CMO Strategy: What to Do in Your First 90 Days

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CMO Strategy: What to Do in Your First 90 Days | #MarkCMO

Your first 90 days as a CMO will define your legacy—or your exit. This isn’t onboarding. It’s a battlefield. You’re not here to “get up to speed.” You’re here to make speed your weapon. Mark Gabrielli, founder of MarkCMO and creator of the MAGNET Framework™, lays out the strategic blueprint every Chief Marketing Officer needs to dominate their first quarter. Whether you’re inheriting chaos or stepping into a high-growth rocket ship, this guide is your playbook. No fluff. No buzzwords. Just bold, executive-level marketing strategy that actually moves the needle.

Mark Louis Gabrielli Jr. has helped CMOs and founders scale brands from $10M to $1B+ using frameworks that prioritize ROI over vanity metrics. In this article, he shares the exact 90-day roadmap he’s used with global marketing teams, private equity-backed companies, and high-stakes turnarounds. If you’re a CMO, founder, or senior marketer ready to lead with clarity, confidence, and results—this is your next move.

Day 0: The CMO Mindset Reset

Before you even walk through the door, you need to rewire your brain. You’re not a marketer anymore. You’re a business executive who uses marketing as a lever for growth. That’s a massive shift—and most CMOs never make it.

What Most CMOs Get Wrong

They focus on campaigns, not company strategy
They chase impressions instead of revenue
They try to please everyone—and end up pleasing no one

Mark Louis Gabrielli Jr. puts it bluntly: “If you’re not aligned with the CEO and CFO in your first 30 days, you’re already behind.”

Week 1–2: Diagnose Before You Prescribe

Don’t touch the marketing plan. Don’t launch a rebrand. Don’t fire the agency (yet). Your first job is to listen, audit, and map the battlefield.

Key Moves in the First 14 Days

Interview every executive and department head
Audit all current marketing channels, spend, and performance
Review the sales pipeline and customer journey
Identify quick wins and landmines

Use this time to build trust, not ego. Ask smart questions. Take notes. And most importantly—don’t pretend to know everything. You don’t. Yet.

Week 3–4: Build Your Strategic Command Center

This is where Mark Gabrielli’s MAGNET Framework™ comes into play. It’s not about tactics—it’s about building a marketing machine that attracts, converts, and scales.

The MAGNET Framework™ (Simplified)

Market Intelligence – Know your customer better than they know themselves
Alignment – Sync with sales, product, and finance
Growth Levers – Identify what actually drives revenue
Narrative – Craft a brand story that sells
Execution – Build systems, not one-off campaigns
Testing – Validate everything, scale what works

Mark Louis Gabrielli Jr. has used this framework to help CMOs turn around underperforming teams and scale high-growth startups. It’s not theory—it’s field-tested strategy.

Week 5–6: Align the Org Around Revenue

This is where most CMOs fail. They build a beautiful marketing plan in a vacuum. Then wonder why sales ignores it and finance cuts the budget.

How to Align Cross-Functionally

Co-create KPIs with sales and finance
Present marketing as a revenue engine, not a cost center
Use dashboards that show pipeline impact, not just clicks

Mark Gabrielli says it best:

“If your CFO doesn’t understand your marketing plan, you don’t have a marketing plan. You have a PowerPoint.”

Week 7–8: Execute Quick Wins, Set Long-Term Vision

Now it’s time to show results. Not vanity metrics—real business impact. Launch one or two high-leverage campaigns that prove marketing can drive revenue fast.

Examples of Quick Wins

Reactivating dormant leads with a targeted email sequence
Fixing conversion leaks on high-traffic landing pages
Launching a co-branded webinar with a strategic partner

At the same time, start socializing your 12-month vision. This isn’t a full rebrand—it’s a strategic narrative that aligns the company around growth.

Week 9–12: Build the Machine

By now, you’ve earned some trust. You’ve shown results. Now it’s time to build the systems that scale.

What to Build in Your Final 30 Days

A marketing org chart that matches your growth goals
A content engine that supports sales and SEO
A reporting cadence that keeps execs aligned
A roadmap of experiments tied to revenue outcomes

This is where you shift from “new CMO” to “indispensable executive.”

Truth Bomb: The CMO’s Real Job

Your job isn’t to make marketing look good. It’s to make the business grow. Everything else is noise.

Conclusion: Your Legacy Starts Now

The first 90 days aren’t about survival. They’re about setting the tone for everything that follows