The first 90 days in a digital marketing role
The pressure in a new role is to change things quickly. The better first move is to listen, map what exists and earn trust — then make a few changes that matter.
Starting a new digital marketing role comes with a particular kind of pressure. You can see things you'd change on day one — a page that's out of date, a channel that's quiet, a report nobody reads. And there's a natural urge to prove your value by changing them immediately.
I've learned to resist that urge for a little while. The first 90 days are when you earn the understanding and the trust that make every later change stick.
Days 1–30: listen and map
The first month is for learning how things actually work.
- Talk to people across the organization. Leadership, business development, subject-matter experts, the people who answer inquiries. Ask what they need from marketing, what's working and what frustrates them.
- Inventory what exists. Every channel, account, tool, content library, analytics property and recurring report. Note who owns each one and who has access.
- Understand the goals. What does the business need to grow — which services, markets and audiences? Marketing priorities should trace back to those answers.
By the end of the month you should be able to draw a simple map of the digital ecosystem and the goals it's meant to serve.
Days 31–60: find the gaps and the quick wins
With the map in hand, patterns show up: channels that aren't connected, content that doesn't reflect current strategy, measurement that doesn't answer leadership's questions, processes that slow everything down.
This is also the time for a few visible, low-risk improvements. Fixing broken links, updating outdated pages, cleaning up a confusing navigation label — small wins build credibility and show colleagues you're paying attention to what they told you.
A quick win isn't about speed. It's proof that you listened.
Days 61–90: set direction together
By the third month you can propose a direction with evidence behind it: a short list of priorities, what they'll change, how you'll measure them and what you need from others.
The key word is together. A plan that leadership and subject-matter experts helped shape is a plan they'll support. Share the reasoning, invite input and be clear about what you won't do yet. Tie the measures to decisions leaders actually make — measurement is only useful if someone can act on it.
Things I try not to do
- Rebuild everything at once. Big changes need buy-in, and buy-in needs time.
- Judge past decisions without context. There's usually a reason things are the way they are, even if it no longer applies.
- Chase every request. Early on, everything feels urgent. Priorities protect the team's focus.
Build relationships as deliberately as plans
The most important work of the first 90 days isn't a document. It's the relationships that let you do good work for years: the experts who'll contribute to content, the leaders who'll champion priorities and the colleagues who'll tell you what's really going on.
A new role is a rare chance to see an organization with fresh eyes. The goal is to keep that perspective while earning the trust to act on it.
Sources and further reading
- Google Search Central, Creating helpful, reliable, people-first content — a useful lens for auditing existing web content
- GOV.UK, Content design: planning, writing and managing content