Digital Marketing Specialist – College of Communication and Information

Full Time, Exempt, MR09

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville invites applications for a Digital Marketing Specialist in the College of Communication and Information (CCI).

Application Process: Interested individuals should apply by July 14.

Screening of applicants will begin immediately and will continue until the position has been filled. For full consideration, applicants must provide a resume, cover letter, and a minimum of three references. All applicants must apply online to be considered for this position.

The anticipated starting salary for this position is $47,000 to $55,000 depending on the selected candidate’s experience, qualifications, and suitability.

The Position: The College of Communication and Information (CCI) at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, seeks applications for a full-time digital marketing specialist to join CCI’s Office of Communications and Marketing. This role is pivotal in driving the digital presence and engagement for CCI.

Responsibilities include developing and executing a digital content strategy for social media and email marketing campaigns; providing support for website edits and form creation; monitoring engagement across all digital platforms; and supporting in graphic design. The position will also serve as the primary liaison for the university's digital marketing vendor, developing and executing a comprehensive recruitment strategy for the college's undergraduate and graduate programs.

Reporting to the Director of Communications and Marketing, the digital marketing specialist will collaborate with colleagues across CCI and to enhance marketing and outreach, with a focus on student recruitment/retention and donor relations. The position requires a commitment to accuracy, meeting deadlines and support for effective relationships with campus and external constituencies. This position must be a creative thinker, visionary, and team player.

The Digital Marketing Specialist is expected to:

· Lead and execute social media strategies in support of the college's marketing and communication goals

· Serve as the primary account holder and manage planning and execution of all social media activity on the college's social media platforms

· Oversee execution of social media strategies, gather analytics and provide insights, and adjust as needed

· Understand audience behavior and actively build and engage social media audiences through established and emerging platforms

· Manage college-level student social media takeovers

· Develop and implement social media marketing campaigns to support student recruitment strategies, in alignment with the associate dean for academic affairs and student success goals

· Plan, create, and share timely and relevant content to audiences across all college social media platforms

· Actively monitor comments, mentions, conversations, and tags to maximize user engagement and support the reputation of CCI

· Develop and implement a social strategy around digital fundraising in partnership with CCI's advancement team

· Attend events, as needed, to photograph/video for social media platforms

· Work directly with the associate dean for academic affairs and student success on student recruitment

· Develop and implement an Online recruitment strategy campaign (Google ads, LinkedIn, targeted social ads etc.)

· Monitor engagement across all digital platforms and provide periodic analytics and insights (in the form of monthly, quarterly, and annual engagement reports) to team and leadership to identify successes and make changes to content strategy to improvements

· In coordination with CCI’s communications and marketing team and university’s digital marketing vendor, track performance of digital marketing campaigns, making recommendations for improvements

· Provide support to the Communications and Marketing team in website edits, content updates, web forms etc.

· Maintain and update targeted distribution lists of peers for e-newsletters

· Monitor engagement and make revisions to improve engagement

· Conduct ongoing research of digital activity of peer, target, and aspirational institutions to help inform and evolve team's strategy and awareness. Advise team on required improvements and lead execution

· Lead, develop, and execute all internal/external email marketing campaigns for CCI and supporting units

· Maintain content calendars and evaluates the effectiveness of digital communications in achieving the objectives of CCI among diverse audiences and stakeholders

· Make decisions on look and feel of templates for e-newsletters; build and distribute e-newsletters to targeted audiences, including creating and editing customized content

· Meet as part of team and individually with CCI's supporting units to discuss needs, audience, content, and functionality of all pieces and provide advice and feedback to clients based on industry standards and best practices

· In coordination with the Communication and Marketing team, write, design graphics, edit, and prepare copy and multimedia content for social media, websites, e-newsletters, and other future platforms that meet the established CCI brand identity

· Determine content order and audience segments to maximize performance

· Coordinate timing with team's content calendar and goals of the college and supporting units

· On behalf of team, directly liaise with campus partners to maximize content placement and elevation

· Mentor other members of CCI’s Communications and Marketing team and interns on strategies and processes for digital content execution

· Ensure all content is on-brand, consistent in terms of style, quality, and tone of voice, optimized for search, and adapted for multiple platforms

· Supervise CCI interns within CCI Office of Communications and Marketing

· Assist at large scale programs and events for the college

· Collaborate and partner closely with team members and contribute to projects/initiatives

· Support strategic planning of communication and marketing campaigns

· Support effective, productive relationships with campus colleagues

· Contribute to creative brainstorming and content planning

· Support in photography and videos for the college, as needed

· Use project management system (Trello) to stay current on project work

· Other duties as assigned

To be successful in this role, candidates are required to possess:

· Bachelor’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, or related field

· 3+ years of progressive experience related to job responsibilities, which may include internships or student employment

· Knowledge of Google Analytics

· Knowledge of SEO best practices

· Knowledge of digital content strategy best practices

· Advanced knowledge of various social media platforms

· Knowledge of using smart email marketing platforms (such as Emma)

· Knowledge of managing website content in a CMS (such as WordPress)

· Knowledge of creating and optimizing multimedia for multiple digital platforms (to include imagery, graphics, and video)

· Ability to evaluate analytics and create reports summarizing effectiveness of content

· Ability and interest to learn new complementary skills in the digital space

· Excellent short burst writing and editing skills

· Knowledge of using Adobe Creative Cloud suite, including PhotoShop, Premier, Illustrator, InDesign, Spark, XD, and others, or ability to learn these software platforms

· Good interpersonal communication skills

· Ability to work on multiple projects will rolling deliverables

· Ability to meet deadlines

· Ability to act professionally and interact well with team members and campus partners

· Provides and is receptive to feedback and constructive criticism

· Desire to protect and promote the university's reputation

Our ideal candidate has:

· Master’s degree in communications, journalism, public relations, or related field

· 5+ years of progressive experience related to job responsibilities

· Skilled in photography and editing

· Advocates for best practices in digital communications

· Knowledge of higher education

· Knowledge of Adobe CC tools and resources

To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential job duty satisfactorily. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential job functions.

The College:

CCI is part of a Land Grant Institution embedded in communities to make those communities a better place. Our alumni, students, faculty, and staff strive to positively impact the lives of people in our state through our teaching, scholarship, creative work, and through our engagement and service. CCI as a college is well poised to deliver upon all of those areas to become the most nationally distinctive but locally relevant College of Communication and Information in the country.