Recently, I had a recruiter ask me a few questions when they were looking for a contracted Director of Marketing position. These answers give a great outline of what it is like working with me and the Dashing Digital Marketing team.

We are highly collaborative while setting up success with a solid foundation.

Creating a Clear Digital Marketing Roadmap for Clarity

What do you typically do in your first week to assess the landscape and start making an impact?

Here’s how I would typically structure the initial days:

Stakeholder and Team Alignment:

I prioritize meeting with key stakeholders and team members to understand the company’s vision, business goals, and immediate challenges. This includes one-on-ones with leadership, marketing, product and customer service teams to gain a holistic view of the brand and its operations.

Audit of digital assets and performance:

I conduct a rapid audit of all digital marketing channels, website, email, social, paid media, and analytics platforms. This helps me benchmark current performance, identify quick wins, and spot any critical gaps in the marketing funnel or customer journey.

Review of Brand Messaging and Customer Insights:

I analyze existing brand messaging, creative assets, and customer feedback to assess consistency, resonance, and differentiation in the market. I also review customer data and analytics to understand audience segments, buying behaviors and key conversion drivers.

Assessment of Marketing Technology Stack:

I evaluate the current marketing technology tools and platforms in use (CRM, email automation, analytics) to ensure they are set up optimally for tracking, segmentation, and campaign execution.

Quick Wins and Early Recommendations:

Based on my findings, I outline immediate action items such as optimizing high-traffic landing pages, fixing analytics tracking, or launching a targeted email campaign to demonstrate early impact and build momentum.

Establishing Communication and Reporting Cadence:

I set up regular check-ins with the team and leadership to ensure alignment, transparency, and rapid feedback as we move forward.

Build a Remote Collaborative Team

How would you quickly build trust and keep collaboration strong with a remote team you haven’t worked with before?

Initiate Open, Transparent Communication:

In my first days, I would schedule one-on-one introductions with each team member to understand their roles, strengths and how they would best fit into the team dynamic. This helps break the ice and shows I value their expertise and input.

I set up a team kickoff meeting to outline my leadership style, expectations and commitment to open communication.

Establish Clear Goals and Shared Purpose:

I work with the team to clarify immediate priorities and how our efforts align with the company’s broader objectives. This means ensuring everyone understands how their work contributes to our growth targets.

I encourage team input in goal-setting, which builds ownership and trust from the outset.

Leverage Collaborative Tools:

I implement or reinforce the use of collaborative platforms (like Slack, Asana, or Trello) for daily communication, project tracking and knowledge sharing.

I set up regular check-ins, both group standups and individual touchpoints, to maintain alignment and quickly address roadblocks.

Listen Actively and Recognize Contributions:

I make it a priority to listen more than I speak in the early days, learning about team dynamics and individual motivators.

I recognize early wins and individual contributions, fostering a culture of appreciation.

Lead by Example and Foster Transparency:

I’m transparent about my decision-making process and share my thought process behind any early changes or recommendations.

I model accountability and responsiveness, setting a tone of reliability and mutual respect.

Encourage Cross-Functional Collaboration:

I believe in collaboration, together we see more and can do more. I facilitated collaboration between marketing, creative and e-commerce teams by organizing cross-team brainstorming sessions and sharing insights from analytics and customer feedback.

I encourage knowledge sharing and cross-training to build trust and resilience within the team.

By combining these strategies, I’m able to quickly establish trust, ensure everyone feels heard and valued, and create a collaborative, high-performing remote team environment.

What It’s Like to Work With Dashing Digital Marketing