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3 minute read
Implementing new marketing technology is exciting. It often feels like you're finally solving all the problems that held your marketing back: inefficient workflows, limited automation, and siloed data. But as with most things in martech, success isn't guaranteed just because you've picked the right tool. The first 90 days of your implementation are critical—and often underestimated.
Over the past few years, I've worked with multiple clients who ended up redoing parts of their martech setup within the first year. Not because the tool was wrong but because the foundation was weak. They rushed the process, skipped key strategic steps, and overestimated how quickly value would appear.
So what does a strong martech implementation look like in the first 90 days?
It all starts before implementation even begins.
Day 0: Think long-term before doing anything short-term
Before you dive into setup, integrations, or user roles, you need to define success. What exactly is this tool's role within your broader marketing strategy? What customer journeys do you want to support? What level of orchestration, personalisation, and integration are you aiming for—and how complex will your ecosystem be in 6 or 12 months?
If you don't define these things upfront, you'll be tempted to implement them based on what's easy rather than what sets you up for long-term success. And that can mean costly rebuilds later.
The first month: Lay the operational and strategic groundwork
The first 30 days of any martech implementation should be focused less on "doing" and more on "understanding". This is the time to review your existing data, clean it where needed, and define how it should flow across systems. It’s also the moment to map out how your new tool fits within the rest of your stack.
You also need alignment. Across marketing, sales, and ops. Who owns the implementation? Who handles integrations? Who decides on campaign logic or user journeys? If these questions aren't answered early, execution will suffer later. I've seen teams lose months due to unclear ownership and shifting responsibilities.
The second month: Build the foundation and launch your first use case
With strategy and alignment in place, the implementation begins in the second month. This means configuring the tool, setting up integrations, mapping fields, and building the initial structure on which everything else will run. It’s the technical groundwork that ensures your data flows smoothly, your automation logic makes sense, and your system is stable.
Once that foundation is in place, it's time to build your first actual use case. But that doesn't mean going full throttle. The goal here is to launch something focused that delivers real value and allows you to test your setup.
This use case should be narrow enough to manage but meaningful enough to prove value. Think of a specific customer journey, a small product line, or one lifecycle phase. You want to observe how the tool performs, how the team works with it, and whether your assumptions about data and flow hold.
This is also a confidence-building phase—not just for you but for stakeholders. A well-executed first-use case builds internal trust in the platform and shows others what’s possible.
The third month: Optimise before you scale
If your first campaigns are running smoothly, it’s tempting to scale up fast—add more journeys, connect more channels, and expand to other teams. But here’s the truth: scaling a flawed setup amplifies the problems.
Month three should be about learning and reviewing how your first campaigns performed, checking data accuracy and consistency, and making sure users understand and use the platform the way it was intended. Are customers getting a seamless experience? Are your integrations stable, and your reporting meaningful?
Only after that comes expansion.
Final thoughts: Strong foundations beat fast rollouts
The first 90 days can make or break your martech investment. It's not about how fast you launch but how well you set yourself up for long-term success. Tools don’t create value on their own; smart implementation, clear ownership, and a phased approach do.
If you're planning to roll out a new martech platform—or if you're mid-rollout and not sure you're on the right track—I’m happy to help. From planning and design to implementation and team enablement, let’s ensure the first 90 days lay the groundwork for everything that comes after.
You can contact me via the contact form directly below this article.
