Performance Marketing Lead

We are seeking a results-driven Performance Marketing Lead to support patient recruitment and digital acquisition across DM Clinical Research’s multi-site clinical research network. This role will be responsible for planning, launching, optimizing, and reporting on paid digital campaigns across Meta, Google Ads, paid search, Performance Max, retargeting, programmatic, and other approved acquisition channels.

This position should not be limited to Meta campaign execution. We need someone who understands the full patient acquisition funnel, including campaign planning, audience targeting, landing page conversion, tracking, source attribution, budget pacing, lead quality, and downstream enrollment outcomes.

The Performance Marketing Lead will work closely with the Marketing Manager, Patient Access, Enrollment, Creative, Data, Finance, and Community Outreach teams to ensure campaigns align with study priorities, approved budgets, site readiness, patient follow-up workflows, and Master Funnel goals.

DUTIES & RESPONSIBILITIES

• Own day-to-day setup, execution, monitoring, and optimization of paid digital campaigns across Meta Ads
• Manager, Google Ads, Performance Max, and other approved digital platforms.
• Build campaigns by study, indication, site, market, audience segment, referral source, and budget source to support clean reporting and performance visibility.
• Develop and manage Google Search campaigns, including keyword research, match types, negative keywords, search terms, bidding strategy, and conversion optimization.
• Support Performance Max campaigns where appropriate and determine when they fit the broader patient recruitment strategy.
• Develop retargeting strategies for patients who visit landing pages or forms but do not complete the prescreen or inquiry process.
• Support programmatic, CTV/OTT, and other emerging channels when appropriate for sponsor-funded or larger-scale recruitment campaigns.
• Evaluate whether paid media is the right channel for a study, or if database outreach, mass communications, PPP/provider outreach, EMR/chart review, sponsor portals, events, or print/QR outreach may be a better first source.
• Lead creation, review, and optimization of campaign landing pages and patient-facing digital experiences.
• Review landing pages and forms for conversion quality, CTA effectiveness, form completion rate, user flow, and patient clarity.
• Work with design and web support teams to improve landing page performance, reduce friction, and improve conversion from click to submitted lead.
• Monitor, analyze, and report campaign performance using Meta Ads Manager, Google Ads, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Looker Studio, and internal reporting tools.
• Maintain clean UTM and source tracking across campaigns, studies, sites, markets, platforms, and budget sources.
• Track and report spend, CPL, CPC, CTR, conversion rate, landing page conversion, lead volume, budget pacing, and channel performance.
• Report beyond platform metrics when available, including contacted leads, scheduled visits, screened participants, randomized participants, DNQ reasons, no-shows, and funnel drop-off trends.
• Provide weekly campaign updates with clear recommendations on what should continue, pause, scale, or shift strategy.
• Support budget pacing and ensure campaigns spend appropriately based on approved internal, sponsor-funded, or sponsor-reimbursable budgets.
• Help prepare campaign performance insights and budget justification when additional sponsor support or budget increases are requested.
• Ensure campaign budget source and PO status are visible before launching any budget-impacting campaign or vendor-supported activity.
• Collaborate with Creative to develop, test, and optimize campaign assets including static ads, carousel ads, video ads, reels, landing page graphics, and other approved visuals.
• Provide clear creative briefs and performance feedback to designers based on campaign results.
• Collaborate with the Marketing Associate and team members responsible for IRB/material approvals to ensure study-specific recruitment materials are approved before launch.
• Ensure all patient-facing copy, creative, and messaging is compliant, accurate, and aligned with approved study materials.
• Support A/B testing and creative refreshes to improve campaign performance and conversion when appropriate.
• Work with the Data Team to ensure routing, zap activation, referral source setup, and lead flow are working correctly before campaigns go live.
• Document campaign setup, updates, optimizations, approvals, spend, and performance notes in Asana or the appropriate internal tracking system.
• Identify whether performance issues are caused by targeting, creative, copy, landing page experience, study criteria, site capacity, or patient follow-up workflow.
• Stay current on digital marketing trends, healthcare advertising trends, paid search trends, privacy updates, and new patient acquisition opportunities.

KNOWLEDGE & EXPERIENCE

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business, Communications, Data Analytics, or related field required.
• Master’s degree preferred but not required.

Experience:

• 3–5 years of hands-on performance marketing experience
• Proven experience managing paid digital campaigns across Google Ads and Meta Ads Manager
• Strong paid search expertise, including keyword research, campaign structure, negative keywords, and conversion optimization
• Experience with Performance Max campaigns, retargeting, and audience strategy
• Experience with programmatic advertising, CTV/OTT, or streaming media campaigns preferred
• Experience managing campaigns across multiple locations, markets, sites, or business units preferred
• Experience with landing page conversion optimization and improving customer/patient journeys
• Experience with call tracking platforms, CRM/lead routing tools, Jotform, WordPress, or landing page builders preferred
• Healthcare, clinical research, patient recruitment, pharmaceutical, CRO, SMO, or other regulated industry marketing experience strongly preferred

Credentials:

• Google Ads Certification preferred.
• Google Analytics Certification preferred.
• Meta Blueprint Certification preferred.
• Programmatic or digital media certification preferred.
• Healthcare marketing or clinical research experience preferred.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Strong understanding of full-funnel campaign performance, not only platform metrics.
• Ability to connect campaign performance to patient acquisition and enrollment outcomes.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to explain campaign performance clearly to non-marketing stakeholders.
• Strong project management skills and ability to manage multiple campaigns at once.
• High attention to detail, especially around tracking, source attribution, approved language, and budget status.
• Ability to evaluate when paid media is the right channel and when another source may be more effective.
• Strategic thinking with a growth-focused and budget-conscious mindset.
• Ability to collaborate with Digital Marketing, Creative, Enrollment, Patient Access, Data, Finance, and Community Outreach teams.
• Comfortable working in a fast-paced and changing environment.
• Ability to push back when a campaign is not ready to launch due to missing materials, unclear budget, incomplete tracking, or site readiness concerns.
• Strong communication and presentation skills.
• Comfortable working with regulated or compliance-sensitive marketing content.

KPI & Success Metrics

Campaign Performance

• Cost per lead, cost per click, click-through rate, conversion rate, landing page conversion rate, form completion rate, budget pacing, and channel performance.

Funnel Movement

• Leads generated, qualified leads, scheduled visits, screened participants, randomized participants when available, DNQ trends, no-show trends, and lead source quality.

Operational Quality

• Campaigns launched on time, documentation completed in Asana, UTM/source tracking accuracy, budget and PO status visibility before launch, approved materials used correctly, weekly reporting completed, optimizations documented, and campaigns closed when appropriate.

Strategic Impact

• Improved lead quality, reduced wasted spend, stronger Google/Search strategy, better channel mix recommendations, cleaner sponsor budget justification, and stronger market-level performance visibility