AMA: Observable Head of Growth Marketing, Erika Barbosa on Demand Generation 30 / 60 / 90 Day Plan

From my perspective, the most effective way to scale a demand generation team is by being able to define the following: What roles will help you move faster and what would be the associated impact? How will you gauge success for this role including associated metrics? What is your vision for the first 90 days of this role? Essentially, you have to be able to tell the story of the value each role will add, the impact the role will make on the business including KPIs, and how the different roles w ...Read More

In order to prioritize needs/deliverables you first have to understand the associated goal(s). Based on this, you can work backwards to better understand what will drive the desired outcome. It’s easy to quickly become overwhelmed as the one demand generation manager. Prioritization is key. Ask questions about deadlines. Be sure to have a solid understanding of scope while also managing scope creep. Lastly, it’s important to clearly articulate blockers, dependencies, and set realistic expectatio ...Read More

When you first start in a demand generation role you are going to be “drinking from the fire hose”, but typically right around the 90 day mark details start to click. There will be some areas that are obvious elements to plan and some that are “quick wins”. From my perspective, below you’ll find 3 examples that usually are a given across industries, the size of the organization, and the level of the role. Gaps in tracking. I will consistently find some form of a gap in tracking and reporting. Th ...Read More

In your first month you should aim to soak up as much knowledge as you can. Develop a deep understanding of your customers and the business. Start capturing the ideas that will naturally come to mind. Sometimes you may have a starter project during the first month too. In your first quarter you should aim to ship something meaningful that will impact the bottom line. Be able to report on the outcome and desired impact. I see the first month as building the foundation to hit the ground running wi ...Read More

I recommend structuring a 30-60-90 day plan with clear timelines and goals. This will look different at an established org versus a start-up. This may also look different depending on the full scope of the role. That being said, let’s dive in: 30 days: The first 30 days are about getting to know your customers, colleagues, and processes. “Drink from the firehose” as they say and so do with curiosity. This time is all about deeply understanding the mission, business, and customers. You don’t know ...Read More

When coming in as the Head of Demand Generation in a startup, your 30/60/90 day plan will most likely include a few additional elements such as: Tracking and reporting infrastructure. You may need to do some infrastructure work such as setting up additional tracking and reporting. This is something I would absolutely start to tackle in your first quarter as it most likely will extend past the first 90 days. Education and addressing questions. You may have to have more educational conversations w ...Read More

During your one-on-ones with your cross-functional teams, you want to get a solid understanding of who to go to for what. I also recommend getting to know folks on an individual level - you are going to be spending a lot of time together! Here are 7 example questions that will vary depending on the audience, but will help you get started: What is the biggest challenge you currently face that I can help with in my role? What feedback do you consistently hear from customers that we have not been a ...Read More

I’ve included 6 different resources for you to use as a starting point below (in no particular order). This covers everything from building a demand gen plan for a startup up to an enterprise. I wanted to provide a variety of resources so that you can mix and match what makes the most sense for you. I’ve also included some of my responses from my AMA on 30-60-90 day plans. You can go visit my AMA page for all of my responses or check out the top responses below. 30-60-90 day AMA responses: What' ...Read More

My recommendation for this type of 30-60-90 day plan is to take a blended approach based on my responses below. The foundational work does not change. What does change is the hiring needs to support your plan, associated costs, the ability to clearly articulate how you would like to structure and build your team, along with the desired outcomes. I’ve worked in various demand generation team structures. What structure do you need to support your goals? What do you think about your first 30/60/90 ...Read More

I recommend thinking about the 30/60/90 plan as your roadmap or blueprint for success in your first 90 days. You are building a meaningful and purposeful plan to execute with measurable outcomes. This is your opportunity to demonstrate how you will fill the gap that you were hired for. This may mean as a net new role or as a backfill role that most likely evolved as part of the process. You’ll also find that the 30/60/90 day plan helps keep you focused. When you start a new role and you are stil ...Read More