The best examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles

1. Real examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles

Before talking theory, let’s start with what people actually want to see: real examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles that you could drop into a document today and adapt.

Below, each example includes:

• The role and performance issue
• 60–90 day goals
• Metrics and support actions

These are not templates in the abstract. They’re built around the way modern marketing teams track performance now—think CRM data, attribution dashboards, and content analytics.

Example 1: Digital Marketing Specialist missing lead targets

Scenario
A Digital Marketing Specialist manages paid search and paid social. For two quarters, qualified lead volume has been 25–30% below target, and cost per qualified lead (CPQL) is rising.

Performance gaps

• Inconsistent campaign optimization; changes made ad‑hoc without a testing plan
• Limited use of audience segmentation or negative keywords
• Reporting is backward‑looking, with no clear recommendations

Performance Improvement Plan (60 days)
Over the next 60 days, the employee will:

• Increase qualified leads from paid channels by 15% versus the prior 60‑day period, while keeping CPQL within 10% of the current average.
• Implement a weekly testing roadmap that includes at least two A/B tests per week (ad copy, landing page, or audience).
• Produce a weekly performance summary with three concrete recommendations, shared with the manager and sales lead.

Support and resources

• Weekly 30‑minute optimization review with the manager.
• Access to updated training on paid media best practices (e.g., Google Skillshop, Meta Blueprint).
• A shared dashboard in the analytics tool so both manager and specialist see the same metrics.

This is a good example of a performance improvement plan for marketing roles because it ties performance to specific, trackable outcomes instead of vague “do better” language.

Example 2: Content Marketing Manager producing low‑impact content

Scenario
A Content Marketing Manager publishes regularly, but blog posts and resources generate little organic traffic or pipeline influence. Sales feedback is that content is “nice but not useful.”

Performance gaps

• Topics chosen without data from SEO, sales calls, or customer research
• Weak calls‑to‑action and no alignment with campaigns
• Minimal collaboration with SEO and product marketing

Performance Improvement Plan (90 days)
Over the next 90 days, the employee will:

• Publish six new long‑form pieces (1,500+ words) aligned to agreed campaign themes and mapped to specific funnel stages.
• For each piece, partner with SEO to define primary keyword, search intent, and internal linking plan.
• Increase organic sessions to new content by 25% compared with the prior 90‑day period, using analytics to track performance.
• Create a content brief template that includes persona, problem statement, primary keyword, and CTA, and get sign‑off from marketing leadership.

Support and resources

• Biweekly working sessions with SEO lead to review briefs and performance.
• Shadow at least three sales calls to understand customer language and objections.
• Access to training on content strategy and search intent through a reputable provider (e.g., courses referenced by Harvard’s online digital marketing resources).

This is one of the best examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles where the issue is impact, not effort. The plan doesn’t say “write more”; it says “write what the right audience actually needs, and prove it.”

Example 3: SEO Specialist with weak technical execution

Scenario
An SEO Specialist understands keywords and on‑page basics but ignores technical issues. Site speed, broken links, and crawl errors have been flagged for months without progress.

Performance gaps

• No clear prioritization of technical SEO issues
• Weak collaboration with engineering
• Limited use of available tools and reporting

Performance Improvement Plan (60–90 days)
Over the next 90 days, the employee will:

• Complete a technical SEO audit of the main site and top 50 pages by traffic, including core web vitals, indexation, and internal linking.
• Develop a prioritized backlog of at least 15 technical fixes, ranked by expected impact and effort, and reviewed with the manager and engineering.
• Implement or coordinate fixes that address at least 70% of high‑impact issues, as measured by the audit.
• Improve average mobile page load time for top pages by 20%, using data from an analytics or search console tool.

Support and resources

• Monthly meeting with engineering lead to align on scope and timelines.
• Access to technical SEO training and documentation (e.g., Google Search Central documentation at https://developers.google.com/search).
• Time blocked on the calendar for focused technical work.

This example of a performance improvement plan for marketing roles focuses on shifting an SEO specialist from reactive to systematic, with clear metrics and cross‑functional collaboration.

