DavidAnother final round, another unpaid presentation, another rejection. This vicious cycle can make a grown man cry. 😭
Last Thursday, I presented what my 30/60/90 day plan would look like if I joined the company. I was asked to spend 2-3 hours on it but I easily spent at least double that.
I spoke with the hiring manager at Drata, Brian Jacobs a few days prior and we really aligned on everything. He seemed like a great guy to work for so I was again disappointed we didn’t move forward to offer stage.
The company’s growth story is incredible having been founded just a few years ago and already at Series C funding with a valuation of over $1B. I was really excited to have the opportunity to contribute to their growth story and leverage my 20+ years of digital marketing skills.
Assignment
Please construct a 30/60/90 plan of what your first 3 months on the job will look like. You can arrange this in shareable google docs or sharable slides. The marketing team’s primary focus right now is increasing top of funnel awareness and getting more customers to qualify. You will walk through the plan with a panel of potential peers and the hiring manager during the final step of the process. We advise you to spend about 2 hours on this assignment.
Note: The primary responsibility of this role is to own drata.com and drive experience and conversion funnels that align with the customer journey. Here’s the JD but it’ll probably be removed once the job is filled.
Below is what I prepared. My speaker notes are under the plan here. I spoke for about 15-20 mins. The remaining time was left open for comments.
🚀 Reaching Break-Even
🎯 Goal
Increase TOFU awareness and qualify more customers
🧠 First 30 Days - Assess and Learn
1) Onboarding & Team Intros
Task | Status |
Meet with key stakeholders and team members | To-Do |
Understand current processes, tools, and challenges | To-Do |
Get familiar with product offerings, messaging, and value prop | To-Do |
Get aligned with key company goals, metrics, KPIs / OKRs | To-Do |
Ramp up on GTM strategy and other strategic initiatives | To-Do |
Analyze competitors and industry trends to identify opportunities and threats | To-Do |
Work with Brian to define what success in this role looks like | To-Do |
2) Website & MarTech Stack Audit
Task | Status |
Get familiar with the existing website, CMS, and marketing tools in use | To-Do |
Audit all tracking code, GA events, utms, etc | To-Do |
Analyze current marketing technology stack and integrations | To-Do |
Understand new request intake and deployment processes | To-Do |
Look at funnel metrics and see where leaks exist | To-Do |
Understand channel data/metrics. Which perform best/worst? | To-Do |
Conduct a deep dive into analytics, KPIs, and performance data to identify trends and areas of improvement | To-Do |
3) Align with Key Cross-Functional Team Leads
Task | Status |
Meet with cross-functional teams (Product, Sales, Mktg, CS) to understand their goals and how they relate to web and growth initiatives. | To-Do |
Understand current KPIs and goals of each team | To-Do |
Identify areas of improvement and opportunities for collaboration | To-Do |
Review existing ICP and user personas (with PMM & Mktg) | To-Do |
Review customer journey map (if one exists) | To-Do |
Review existing customer acquisition, retention, and upsell strategies | To-Do |
4) Short-Term Action Items
Task | Status |
Implement quick wins for website optimization | To-Do |
Address immediate technical SEO issues | To-Do |
Ensure attribution, tracking, events, etc are all setup correctly | To-Do |
Tackle any low hanging fruit to improve funnel velocity | To-Do |
🤓 60 Days - Strategize and Plan
1) Develop Website Strategy & Roadmap
Task | Status |
Identify short-term and long-term goals for web and growth | To-Do |
Develop strategies to optimize web performance, UX/UI, and conversion rates | To-Do |
Establish a plan for SEO, SEM, and content marketing initiatives | To-Do |
Prioritize projects based on impact and resources required | To-Do |
2) Optimize Conversion Funnels
Task | Status |
Identify and implement conversion opportunities. Fix leaks | To-Do |
Continuously improve user experience and site performance | To-Do |
3) Establish Testing & Experimentation Culture
Task | Status |
Develop an A/B testing and experimentation framework to validate hypotheses and improve performance | To-Do |
Collaborate with Product Marketing on messaging and personalization | To-Do |
4) Streamline Web Experience & Processes
Task | Status |
Create documentation for website management and maintenance | To-Do |
Implement scalable processes to support future growth | To-Do |
Present all findings and proposed strategies to stakeholders for feedback and buy-in | To-Do |
🔥 90 Days - Execute and Iterate
1) Operationalize Processes
Task | Status |
Create documentation for website management and intake requests | To-Do |
Implement scalable processes to support future growth | To-Do |
Implement the agreed-upon web and growth strategies | To-Do |
2) Implement Technology Solutions
Task | Status |
Migrate to GA4, evaluate Segment, and other personalization tools | To-Do |
Ensure seamless integration with existing marketing stack | To-Do |
3) Monitor & Report on KPIs and Goals
Task | Status |
Develop a dashboard for ongoing performance tracking | To-Do |
Continuously monitor KPIs and performance metrics to track progress | To-Do |
Share progress with key stakeholders and adjust strategies as needed | To-Do |
Analyze results from A/B testing and experiments, making necessary adjustments to strategies | To-Do |
4) Build & Coach the Web Team
Task | Status |
Hire additional team members as needed | To-Do |
Develop a coaching plan to optimize performance and growth | To-Do |
5) Plan for Long-Term Growth
Task | Status |
Identify opportunities for website expansion and new initiatives | To-Do |
Continue to foster a culture of learning, testing, and collaboration | To-Do |
Speaker Notes
Hi everyone,
This chat (i don't like to use the word "presentation" b/c it sounds boring and not designed as a two-way conversation) through my comprehensive 90-day plan as a Sr. Web & Growth Marketing lead at Drata aims to provide you with valuable strategies and tactics that could be used to ultimately increase TOFU awareness and qualify more customers.
