The early days in your new role lay the groundwork for your 30-60-90 day plan. It’s important to start off on the right foot.
So you've started a new position as a Marketing Executive or a Marketing Leader and you're etching to get started. I know this feeling. You've been looking for a new position for while and as part of the hiring process, you've been asked what you would do in you first days in your new role. You've probably been discussing the company's marketing efforts for a while and have ideas of what you'd like to do.
So, where do you start?
Evaluating what marketing efforts are already in place will help you strategize how to move forward. This will require not only research within the company, but also conducting market research to help compare what other companies are doing in the industry. Keep in mind that jumping into a company with a mature marketing program is entirely different than building a program from the ground up.
Developing a thorough understanding of your company’s goals and values for marketing will require asking the right questions. It’s not enough to narrow your thoughts exclusively to marketing; departments function cooperatively so it is essential to understand the mission, goals, and values of the company as a whole.
What questions should you be asking? The first 30 days should probably include answering these questions:
What is our primary target market? Who are our competitors? What are their strengths?
What are the significant factors affecting our ability to gain early sales wins?
What has worked thus far for reaching the target audience? Traditional or digital marketing? Who are the significant influencers to our target market? Are there any notable blogs, publications, organizations, or individuals that already have the trust of the target demographic?
Once you’ve laid the groundwork with research on the landscape and the client persona, it’s time to start making recommendations for marketing infrastructure.
What tools are currently available? and what will you need to execute your future strategy? If your new team lacks marketing automation, a CRM, or an up-to-date website, this is the time to suggest those changes.
But the first days are not just about the plan your building and tools you're going to use to get it done. They're also about aligning your organizations' structure with your goals.
A marketing organization should be designed around the marketing strategy — not vice-versa. If you plan on a content-heavy inbound marketing strategy, you may need to build a creative production powerhouse that handles all writing, design, video, and promotion on one team. If you have a complex funnel and sales process that’s well tested and needs to scale, a funnel-oriented team may be the best structure.
Marketing teams have often grown ad-hoc in the past, adding competencies as needed and sharing resources with other teams or using external agencies. Ensure that the organization you design is well adapted to dealing with the demands you’re about to place on them.
Days 1-30 are all about developing a thorough understanding of the current state of marketing within your company and start putting together a plan to improve that state.
Once past the 30-day mark, and when you have an understanding of the market and landscape, start generating tactical support for your early plan. One of the most critical aspects of this time frame is establishing a budget.
A big part of your budgeting is going to be making space for and implementing, the tools and resources you recommended in the first 30 days. These are necessary for your broader strategy, so the sooner they are up and running and available, the better for you and your team. Be cautious about starting to spend money without a way to track the results, especially if you're working on digital channels. Since everything on digital channels can be tracked there is no real excuse for starting a project without clear metrics for success in mind and a clear way to track the progress.
I know how eager you might be to jump into action and course correct later. Focus on visible marketing endeavors that show stakeholders that work is getting done. One-off projects build stakeholder’s confidence while still allowing the long-term plan to stay on track.
Days 30-60 are all about setting a Budget for Big-Picture Strategy. A big part of your budgeting is going to be making space for, and implementing, the tools and resources you recommended in the first 30 days.
The final 30 days are when the marketing strategy you’ve carefully shaped starts to show results. All the prior work, research, and careful planning will pay off as you start launching the campaigns outlined in your first days.
The first 90 days in your new role as a marketing leader are intense, busy days. But they're exciting, too. With a 30-60-90 day plan in hand, you’ll be prepared for marketing success, and be able to demonstrate how your strategy is delivered.
Unstructured marketing efforts are far less efficient and yield far fewer positive results. A fully-flushed out plan generates confidence and support from leadership, stakeholders, and your team. And with the proper tools in place, you will be able to accurately measure results to create future well-informed campaigns, keeping support and funds flowing to your department.
Good luck!
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