Featured Guest: Shannon Howard
On this episode of The CustomerX Files, Alison is joined by Shannon Howard, the Director of Customer & Content Marketing at Intellum for a thoughtful conversation about the art and science of building strategic goals in Customer Marketing and Advocacy (CMA). Whether you’re launching your first strategic plan or refining an existing one, this discussion explores not just what goals should look like — but why they matter and how to make them truly impactful across your organization.
From the outset, Shannon and Alison dive into what makes strategic goals more than just words on a page. They tackle common questions customer marketers face: How do you create goals that align with organizational priorities? How do you ensure your goals resonate with cross-functional partners? And how do you avoid crafting goals that sound good but have little influence on outcomes? Their conversation moves beyond abstraction and into practical, experience-based insight that you can apply immediately to your planning cycle.
A major theme of the episode is the importance of clarity and alignment. Shannon explains how thoughtful goal setting begins with understanding both your organization’s strategic direction and the customer experience itself. Rather than working in isolation, CMA practitioners must ensure their goals complement broader business objectives — whether that’s revenue growth, customer retention, product adoption, or deeper community engagement. When customer marketing goals are aligned with strategic priorities, they become far more powerful tools for influencing decision-makers and gaining organizational support.
Shannon also highlights how to identify gaps both between where your organization is and where it wants to be, and between what your team can deliver and what stakeholders expect. She and Alison discuss how customer experience data, customer feedback, and cross-functional insights can reveal opportunity areas that strategic goals can then target. This process not only strengthens your strategic planning but also ensures your goals are rooted in real customer needs and business realities.
Another key takeaway is how to make goals meaningful and actionable. Shannon shares advice on structuring goals with specificity, measurable outcomes, and clear timelines and why it matters to avoid vague or overly broad goals that are impossible to evaluate. She emphasizes that goals should not only guide action but also serve as a basis for shared accountability, progress measurement, and continuous learning.
Throughout the episode, listeners will gain valuable perspectives on topics including:
Whether you’re a customer marketing leader, advocacy practitioner, or part of a cross-functional growth team, this episode offers both strategic frameworks and real stories you can use to build better goals, influence broader organizational strategy, and deliver measurable value.
Listen now to discover how intentional goal setting can bring clarity, alignment, and momentum to your customer marketing and advocacy efforts — and help you drive meaningful impact within your organization.
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