If you’re in Marketing or Revenue Operations, starting the year off right usually doesn’t mean big launches.
It means clean data, fewer landmines, and systems you can actually trust.
This is the unglamorous work. The long-overdue work. The “how did this get so messy?” work. The kind of work no one applauds, but everyone benefits from later.
So I figured I’d share the oh-so-joyous tasks I’m tackling right now in case it sparks an AHA moment for you or at least makes you feel like someone else understands your pain.
Because nothing sets the tone for the year like a GTM stack that isn’t quietly sabotaging you.
Cleanup weeks aren’t busywork. They’re preventative maintenance.
They reduce risk.
They prevent embarrassing surprises.
They make campaigns faster to launch and easier to report on.
Most operational problems don’t start with bad strategy. They start with clutter that slowly turns into confusion.
Here’s what a strong “start-the-year-right” cleanup really looks like.
Smart lists multiply quickly, and suddenly no one knows which ones are active, accurate, or safe to reuse.
If you haven’t used a smart list in months, make a call. Archive it or delete it.
Fewer smart lists means fewer mistakes, faster searches, and far less “which one is the real one?” energy.
Old programs don’t need to disappear forever. They just need to stop getting in the way.
Move outdated programs into an Archived Programs folder. Keep them accessible for reference, but out of your active workspace so what you see reflects what’s actually running.
Instant clarity.
No one enjoys this task, but it matters.
Review your user list and expire people who no longer need access. Delete users entirely if you’re short on licenses.
Yes, I was short on licenses. No, I am not accepting feedback at this time.
This improves security and keeps access intentional.
If your folder structure evolved “organically,” it probably tells a confusing story.
Create a clean folder for the year with subfolders by quarter. Give everything a clear home.
When things get busy, order prevents mistakes.
This is where chaos hides quietly.
Are your programs, assets, and campaigns named consistently? Or does everything look like it was created by a different person on a different day with a different mood?
Standardize now so searching later doesn’t feel like an escape room.
Design Studio loves to become a digital junk drawer.
Delete outdated images, old templates, and landing pages you’ll never reuse. Keep only what’s relevant and reusable.
Less clutter means faster builds and fewer wrong clicks.
Integrations deserve regular checkups.
Confirm that Salesforce, webinar platforms, and other tools are syncing cleanly. Review API users and remove any tied to platforms you no longer use.
Ghost integrations don’t announce themselves. They just quietly cause problems.
Lead scoring should reflect current priorities, not last year’s strategy.
If it hasn’t been reviewed recently, ask whether the behaviors you’re scoring actually correlate to pipeline today.
I’m skipping this step right now because we reviewed it recently. That is a gift. Enjoy it if you can.
This one is deeply satisfying.
Identify inactive or unresponsive leads and decide whether they belong in a re-engagement campaign or should be removed.
Cleaner data improves deliverability, reporting, and segmentation.
Deleting bad data feels amazing. No notes.
Review anything that triggers automation.
Look for outdated logic, redundant workflows, and automations you forgot existed.
Something will surprise you. It always does.
Better to find it now than during a live campaign.
Defaults are dangerous because they’re invisible.
Check default form values, campaign settings, lifecycle rules, and routing logic. Many were set once and never revisited, even though the business changed.
Bad defaults quietly create bad data at scale.
Open a lead or account record the way Sales sees it.
Are key fields visible?
Do alerts make sense?
Is context easy to find?
If Sales has to hunt, your automation isn’t helping as much as you think.
Suppression lists grow fast and get reviewed slowly.
Audit global suppressions, product-specific suppressions, and any legacy “do not send” logic.
You may be suppressing more than you intend.
Leave notes explaining why workflows exist, why exceptions were added, and why certain decisions were made.
Six months from now, “because we had to” will not be helpful.
Your future self deserves better documentation.
Fields multiply quietly.
Audit fields that are never populated, duplicated, or no longer used in scoring, routing, or reporting.
Every unnecessary field chips away at trust in your data model.
Track down processes that start with “we know this isn’t ideal, but…”
Exports. Re-imports. Manual fixes.
These are signals that something upstream needs attention.
Pick one common journey and walk it all the way through.
Fill out a form.
Receive the emails.
Trigger scoring.
Route to Sales.
Check alerts and reporting.
You will find something off. You always do.
None of this work is flashy. None of it shows up in a launch deck.
But this is the work that makes everything else possible.
Marketing and Revenue Operations don’t just build programs. We maintain ecosystems. Cleanup is how we keep those ecosystems healthy, trustworthy, and scalable.
So if you’re elbows-deep in audits, archives, and deletes, you’re doing it right.
May your data be clean, your folders be logical, and your surprise workflows be easily fixed.
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