Marketing Strategist

We are seeking a mid- to senior-level marketing strategist to lead client marketing strategy and execution across our B2C healthcare and nonprofit brands.

At Big Sea, Marketing Strategists are responsible for the development of and successful management of digital strategy for client brands. The role requires an innovator, a trendsetter, and a progressive thinker who can connect digital to all other aspects of a client's business and drive growth opportunities.

The Marketing Strategist at Big Sea builds strong and long-lasting client relationships and uncovers new business opportunities within existing partnerships.

Strategy Development

Your first job will be Strategy development for some of our B2C brands, mostly in healthcare and nonprofit. You should be able to determine what questions need to be asked, how best to answer those questions, and what to do with the answers. This will require some experience with research best practices, both qualitative and quantitative, to be able to answer key questions such as who are the target buyers, what differentiates this offering, how brands are communicated and experienced through digital interactions, and how digital interactions fit into broader customer experiences. This combines an in-depth knowledge of client business objectives, online strategies, and their competitive landscape with a rich background in the digital marketing industry to deliver effective digital marketing recommendations.

• Work with cross functional teams including Media, Web, and Creative during client onboarding to complete marketing research and to synthesize the various forms of research into a cohesive narrative.
• Development of buyer personas that are based on the client’s position in the marketplace, unique value proposition, and the buyer’s journey.
• Identification of client marketing goals and objectives as well as corresponding metrics to measure progress towards accomplishing goals.
• Development of supporting mutli-channel campaign strategies across content, SEO, web, and paid media that work in conjunction with the larger strategy.
• Build comprehensive content-led growth strategies that help our clients reach their financial goals.

Leadership

Leadership is essential for our Marketing Strategist role. It is imperative for the strategist to see the big picture and present our recommendations confidently to the client. The Marketing Strategist will maintain insight on the client’s industry and the work we do, is able to present confidently in front of the client’s executive team, and can rally the client and team to accomplish shared goals.

Specifically, this will require:

• Championing the client’s needs and wishes when talking to the team.
• Ensuring that all client communication is clear and actionable; intervening on behalf of the client if not.
• Always knowing what is going on with a client project and relationship.
• Casting a vision for strategies and in-production pivots so that the client has agreement on ‘the why’ of tactics and activities.

Client Relationships

Client relationships are the keys to Big Sea’s success. Building relationships with clients entails open and honest communication. A great strategist maintains the trust of the client and a deeper understanding of what works and what doesn't work for its business. Effective Marketing Strategists anticipate problems versus simply reacting, and help their teams navigate through challenging points in the partnership.

Specifically, this will require:

• Setting and managing client expectations.
• Identifying needs and evaluating alternative solutions.
• Seeking opportunities to increase client satisfaction and deepen client relationships.
• Always paying attention to what is important to the client, and defending their position to the team.
• Understanding how to communicate difficult/sensitive information tactfully.
• Resolving and/or escalating issues in a timely fashion.
• Advocating for the client's voice within the team and the team’s voice to the client.
• Cultivating positive relationships with clients, measure client satisfaction, and develop a pipeline for future projects.
• Organizing regular account review meetings with the internal strategy team to review clients’ strategies, goals, and satisfaction in order to affirm that we’re on the right course or to establish action steps.
• Actively seek out opportunities for professional development by participating in educational opportunities, reading industry publications, maintaining personal networks and participating in professional organizations.

Delivering Great Work

Delivering great work when and where it's expected is the primary goal of a great Marketing Strategist.

• Establish a clear understanding of the clients’ goals and expectations at the start of each project, using these as a guide to ensure the team delivers a product that meets client’s expectations.
• Help create thorough project plans, leveraging resources and input from other agency departments as needed.

Great Marketing Strategists at Big Sea generally have:

• Ability to communicate thoughtfully, accurately, and efficiently both externally and internally in order to establish and maintain strong relationships.
• Ability to diplomatically handle and resolve escalations impacting the project deadline and budget.
• Ability to manage both large and small client meetings and navigate through a variety of personalities in order to stay on track and engender trust.
• Strong and engaging presentation skills to be used in presentations with internal and external stakeholders as well as to pitch potential new work.
• Solid organizational skills, including attention to detail and the ability to multi-task as it applies to clients as well as self-organization.
• Ability to adapt to the daily shifts in priorities.
• Proven ability to develop and implement effective process improvements.
• Ability to act as a liaison between the multiple teams and lines of business.
• Must be team-oriented and comfortable with receiving constructive feedback and input from others.
• Active participation in team meetings, one-on-ones, and other company-wide meetings.
• Actively engaged and reporting on professional development.
• Ability to self-manage in a virtual work environment.

This position reports directly to our AVP, Marketing on our B2C pod.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree or higher in Marketing, Communications or related field.
• At least 5 years of agency experience managing digital projects and marketing campaigns.
• Experience with full-funnel marketing planning and architecture.
• Experience working with HubSpot, Asana, SEMRush, Google Analytics, WordPress, and other digital marketing tools.
• Understanding of digital marketing reporting tools and metrics.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills (samples will be requested).
• Emotionally intelligent and likable, in general.

We Take Our Principles Seriously

• Love the who.

People are the heart of everything we do. While we guide our work with why, it always begins with who. The “who” are our clients, and their clients, for whom our agency exists. We all have a voice, and we are all intensely interested in the voices of those around us. We value people as whole individuals and strive to provide the opportunity for well-being, connection, and fulfillment.

• Embrace the adventure.

We make waves with effective creativity. Not just new ideas; ideas that work. We are unashamed and brave, with the courage to speak our ideas out loud. We push ourselves and boundaries to be better every day, and don’t let the status quo stand in our way. We fail fast, learn, and turn.

• Positively impact.

We drive real change for our clients and our agency. We obsess over outcomes and actions and always focus on what matters. We value progress over perfection, and performance over process. Our success is shared with our client's success, so we're always seeking to better understand how the work we are doing is driving results.

• Seek clarity and be kind.

We will always be honest with you and with each other, even when it’s difficult or uncomfortable (for you, or for us!). We don’t shy away from hard conversations, and always assume good intentions. We talk to each other, not about each other, and never compromise our integrity. We listen and respond with kindness and clarity.

• Own it.

We walk the walk and always show up for our clients and each other. We are passionately and personally invested in our work, and don’t compromise quality for a quick win. We invest in learning, read and study our own specialties, and keep on top of trends to stay ahead of the curve. We train our brains and hone our craft.

• Stay wild and weird.

We don’t have to do things the way anyone else does them, and why would we, anyway? Normal is mediocre, and really quite boring. We’re professionals, sure, but we don’t take ourselves too seriously. We’re brave enough to take creative risks and flex.

Benefits

As a full-time employee of the Big Sea team, you’ll enjoy big-company benefits in a small-company setting. That’s why every Big Sea team member receives medical insurance along with company-paid dental, vision, disability, life insurance, and parental leave. A 401(k) program is also available for you to start saving for your future. Each year, you’ll get a professional development budget to attend training, conferences, and industry events. But perhaps most rewarding of all is our commitment to giving you a creative, autonomous, and collaborative daily work environment—from our offices in St. Pete, Asheville or remotely. Working at Big Sea means growing personally, professionally, and as a team.

Big Sea is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes everyone to our team. We strongly encourage people of color, LGBTQ and non-binary people, veterans, parents, and individuals with disabilities to apply. If you need reasonable accommodation at any point in the application or interview process, please, let us know (andi@bigsea.co).