How to Hire an Awesome Inbound Marketing Manager
As you may have noticed, some new faces have joined the marketing team here at Marketo to help improve our online engagement and grow demand from inbound marketing sources. Why? Because we believe that to continue our fast growth we need to scale both paid programs as well as inbound programs including SEO, Social Media, and Content Marketing.
And it appears we are not alone. Organizations are putting more and more resources into inbound marketing, so I wasn’t shocked to see the chart below from The CMO Club that shows that these skills are the most coveted by marketing execs.
But what qualities are key in an inbound or social media expert? The ideal inbound marketing manager should be an analytical, socially savvy “digital native” who gets search engine optimization and has experience with social media and a strong understanding of the fundamentals of content marketing. Ideally, she or he has demonstrate this by building a strong personal presence online via a personal blog, Twitter account, etc.
Your ideal candidate should also understand that at the end of the day inbound marketing is not just about producing flashy content but about generating leads and revenue. Below you will find the job description I used for the role (posted here for others to use as it is no longer up in our careers section). But what I found is that it takes much more than social know-how to be a great inbound marketing pro including:
- A caring individual. Often customers will use social media as an outlet when frustrated. We love this feedback and pass it on to the appropriate teams to resolve issues, but it’s best to put someone who genuinely cares about customer satisfaction into the position to ensure customers are delighted.
- Time management skills. Some people may be great at engaging on Twitter, or a super star at writing blog posts, but if they get lost in lower value activities online or can’t find the proper mix of time to spend on different social and creative projects, you may be wasting resources.
- A thick skin. Our competitors, like many, often spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) about our product. Sometimes though they even make remarks about our team members (with comments almost always untrue). For this we need team members with a thick skin.
You’ll also notice that our inbound marketing roles are called Social Media Managers, not Inbound Managers. Why? Well, one big reason is that there aren’t that many people searching for inbound marketing manager positions. If you look at the chart below you will see that searches for “social media manager” (blue line) is growing, while searches for “inbound marketing manager” (red line) and “content marketing manager” (red line) are almost nonexistent. I see similar results when searching job banks like Monster or LinkedIn. When posting your role you want to make sure that those qualified find it. For us that means posting it under the title Social Media.
What are the characteristics that you look for when hiring inbound marketing talent? Or if you’re an inbound pro, what do you think of the roles we look to fill?
Feel free to copy, edit, and reuse the description below in the search for your inbound marketer.
Program Manager, Social Media & Content Marketing
With over 1,500 worldwide customers, Marketo is a leader in cloud software and one of Silicon Valley’s fastest-growing companies. In fact, we were recently rated as #1 on the Silicon Valley Business Journal’s Fastest Growing Private Companies list for 2011! In addition to growing like crazy, we are delighting our customers and hiring some of the best minds in the industry. Our Marketing team is experiencing rapid growth and therefore we are looking for a Social Media & Content Marketing Manager to execute on all elements of the social media plan to drive awareness and acquire customers through marketing programs. You will work closely with the marketing team, as well as key decision makers throughout the company.
Key Responsibilities:
- You have a passion for creating and managing social media and content marketing strategies, including the ability to orchestrate every detail and then measure results
- You have knowledge of how to leverage social networks to enhance campaign performance and nurture current prospects • You want to serve as a thought leader, sharing your ideas by creating content for Marketo’s blog, resource center and community
- Your content expertise goes far beyond white papers and blogs, and includes the ability to manage video and webinar programs
- You have lots of energy and get excited by being a revenue champion for the organization
Qualifications:
Marketo is a high-energy, hard-charging, high-performance company! Our Social Media Manager is a strategic thinker with a creative mindset. You have a strong attention to detail, are well organized and can manage multiple projects simultaneously. You thrive in a fast-paced entrepreneurial environment.
Required experience and skills include:
- Bachelor’s degree required.
- A minimum of two years social media experience with B2B organizations
- An established track record of developing successful working relationships with bloggers and other social press
- Experience developing a content marketing strategy including podcasts, webcasts, video, mobile and social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Slideshare, etc)Experience with social media monitoring tools (Radian 6, Visible Technologies, etc.); familiarity with salesforce.com is a plus
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills, including excellent writing skills
- Proven track record of success setting and achieving ambitious goals
- Proficiency in Microsoft Office – Excel, PowerPoint, Access
This position is based in San Mateo, CA. We offer competitive salaries, great benefits, a high-energy environment and lots of room for personal and professional growth. If this sounds like you, we’d like to talk with you. Please send a cover letter and resume to marketingjobs@marketo.com.
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