Example 4: Email Marketing Specialist with poor deliverability and engagement

Scenario
An Email Marketing Specialist manages newsletters and nurture flows. Open rates and click‑through rates are declining, and bounce rates are rising. Sales complains that leads from email are “cold.”

Performance gaps

• Over‑sending to disengaged lists
• Weak segmentation and personalization
• No systematic deliverability monitoring

Performance Improvement Plan (60 days)
Over the next 60 days, the employee will:

• Implement a list hygiene process, removing or sunsetting inactive contacts per company policy and privacy requirements.
• Increase average open rate across campaigns by 5 percentage points and click‑through rate by 2 percentage points compared with the prior 60 days.
• Launch at least three segmented campaigns with clearly defined audiences (e.g., new leads, active customers, churn‑risk customers).
• Set up and review a weekly deliverability report, including spam complaints, bounce rates, and sender reputation.

Support and resources

• Training on email deliverability best practices, referencing guidance from reputable sources like FTC CAN‑SPAM guidance.
• 1:1 session with CRM admin to better understand data fields and segmentation options.
• Weekly check‑in with manager to review test results and next steps.

Among the best examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles, this one is especially relevant in 2024–2025 as inbox providers tighten spam filters and privacy rules keep evolving.

Example 5: Product Marketing Manager misaligned with sales

Scenario
A Product Marketing Manager creates launch decks and messaging, but sales reps rarely use them. Win/loss analysis is weak, and positioning doesn’t reflect competitive reality.

Performance gaps

• Limited collaboration with sales and customer success
• Messaging built from internal opinions, not market data
• No structured enablement plan

Performance Improvement Plan (90 days)
Over the next 90 days, the employee will:

• Conduct 10 structured interviews with sales reps and customer success to understand objections, use cases, and competitive threats.
• Run at least five customer or prospect interviews focused on buying criteria and alternatives.
• Redesign core product positioning and pitch deck, then pilot it with a group of five sales reps.
• Achieve 70% adoption of the new deck among the primary sales team within 90 days, as measured by CRM activity or sales feedback.
• Produce a quarterly win/loss summary with three clear insights and recommended actions.

Support and resources

• Introductions to key sales and customer success contacts.
• Access to CRM data and any existing win/loss notes.
• Optional training on customer discovery and interviewing techniques (for example, methods similar to those discussed in business research programs at MIT Sloan).

This is a strong example of a performance improvement plan for marketing roles that sit at the intersection of product, marketing, and sales.

Example 6: Social Media Manager focused on vanity metrics

Scenario
A Social Media Manager drives follower growth and likes, but there is little connection to pipeline, website traffic, or brand goals. Content is inconsistent across channels.

Performance gaps

• Strategy driven by trends, not brand or business objectives
• No clear conversion paths from social to owned properties
• Weak collaboration with demand gen and content teams

Performance Improvement Plan (60–90 days)
Over the next 90 days, the employee will:

• Create a channel‑specific strategy for top platforms (e.g., LinkedIn, Instagram), including target audience, goals, and content pillars.
• Increase referral traffic from social by 20% versus the prior 90 days, as tracked in analytics.
• Launch at least three campaigns that include a clear CTA to a landing page, event, or gated asset.
• Standardize a monthly performance report that includes not just engagement, but traffic, conversions, and assisted pipeline where data is available.

Support and resources

• Collaboration with demand gen lead to define conversion goals.
• Access to analytics training so social metrics can be tied to business outcomes.
• Biweekly content planning session with the content marketing manager.

This is one of the more modern examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles, reflecting the 2024 shift away from pure vanity metrics toward attributable impact.

How to write the best examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles

The best examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles share a few patterns. They are specific, time‑bound, and grounded in data that both manager and employee can access.

Tie goals to business outcomes, not just activity
Instead of “publish more posts” or “run more ads,” connect goals to leads, pipeline influence, or customer retention. Modern marketing teams have access to CRM and analytics data; use it. The U.S. Small Business Administration emphasizes aligning marketing activities with measurable business outcomes, which is exactly what a good PIP should do.

