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The first 90 days with a done-for-you team, week by week

Month one is cleanup and tracking, month two is the first real campaigns and content, and month three is when you can start judging the numbers. Here is what each stage should look like, and the signs that it is going wrong.

Written by Ali Sedighi, MBAPublished: Last updated:

The first 90 days of a done-for-you engagement follow a predictable pattern. Days 1 to 30 are cleanup: access, ownership and tracking. Days 31 to 60 are the first proper campaigns and content. Days 61 to 90 are when the numbers become worth judging and the plan settles into a monthly rhythm. If a provider skips the first stage, the second and third will not be trustworthy.

This guide sets out what should happen in each stage, what you should see in each monthly report, and the warning signs to watch for. It is written for Greater Victoria owners, but the timeline applies to most local businesses.

Before day one: the hand-off call

The engagement starts with a single conversation, usually about an hour. Its purpose is to get everything out of your head and onto paper.

Bring what you can:

  • any invoices or emails from previous web designers, agencies or freelancers
  • the names of anyone who has ever had access to your marketing
  • a rough list of last year's jobs or sales, by municipality if possible, with typical values
  • the services you want more of, and the ones you would happily do less of
  • how much more work you could take on in a typical month

The team should leave that call with a clear list of accounts to find and a short set of invitations for you to accept.

Days 1 to 30: takeover and baseline

Month one is unglamorous, and that is how it should be.

Week 1

  • You accept access invitations for your domain, website, Google Business Profile, ad accounts and analytics.
  • The team records every account in a shared document, noting owner, users and billing.

Weeks 2 and 3

  • Lost access is recovered through each platform's owner-verification route.
  • Tracking goes in or is repaired: calls, texts and email clicks counted as conversions.
  • Duplicate listings are merged, wrong categories fixed, and service areas set to where you actually work.
  • Old campaigns that waste money are paused.

Week 4

  • The first monthly brief arrives. It lists what was found, what was fixed and what still needs attention.
  • It also gives a baseline: how many tracked leads your marketing produces in a normal month before any new work.

The baseline is the most important number in the first 90 days. Without it, nobody can honestly tell you later whether things improved. Our marketing takeover page describes this month in detail.

Days 31 to 60: first campaigns and content

With clean accounts and working tracking, the growth work begins.

Campaigns go live for one or two high-value services, aimed only at the municipalities you want to serve. The first weeks are a test period. Expect some wasted spend while the platforms learn, and expect the team to cut it weekly by adding negative keywords and adjusting targeting. The campaigns page explains how budgets and cost-per-lead ceilings are set.

Content

The photo hand-off starts. You send pictures and a short note from a few good jobs; the team turns them into project pages and profile posts. By the end of month two your Google profile and website should both show recent, real local work.

Lead response

Missed-call text-back and saved replies go live, and the lead list starts filling. This is often where owners see the quickest practical benefit, because fewer calls go unanswered.

The second brief

The month-two brief shows the first tracked leads from campaigns, the cost per lead, and the pieces of content published. It will be noisy. One good or bad week can swing the numbers, so judge direction, not detail.

Days 61 to 90: judge, adjust, settle

By month three there is enough data to make real decisions.

  • Campaigns: budget moves toward the services and areas producing leads under the agreed ceiling. Weak ads and keywords are cut.
  • Content: a steady rhythm is set, tied to your season. For many Victoria businesses that means planning ahead for the wet months or the spring rush.
  • Lead response: the first response-time audit shows how quickly inquiries were answered and where gaps remain.
  • Booked work: your rough count of which leads became paid jobs lets the team see cost per booked job, not just cost per lead.

The third owner brief should compare month three with the baseline and propose a plan for the next quarter, with a clear recommendation on budget.

A simple scorecard for day 90

Answer these yes or no:

  1. Is every marketing account in your business's name?
  2. Does tracking count calls, texts and email clicks reliably?
  3. Do you have a baseline from month one and a comparison in month three?
  4. Has your own marketing time fallen to a few minutes a week?
  5. Are your website and Google profile showing recent work?
  6. Do you know your cost per lead for each paid channel?
  7. Do you have a written plan for the next quarter?

Six or seven yes answers means the hand-off is working. Four or fewer means something needs a frank conversation, whoever your provider is.

Warning signs

  • No account list after 30 days. If the team cannot tell you who owns what, the foundation is not there.
  • Reports about impressions and clicks. Those are background, not results. Ask for calls, texts and email clicks.
  • Your time is not dropping. If you are still spending hours a week on marketing in month two, the hand-off is not real.
  • Promises of rankings by a date. Nobody controls Google's results; good providers talk about effort, tracking and trends.
  • No change in the plan by month three. A team that is paying attention will have cut something and expanded something else.

After day 90

From here the work becomes a monthly rhythm: weekly checks and publishing behind the scenes, and one page and one call for you. Read what to hand off and what to keep to set your side of the split, check plans on the pricing page, or go to the contact page to start the hand-off call.

Frequently asked questions

When should I expect new leads?

Paid campaigns can start producing tracked leads in month two, once tracking works. Content and local search usually take longer, often three to six months, to show a clear change.

What if month one shows no new leads?

That is normal. Month one is about fixing accounts and setting a baseline. If someone promises a surge before tracking is even in place, be cautious.

How much of my time does the first 90 days take?

More in the first two weeks than later: about an hour on the hand-off call and some time accepting invitations. After that, a few minutes a week and the monthly brief.

When should I worry?

If you still do not know who owns your accounts after 30 days, if reports talk about clicks rather than calls, or if your own marketing time has not dropped by month two.