the SMART method. If you don’t get caught up in personal feelings about negative feedback, you may gain powerful insights from others.

Failing to hit marketing goals can threaten your business profitability and even your own job. Live and learn! Your savvy 2017 marketing framework should include highly defined SMART goals, united marketing and sales teams, and marketing goals that are perfectly aligned with your business goals. Measuring goal effectiveness is of the utmost importance.  Don’t work in a bubble: ask others to review your marketing plan. You can always adjust goals as time goes on.