I assume you all have the link to my Notion page? If so, let's get started!
I first wanted to share a chart to illustrate how I view onboarding. Whenever I start a new role, my goal is to reach break-even as quickly as possible. This is the point at which I've contributed as much value to the company as I've consumed from it.
All new hires are net consumers of value early on but as they learn and begin to take action, they start to create value. From the break-even point onward, they should be net contributors of value to the company.
30-Days
- Onboarding & Team Intro
- Website & MarTech Stack Audit
- Align with Key Cross-Functional Team Leads
- Short-Term Action Items
During the first 30 days, my focus will be on getting acquainted with the company and the teams. I'll schedule 1:1's to meet with team members and key stakeholders to understand their priorities, expectations and how we'll work together. I also want to understanding current processes, tools, and challenges which will help me lay the groundwork for developing a comprehensive strategy to improve Drata.com and achieve the goal of increasing TOFU awareness & qualifying more customers.
Next will be a thorough audit of the current website and marketing tech stack to understand current processes and identify any areas of improvement and opportunities for optimization. This includes assessing the site's performance, user experience, and the effectiveness of the tools in place. Any gaps in the tech stack will be identified and I'll make recommendations for improvements.
Collaboration with Marketing, Sales, Engineering, and CS teams is essential to ensure a holistic approach to achieving the goals at Drata. I'll want to understand current KPIs and objectives for each team so I have a benchmark for measuring success and identifying areas for improvement. I'll review all documentation like ICPs, personas, customer journey maps, etc.
At the end of my first 30 days, I'll look for quick wins and immediate actions to help kick-start the next 30 days. This may include addressing technical SEO issues, improving site speed, or making funnel tweaks that improve velocity and enhance user experience. The focus during this phase will be on delivering tangible results that demonstrate commitment to continuous improvement and drive early momentum.
60-Days
- Develop Website Strategy & Roadmap
- Optimize Conversion Funnels
- Establish Testing & Experimentation Culture
- Streamline Web Experience & Processes
By now, I should have a solid understanding of the current state of Drata.com and the company's objectives so I'll work on a comprehensive website strategy and roadmap. This plan will outline the projects and initiatives required to optimize the website, prioritizing those with the highest potential impact on KPIs and resource availability.
Working closely with the Demand Generation team, conversion funnels will be analyzed and optimized to drive more qualified leads into the pipeline. This will involve improving user experience, identifying new conversion opportunities, and continuously iterating on existing funnels to maximize their effectiveness.
Brian was pretty keen on developing a culture of regular testing and experimentation for Drata.com. I totally agree so framework for A/B testing will be created, outlining processes for hypothesis generation, experiment design, and result analysis. Collaboration with PMM will be crucial to ensure that messaging and personalization strategies are effectively tested and optimized.
To support the growth and evolution of Drata.com, I'll create documentation and build out formal processes. This will provide a foundation for effective website management and maintenance while ensuring that team members have access to the information and resources needed to excel in their roles.
90-Days
- Operationalize Processes
- Implement Technology Solutions
- Monitor & Report on KPIs and Goals
- Build & Coach the Web Team
- Plan for Long-Term Growth
By now, I should have a plan in place so it's time to put it into action. This includes things like creating documentation for the website and intake requests which will provide clear guidelines for the team. Implementing scalable processes to support future growth and most importantly, applying the agreed-upon web and growth strategies which will lay the groundwork for success.
Ensuring we have the right tech solutions in place is vital for efficient growth. Migrating to GA4, evaluating tools like Segment, and other personalization tools will help optimize data collection, attribution, and analysis. We also need to ensure seamless integration with the existing marketing stack to allow for a unified approach to growth initiatives.
Who doesn't love dashboards and reports? I'm a huge data-driven marketer so having a dashboard for ongoing performance tracking and continuously monitoring KPIs and performance metrics is a must. It will enable myself and the team to track progress and make data-driven decisions. Analyzing results from A/B tests and experiments will provide insights for making necessary adjustments to strategies, allowing us to double-down and successful channels.
As the company grows, so too will the need for additional team members to support Drata.com. Hiring likely won't happen till probably the second half of the year but it's important to plan ahead regardless.
Planning for long-term growth involves identifying opportunities for website expansion and new initiatives. Continuously fostering a culture of learning, testing, and collaboration will ensure the team remains agile and adaptable in a constantly evolving landscape.
Alright, Elliot, David, and Topher, that's a wrap! Thanks for hanging in there while I walked you through my epic 90-day plan for web and growth domination at Drata. I hope you're as pumped as I am with this plan!
If you've got any questions or thoughts, now's the time to ask away.