Use your fresh perspective to zero in on things that competitors are doing well, unique value propositions, and go to market strategies. Your first 90 days is the only opportunity to truly assess competitors without company bias. Conducting a review/audit of the current campaigns, assets, agency relationships and marketing technology stack, will allow you to make prudent financial and operational decisions during the first 90 days. Use your newness at the company to ask the questions others at the company are too afraid to ask (like what would have made the decision in the company’s favor even easier).īonus – you will be forging a relationship with a customer that could lead to a case study or referral down the road.īefore you can build a path forward, you should take the time to understand where the company’s marketing has been.
If possible, meet customers where they are rather than via video-call. What was the triggering event that led a customer to start looking for a solution? Who was involved in the buying decision? What criteria did they use? Why did they choose the company over the competitors? Finding answers to these questions will help you and the company in months and years ahead. As a new marketing leader, one of the goals of your first 90 days should be to gain a better understanding of how customers buy. Just like with the sales team, you’ll earn the respect of the team if you spend time with them just listening and asking questions. By doing this, you will quickly learn what they view as mission critical tasks, who the formal/informal leaders are, what assets they use the most, and a host of other things. This means more than sitting down in 1:1 interviews with each team member. If there is an existing marketing team that you will become part of or will be expected to lead, your 30-60-90 plan needs to have time dedicated to getting to know them. If you are the first marketing hire, then skip this section. Getting to know the existing marketing team Listen to outbound phone calls.Īdded bonus, you’ll earn the respect of the sales team along the way. In the first 15 days, I would dedicate at least a week to shadowing the sales team. When I say “spend time”, I mean it literally. Instead, you need to focus on how you can make the existing process better and you can only do that if you spend time with the sales team.
In the first 90 days you are not going to score a win if you have to completely change the company’s sales process. Personally, this is a red flag if I do not see this on a marketing leader’s plan.Īs a marketing leader, you cannot put in place a strategy that is at odds with how the company already sells. It doesn’t matter if you are interviewing at a start-up or an established multinational company, spending time with the sales team is critical. Getting to know the existing marketing team.Having presented and been in the audience for dozens of 30-60-90 marketing presentations, here are the 5 key elements that I look for and that I always include: If they are expecting marketing to increase awareness of the company’s solutions then your plan needs to have copious helpings of thought-leadership activities. If they are expecting marketing to bring leads into the sales team, then your plan better build towards a robust lead generation engine. Think about THEIR needs and what they would expect to see from a marketing leader.Ībove all, keep your audience’s goals in mind as you craft your plan. Before sitting down to create your plan, put yourself into the shoes of your interviewer and the other senior executives who may be joining for your plan presentation. Although no one expects perfection from your plan, there are few things you will want to be sure to include so that you can demonstrate your leadership potential.īefore we jump into the things your plan should contain, it is paramount that you remember the first principle of marketing – know your audience. It is almost inevitable that you will be asked to present a 30-60-90 day plan when interviewing for a senior marketing leadership position.