Attendee Marketing & Relations Manager

Emerald is seeking an Attendee Marketing and Relations Manager to develop and execute marketing strategy for its Outdoor Retailer B2B trade show and conference.

The position requires a strategic thinker who will create innovative and cost-efficient attendee marketing strategies for Outdoor Retailer to achieve audience objectives and goals, as well as manage contractors to successfully implement those strategies. This role leverages a broad range of digital marketing tactics as well as content strategy to grow event attendee revenue pillars for the portfolio. The Attendee Marketing and Relations Manager will monitor and measure effectiveness in real-time, making strategic choices with your team about when to pivot to ensure organizational and financial goals are being met across campaigns. In addition, you’ll oversee the marketing technology stack used across the department to find ways to leverage new tools and create more efficient marketing processes and user experiences.

The Attendee Marketing and Relations Manager will manage a team of contractors, freelancers and agencies to execute strategy for OR, and will need to be comfortable getting “hands on” to own tactical tasks alongside the team. This role requires a confident leader who can effectively delegate work, collaborate with team members and foster a creative, innovative environment that actively incorporates new marketing techniques to drive results.

Key Responsibilities

• As a result of the yearly Brand Operating Plan, direct responsibility and accountability for the design and successful execution of supporting attendee marketing plans / timelines to achieve objectives organized by key segment and including type of effort/channel, timing, quantity, cost, projected response and ROI.
• Manage team’s successful implementation of attendee marketing and campaign plans for which Attendee Marketing and Relations Manager is ultimately responsible and accountable.
• Form close relationships with Outdoor Retailer team members to better understand the market and industry needs in order to create and align marketing messages and campaigns.
• Design and implement Outdoor Retailer’s hosted buyer program, including managing the top 300/400 top retailer relationships in the industry.
• Develop unique value proposition framework for key audience segments.
• Track consistent and accurate first- and last-touch attribution and campaign analytics to assess marketing campaign performance and make improvements.

• Drive the creation and optimization of registration and related website experiences that minimize friction and optimize the collection of actionable data.
• Manage communication to attendees to ensure a high-quality customer experience.
• Closely monitor performance of marketing initiatives to ensure achievement of objectives.
• Adjust and optimize go-forward strategies as needed based on performance tracking.
• Successfully grow attendee database through the creation of robust inbound lead-generation programs.
• Develop nurture programs that align content with attendee engagement and registration cycles and industry needs.

• Oversee advertising buys, barters, print and digital campaigns for Outdoor Retailer and partner programs.
• Successfully manage attendee marketing budgets – both revenue and expenses – as well as working closely with finance in managing, tracking and submitting month-end accruals
• Help maintain and uphold the Outdoor Retailer brand guidelines (look and feel, tone, voice, etc.) across channels.
• Strengthen and/or evaluate relationships with third party vendors to ensure products are in line with Outdoor Retailer’s marketing strategies.
• Manage, implement, and track all speaker barters, marketing partnership barters, or trades to enhance customer experience for Outdoor Retailer.

Required Skills

• Highly proficient in data analysis including a firm grasp on the various tools and metrics that track and analyze marketing initiatives.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills including marketing messaging and content creation.
• Flexibility and ability to quickly adjust plans based on results and new demands.
• Demonstrated excellence in the design and implementation of high-performing in-bound marketing campaigns and content-marketing / lead-nurturing campaigns.
• Solid understanding of SEO best practices.
• Skilled at effectively using social media to drive brand awareness and lead generation.
• Technological proficiency with marketing automation, web analytics, email marketing platforms, social media management tools, as well as the ability to evaluate, employ and adapt as new technologies emerge.
• Strong financial acumen to support budget creation, management, tracking and monthly accruals
• Highly goal driven with a strong sense of urgency, with a balance of leading and “doing” – skilled and unafraid of addressing any elements of a campaign from overarching strategy to campaign-delivery detail.
• Collaborative with the ability to work with cross functional teams to achieve objectives.
• Strong sense of curiosity with an eye towards continuous improvement and optimization of resources.
• Demonstrated expertise in building “bottoms-up” multichannel marketing budgets that deliver on expected campaign outcomes.
• Experience building, training and leading teams, with demonstrated ability in having elevated team performance to achieve excellent campaign results and exceed business expectations.