A Simple Guide to Starting Strong
Starting a new marketing job can feel exciting… and a bit overwhelming. Maybe you’ve just landed your first role, or perhaps you’re joining a company where you’re the only person doing marketing. Either way, this guide will walk you through what to focus on in your first 30, 60, and 90 days — to help you succeed, and help the business see the value of good marketing.
Let’s keep it simple.
Days 1–30: Observe, Ask, and Understand
In your first month, your main job is to learn.
You’re not expected to fix everything straight away — you’re here to understand how things work and where marketing can help.
Focus on:
- Understanding the business: What does the company sell? Who are its customers? What makes them choose this company over others?
- Learning the product/service: Ask lots of questions. Sit with sales or customer service. Read old brochures or web pages. Get to grips with what you’re promoting.
- Looking at existing marketing: What’s already being done (if anything)? Is there a social media account, email list, or any paid ads? What’s working, and what’s not?
- Finding the customer: Who buys from the company? Why? Where do they spend time online or offline? What do they care about?
💡 Top tip: Ask your manager if you can speak to recent customers or read testimonials. These will give you clues about what really matters to people.
Days 31–60: Plan and Prioritise
Once you’ve got a good feel for the business and its customers, it’s time to plan.
This is where you start shaping your marketing work into something that will make a real difference — without trying to do everything at once.
Focus on:
- Setting simple goals: For example, “increase website traffic,” “grow our email list,” or “create regular content.”
- Choosing the right channels: If customers don’t hang out on TikTok, don’t stress about TikTok. Focus on the channels that matter — that might be email, LinkedIn, local events, or even partnerships.
- Making a basic plan: Create a weekly or monthly content plan. List what you’ll post, when, and where. It doesn’t need to be fancy — even a spreadsheet will do.
- Start testing ideas: Run a small email campaign. Post a few things on social media. Look at how people respond.
💡 Top tip: Keep notes of what works and what doesn’t. Marketing is all about learning and improving over time.
Days 61–90: Deliver and Show Impact
By month three, you should feel more confident. Now it’s about doing the work and showing the results.
Focus on:
- Delivering consistent marketing: Keep posting, emailing, or promoting — whatever you’ve planned. The key to good marketing is showing up regularly.
- Tracking your efforts: Use simple tools like website analytics, social media insights, or email stats to see what’s working. Even basic tracking is better than none.
- Sharing results: Let your manager know what’s happening. Show growth in followers, traffic, enquiries — or just explain what you’ve tried and learned.
- Keep learning: Sign up for free courses (like HubSpot Academy or Google Digital Garage), follow good marketers online, and stay curious.
💡 Top tip: You’re not expected to know everything. What matters is that you’re showing progress, learning fast, and adding value.
Final Thoughts
You don’t need to be a marketing expert to make an impact. You just need to:
- Understand the customer
- Keep things simple
- Focus on what matters
- Learn by doing
If you do that consistently, you’ll be more than just “the marketing person” — you’ll become someone who helps the business grow.
You’ve got this. 👊
