FLSA: Exempt

Reports To: Sr. Director, Integrated Marketing & Communications

Status: Full Time (40+ hours)

Location: Columbus, OH (Arena District office, and work-from-home opportunities)

Travel: locally to meetings and events in Columbus

What You Will Accomplish

The Leisure Marketing Manager is responsible for the project management of strategic marketing campaigns for Experience Columbus. This role manages our paid media strategy and process, marketing projects such as the Columbus Visitor Guide and podcast, and project management of interdepartmental leisure marketing projects, and internal marketing projects, as it supports the organization’s marketing strategy and execution.

The work you will do:

  • Ideate, develop, execute, and optimize cutting-edge paid media campaigns from conception to launch to attract visitors to the destination. Build out media buys for various ad platforms and oversee the day-to-day execution of paid media, with the assistance of our agency
    • Manage direct buys and relationships with local broadcast media, the agency of record, and other vendors
    • Define, measure, and evaluate relevant paid media KPIs; create a system for reporting out
    • Work cross-departmentally to align campaign strategies and goals across internal and external channels
    • Conduct in-depth keyword and website research, ad grouping and audience targeting and set conversion tracking
  • Project manage a variety of leisure campaigns and activities such as Visitor Guides and media partnerships; this includes working within teams and departments to align strategies and goals
    • Provide ongoing actionable insights into campaign performance to relevant internal and external stakeholders
    • Collaborate with agency partners and designers to develop high-performing assets for paid, owned, and earned channels
  • Work with internal departments and the design team to strategize and create a wide range of effective marketing materials
  • Support leisure marketing email efforts via copywriting, email creation, and deployment, as needed
  • Seek out and obtain knowledge of marketing best practices, especially in our industry, the Destination Marketing Organization (DMO) space
  • Internal and external stakeholder reporting and analytics

Qualifications and Background we are looking for:

  • Four-year degree from an accredited college or university or additional experience working in the areas below
  • Three to six years or more experience in marketing or communications management, and in the areas below (either through education, work experience or a combination of both)
    • Leading media strategy, A/B testing, scaling & optimization spend and driving ROI
    • Working with Agency Partners
    • Overseeing paid social and paid search (Facebook, Google Ads and Demand Side Platforms (DSP) campaigns
  • Google Analytics Certified (a preference)
  • Skilled at copywriting and editing a wide range of marketing materials, from email to web copy
  • Familiar with marketing project management and comfortable with setting and monitoring high-pressure deadlines
  • Comfortable doing the work and implementing programs from start-to-finish.
  • Experienced or comfortable with working on a small team, office setting or environment
  • Highly organized and can handle multiple priorities and meet deadlines
  • Effective at communicating with team members and vendors
  • Focused on helping the team with a positive attitude
  • Proficient use of Microsoft Office products. Familiarity with the following platforms a plus: Wrike, Airtable and ActOn
  • Travel, Tourism or Hospitality industry experience a plus
  • Passionate about the product (Columbus) and motivated to exceed expectations
  • Committed to learning and applying Diversity Equity Inclusion and Accessibility principles throughout the role
  • The organization requires all employees to obtain and maintain the Experience Columbus Insider (ECI) accreditation

Physical Demands:
The physical demands and work environment described here represent those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

  • Viewing computer monitors
  • Frequent talking and/or listening
  • Regular Sitting
  • Ability to lift up to 10 pounds on occasion with or without assistance

The duties of this position may change from time to time. Experience Columbus reserves the right to add or delete duties and responsibilities at the discretion of Experience Columbus or its managers. This job description is intended to describe the general level of work being performed. It is not intended to be all-inclusive.