Perpetual Traffic Podcast — Episode Summary

Podcast: Perpetual Traffic
Episode: The #1 Critical Element Missing from Your 2026 Marketing Strategy
Date: December 16, 2025
Hosts: Ralph Burns (Tier 11), Lauren Petrullo (Mongoose Media)

Episode Overview

This episode focuses on the fundamental yet frequently overlooked element in successful marketing strategies: crystal-clear, company-wide goal setting—and how it underpins massive growth plans for 2026. Ralph Burns and Lauren Petrullo dive into why most companies fail to set meaningful, actionable goals, how to get leadership and all departments aligned, and the practical steps marketing teams and agencies must take right now to set themselves up for outsized success in the coming year. The hosts offer behind-the-scenes agency perspectives, actionable frameworks, and real business anecdotes about strategic planning, transparency, and the importance of diverse input and regular review.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Problem: Lack of Clear, Company-Level Goals

• Many businesses— even those doing eight figures — don’t have well-defined, transparent goals that permeate throughout the company.
• Goals often get siloed at department or channel levels, causing misalignment and missed opportunities for true growth.
• Quote:

  "A lot of businesses and a lot of even agencies forget to kind of reconfigure, reset, set yourself up for success by setting an actual goal. Like what the hell is it that you want to do in your business?"
  — Ralph (11:03)

2. From Vague Metrics to SMART Goals

• Don’t confuse improving “vanity” metrics (e.g., “making Facebook ads more efficient”) with true business goals.
• Apply the “SMART” framework: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.
• Example: Digging with a client from vague “let's improve ads” to “help a thousand more people this year,” then operationalizing through product mix and revenue targets.
  — [19:09–22:59]
• Quote:

  "That’s not really a goal... but behind it all was this session where they actually...had never done this before."
  — Ralph (21:23)

3. Goal Setting as a Collaborative, Inclusive Leadership Practice

• Involve not just leadership, but diverse roles (project managers, assistants, representatives from different departments/generations).
• Cites EOS/Traction system: quarterly in-depth meetings, granular breakdowns into annual, quarterly, monthly, weekly targets.
• Disney and 1-800-GOT-JUNK: both cited for bringing a wide cast— from executives to housekeepers/drivers/on-the-ground staff — into major planning sessions, generating crucial insights and avoiding disconnects.
• Quote:

  "When you empower those that are not in an obvious position, their contribution in my experience has been better."
  — Lauren (30:31)

4. Translating Company Goals into Aligned Department and Individual Metrics

• Avoid conflicting or sub-optimized metrics at the manager level (“my bonus is based on this KPI, so let’s shift spend, even if it hurts the business” — [15:47]).
• Make sure all KPIs contribute to the company’s “North Star” objective.
• Quote:

  "People have goals but it’s aligned to whatever their department is... but again, how does it sync to the bigger goal?"
  — Lauren (12:00)

5. Reverse Engineering & Regular Review

• Process: Start with the revenue/customer/specific target, break down by product mix, retention, acquisition channels, resources needed.
• Map out key hires and investments quarter by quarter to meet growth needs (operational, creative, tech, etc.).
• Quarterly check-ins: revisit, course-correct, stay transparent.
• Quote:

  "Once you define it, you need to hold your team accountable to course correct, at least on a quarterly basis..."
  — Lauren (25:58)

• Use of calculators/tools (e.g., their NCAT tool: tier11.com/ncac) to set and model targets and customer acquisition costs.

6. The Power of Asking “Why” and Going Deep

• Don’t accept surface-level answers when uncovering organizational goals.
• Use frameworks like “the 3 Whys” (attributed to Charles Duhigg) to drill down into the meaning and intent behind objectives.
• Quote:

  "In most cases, you can go all the way through to the why to find the actual why of your business..."
  — Ralph (39:41)

7. Action Steps for Listeners

• CEOs/Marketing Directors: Start the 2026 planning now, make goals transparent, solicit broad input, get granular.
• Marketing Team Members: If you don’t know the company’s real goals, push leadership to clarify.
• Set SMART goals, align all KPIs, meet quarterly to review and realign.
• Download the NCAT calculator for reverse engineering your goals.

Notable Memorable Moments & Quotes

• On company-wide inclusion:

  “I invite you to have people from different generations. I invite you to have people from different departments. You do not need everyone. It should be chosen. And then it can become like a...special. How do I work to get my KPI so that I’m at that meeting next time?”
  — Lauren (38:17)

• On Disney's diverse planning approach:

  “We brought someone who was a housekeeper because she’s the one that sees everything no one else wants to talk about, right? ...Their contribution in my experience has been better.”
  — Lauren (29:13)

• Cautionary tale about misaligned collateral:

  “All of the stores rejected all of the marketing collateral because they said it will be embarrassing to put this in our storefronts because it is so disconnected from who our consumer actually is.”
  — Lauren (35:03)

• On regular leadership review:

  “We follow EOS...every 90 days. Our leadership team...spend, we take that time, two, three days. Okay, what are our...annual goal and then...figure out how many customers do we actually need...The more granular you get...the key to success.”
  — Ralph (22:49)

• On why vague goals are insufficient:

  "A goal is just a dream, really... make it a goal, not just a dream."
  — Ralph (42:20)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Setting up for Drastic Growth vs. More Ad Spend [00:00–01:41]
• Why Companies Miss the Mark on Goal Clarity [11:00–13:25]
• Department KPIs vs. Company Alignment [13:25–15:47]
• Conflicting Incentives & the Need for Transparency [15:47–17:06]
• Turning Vague Metrics into Real Revenue Goals [19:09–22:59]
• Quarterly/Annual Planning (EOS, Company Level) [22:59–25:45]
• Operationalizing Growth: What Resources Are Needed? [24:07–26:40]
• Including Non-Leadership Staff in Planning [29:04–31:55]
• Lessons from Disney & 1-800-GOT-JUNK on Inclusion [32:10–36:26]
• The Risks of Homogeneous Leadership & Tone-Deaf Marketing [35:03–38:40]
• Strategy Recap & Action Steps [39:17–44:15]
• Final Call to Action: Set Your Goals, Go Deep, Leave a Review [44:15–end]

Tone of the Episode:
Conversational, candid, mentoring, and slightly irreverent, with plenty of humor and personal anecdotes mixed with hard-won agency experience and practical strategy.

Quick Action Checklist

• Set clear, specific company-level goals for 2026 (SMART framework).
• Make goals transparent, involve voices from all levels/departments.
• Break down annual goals to quarterly/monthly/weekly targets.
• Ensure all departments and individual KPIs are aligned with the company “North Star.”
• Host regular quarterly reviews; don’t set-and-forget your plan.
• Use calculators/tools to reverse-engineer customer/revenue targets.
• Dig “three whys deep” to clarify the real business motivations behind each goal.

For more actionable resources, visit perpetualtraffic.com
NCAT Calculator: tier11.com/ncac