30-60-90 day plan for VPs of marketing

A 30-60-90 day plan for a new VP of marketing should audit every channel's spend, pipeline and closed revenue in the first 30 days and turn the pipeline target into a reverse-funnel model, use days 31-60 to sign a lead and pipeline agreement with sales and launch one measured test, and own the weekly pipeline number and next quarter's plan by day 90. The VP of marketing runs the engine (channels, budget, campaigns, the team, agencies and marketing systems) that turns the company's positioning into pipeline. Campaigns also have rules: email opt-outs, consent for marketing texts and endorsement disclosures are checked in month one, current as of October 2026.

This page is for the CMO, CEO or founder hiring a VP of marketing who leads a team and a budget. For the executive who owns positioning, brand and board reporting, see the 30-60-90 day plan for CMOs; for a hands-on manager of one channel or program, see the 30-60-90 day plan for marketing managers.

What does a VP of marketing own in the first 90 days?

• The pipeline or sales number marketing is accountable for, on a definition sales accepts.
• The budget by channel, including agency fees and tools, and the authority to move it.
• The handoff to sales: what counts as a sales-ready lead, how it is routed and how fast sales follows up.
• The team and agencies: who does what in demand generation, content, product marketing, design and marketing operations.
• Campaign compliance: email, texts, endorsements and tracking set up the way the company's policy says.

What does the 30-60-90 day plan look like?

30-60-90 day plan — [Name], VP of Marketing, [company]
Reports to: [CMO / CEO]    Start date: [date]
Team: [N] (demand gen, content, product marketing, ops, design)
Agencies: [names]    Budget: [amount], of which programs [amount]
Pipeline target: [amount or number] for [period]
Systems: CRM [name], marketing automation [name], analytics [name]

DAYS 1-30 — Audit the engine
Goals:
- One-to-one with every team member, the head of sales, sales
  managers, the RevOps or marketing ops lead and each agency
- Audit every channel for the last 4 quarters: spend, leads,
  opportunities, closed revenue, cost per opportunity
- Trace [20] won and [20] lost deals back through the CRM to their
  first marketing touch
- Review lead definitions, routing rules and follow-up times
- Check campaign compliance: email opt-outs, text consent records,
  influencer and affiliate disclosures, tracking tags
Deliverables by day 30:
- Channel audit with a keep / fix / stop view
- Reverse-funnel model from the target to the volume required

DAYS 31-60 — Agree the handoff; launch one test
Goals:
- Agree in writing with sales: lead definitions, response times,
  what counts as marketing-sourced pipeline
- Move budget from the weakest channel into one test with a
  baseline, a target and an end date
- Set the rhythm: weekly pipeline review, monthly channel review,
  quarterly plan
- Review each agency's scope and fees against results
Deliverables by day 60:
- Signed lead and pipeline agreement with sales
- Test live with its measurement plan

DAYS 61-90 — Own the number
Goals:
- Report pipeline against target weekly, with a cause for misses
- Present next quarter's plan: budget by channel, campaigns,
  hiring, agency changes
- Report the test result and decide: scale, change or stop
Deliverables by day 90:
- Next quarter's plan approved by the [CMO / CEO] and finance
- A full month of pipeline reported on the agreed definitions

Check-ins: weekly with [CMO / CEO]; day 30, 60 and 90 reviews.

How does a VP of marketing build the reverse-funnel model?

The reverse funnel answers one question: how much marketing has to produce, by channel, for the company to reach its target. All figures below are invented to show the arithmetic; use the last four quarters of the company's own CRM data.

The gap between the budget the model implies and the budget approved is the most useful number in the first 30 days. Either the target, the budget or a conversion rate has to change, and the plan should say which.

Which campaign rules should a new VP of marketing check?

The month-one compliance check is short but specific. Checked as of October 2026; confirm with counsel how each applies. This is not legal advice.

Ad tracking and California's opt-out preference signals are usually a CMO and legal decision; the CMO plan lists those rules. The systems side of consent, opt-outs and suppression lists often sits with revenue operations, covered in the 30-60-90 day plan for revenue operations managers.

Which numbers should a new VP of marketing baseline?

What does "on track" look like at day 30, 60 and 90?

A filled example

How should the hiring executive use this plan in the final interview?

Give finalists the same brief: target, budget, team, the last four quarters by channel and one known problem. Score the plan with the rubric in how to evaluate a 30-60-90 day plan in an interview, and use the interview guide for marketing roles for the rest of the loop. Questions that test the plan:

• "Here are four quarters by channel. Which would you cut, and what else would you need to know?"
• "Sales says our leads are poor. How do you find out whether they are right?"
• "Walk me through how you would turn our revenue target into a lead target."
• "What would you check before sending our first text campaign?"

What should the hiring executive ask at the check-ins?

• Day 30: Which channel produces revenue, not just leads? How big is the gap in the reverse funnel?
• Day 60: Has the head of sales signed the agreement? What is the test, and how will you judge it?
• Day 90: Where did pipeline land against target, and why? What changes next quarter?

What the hiring executive owes a new VP of marketing

• A pipeline target set with the reverse funnel in view, or an honest statement that it is a stretch.
• CRM and marketing automation access, with operations support to pull the data.
• Authority to move budget between channels within the approved total.
• The head of sales' time for the lead and pipeline agreement.

Common mistakes

• Judging channels on leads. Cheap leads that never close make the budget look efficient and the pipeline look empty.
• Launching several tests at once. None is measured properly, and the team cannot tell which one mattered.
• Leaving consent to the vendor. The company remains responsible for email and text rules when an agency sends on its behalf.
• Copying the last company's channel mix. What worked for a different buyer and price point rarely transfers.

Adapting the plan

• Product-led or self-serve: replace leads with sign-ups, activation and paid conversion, and work with product on onboarding.
• Content-heavy model: the 30-60-90 day plan for content marketers shows what to expect from the content lead.
• Sales-led enterprise: weight the plan toward account-based programs and the handoffs in the 30-60-90 day plan for VPs of sales.

The general 30-60-90 day plan template for new hires covers the structure for any role.