Use realistic timeframes
Most marketing performance improvement plans span 60–90 days. That’s long enough to:

• Launch and measure a couple of campaigns or content pieces
• Run multiple A/B tests
• See directional changes in metrics like CTR, conversion rate, or organic traffic

Shorter than 30 days, and you’re usually measuring effort, not results. Longer than 90 days, and the plan loses urgency.

Define support, not just pressure
A performance improvement plan is not punishment; it’s a structured support plan. Every example of a performance improvement plan for marketing roles above includes:

• Clear coaching cadence (weekly or biweekly check‑ins)
• Access to tools and training
• Cross‑functional partners (sales, product, analytics, engineering)

Without that, a PIP becomes a paper trail for termination instead of a real chance to improve.

Align metrics with 2024–2025 marketing trends
Marketing in 2024–2025 is shaped by:

• Privacy regulations limiting third‑party data
• Greater emphasis on first‑party data and consent
• Attribution challenges as cookies disappear
• Search engines rewarding higher‑quality, people‑first content

So, when you create examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles, consider:

• List hygiene and consent for email
• First‑party data capture (forms, events, gated content)
• Multi‑touch attribution or at least consistent UTM tracking
• Content quality and expertise, not just keyword density

That way, the plan supports both the employee and the direction the industry is actually heading.

Adapting these examples of performance improvement plans for different seniority levels

The same performance issue looks different at junior and senior levels. Real examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles should reflect that.

For junior marketers (coordinators, specialists)
Plans focus on:

• Execution quality (accuracy, timeliness, following playbooks)
• Learning and applying best practices
• Communicating clearly with stakeholders

For instance, a junior paid media specialist might have a plan centered on:

• Building and following a weekly optimization checklist
• Documenting every change in a shared log
• Reducing basic errors (wrong URLs, typos, targeting mistakes) to near zero

For senior marketers (managers, directors)
Plans focus more on:

• Strategy and prioritization
• Cross‑functional leadership
• Forecasting and accountability for results

A senior demand gen manager’s plan might include:

• Building a quarterly forecast with assumptions
• Partnering with sales to agree on lead definitions and SLAs
• Hitting a pipeline contribution target within agreed variance

The structure is the same, but expectations are higher: seniors own the plan, not just the tasks.

FAQ: examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles

How detailed should an example of a performance improvement plan for marketing roles be?
Detailed enough that a neutral third party could look at the plan and clearly see whether the employee met the expectations. That means specific metrics, timelines, and behaviors. “Improve campaign performance” is too vague; “increase qualified leads by 15% in 60 days while keeping CPQL within 10% of baseline” is clear.

Are performance improvement plans always a sign someone will be fired?
Not necessarily. Some organizations misuse PIPs as a formality before termination, but many use them as a structured coaching tool. The difference is whether the plan includes real support and realistic goals. Research on performance management from institutions like Harvard Business School emphasizes early, specific feedback and coaching, not just documentation.

What are some common examples of goals in marketing performance improvement plans?
Common goals include: improving campaign ROI or CPQL, increasing organic traffic or rankings for priority pages, raising email engagement while reducing spam complaints, improving adoption of product marketing assets by sales, and delivering projects on time with fewer rework cycles.

Can I reuse these examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles as templates?
Yes, but customize them. Swap in your actual baselines, tools, and timelines. Make sure metrics are achievable given your budget, brand awareness, and sales cycle. A startup with no brand equity will have very different benchmarks from a mature enterprise.

How do I keep a performance improvement plan fair in a changing market?
Marketing performance is influenced by seasonality, competition, and broader economic conditions. Build that into the plan. Use relative improvements (e.g., 15% lift vs prior 60 days) instead of absolute numbers when possible, and review results in context. If a major platform change or regulatory shift hits mid‑plan, adjust expectations rather than pretending nothing changed.

Used thoughtfully, these examples of performance improvement plans for marketing roles can turn a tense conversation into a clear path forward—one where both the manager and the marketer know exactly what “better” looks like and how to measure it.