Education Marketing Manager

North Star Marketing works extensively with schools across the country (private, independent, faith-based, and charter/public), helping them shape winning marketing and enrollment strategies. We develop comprehensive brand identity packages, websites, print collateral packets, online marketing campaigns, and traditional advertising programs for schools of all sizes. 

The Education Marketing Manager (EMM) consults with Marketing and Admissions Directors, Heads of School, and Advancement/Development Directors to shape marketing strategy. He/she then orchestrates the required ramp-up projects and online/traditional campaign implementation through a blend of hands-on engagement and team coordination. This role’s core purpose is to strengthen, retain, and grow our school client-base by providing marketing leadership, strategic execution and oversight, and quantifiable success towards stated client outcomes. 

Besides stewarding our clients in education, the EMM collaborates daily with North Star’s production managers, copywriters, designers, programmers, and marketing support team.

This position is best suited for a candidate with advanced studies in marketing, public relations, mass communications, or online marketing. Experience in school marketing, admissions, or development is essential for this position. 

Hear from one of our own:

“After working in admissions for two years with a private Christian school, I developed a passion for marketing the school and helping parents evaluate the benefits of a private school education. When I transitioned to my role at North Star Marketing as Education Marketing Manager, I was surprised at how both positions had a very similar mission and how seamlessly I could transition from one to the other.

With experience in running marketing campaigns, giving campus tours,  planning events, and walking through several enrollment seasons, I had a firm understanding of the many hats that marketing and admissions directors wear on a daily basis. As the Education Marketing Manager at NSM,  I have the opportunity to partner with our school clients and take on some of the hats my clients are juggling. Although I am no longer on a school campus, I am very active in managing online marketing campaigns and working toward meeting marketing and enrollment goals.

I help clients develop and implement strategic plans that strengthen Google visibility, improve messaging, generate more leads, and create loyalty with existing families. It is a true joy to work alongside the phenomenal team at North Star Marketing each day and know that my mission is the same as it was as an admissions director: to partner with schools and strengthen their marketing and enrollment.“

– Kaleen Goodeill, Education Marketing Manager at North Star

Roles and Responsibilities
Account Health and Growth

• Purpose: Grow portfolio of education clients by developing strong relationships, trust, and providing strong leadership
  • Making recommendations valuable for the client related to current or potential work
  • Timely communication and regular touchpoints
  • Provide leadership and communicate the value of agency offerings and team approach
  • Keeping clients accountable to the plan
  • Building and nurturing positive relationships with clients
  • Leveraging internal resources at the appropriate times
  • Growing in knowledge of the education industry and market segment
  • Creating a growth plan for the account
  • Proposal development
  • Capturing new opportunities in Salesforce.com CRM

Marketing Strategy & Services Execution

• Purpose: To provide marketing leadership and execution to define, plan,  and achieve the client’s strategic goals and objectives.
  • Client onboarding
  • Organizing, planning, and leading client meetings
  • Create a strategy and game plan
  • Own results and ensure the strategy is implemented correctly by the team
  • Reviewing analytics, tracking software, KPIs
  • Product/service/audience discovery and research
  • Client meetings to develop and refine strategy
  • Inbound marketing and growth-driven development services implementation
  • Strategic updates or recommendations to client backlog
  • Continuing education; staying up-to-date with current trends
  • Facilitate/lead internal client strategy teams

Project Management

• Purpose: To initiate, coordinate, and assess the execution of the client’s marketing plan, ensuring it’s on-time and on-budget; keep clients updated.
  • Weekly update to the client on status and progress of projects
  • Sprint planning and coordination for committed work
  • Update production manager with client schedule changes
  • Strategic gameplan, budget, and retainer management/tracking
  • Create project briefs to update internal teams on details of deliverables
  • Facilitating internal meetings/discussions
  • Scoping new project work with internal teams
  • Plan & conduct project retrospective/post-mortem
  • Event/task creation for one-off tasks
  • Internal time tracking
  • Process improvement

Experience and Education

• BS/BA required
• Must have a proven track record in education marketing
• 2+ years of digital or online marketing experience

Certification Requirements:

• HubSpot certifications preferred:
  • HubSpot Inbound Marketing Certification
  • Content Certification
  • Social Media Certification
  • Content Marketing Certification
  • Email Marketing Certification
  • Inbound Sales Certification
• Other certifications preferred:
  • Google Analytics IQ Certification
  • Facebook Certified Digital Marketing Associate

Skill Requirements

Computer & Technical Skills

• Proficiency using Google Apps Suite (Gmail, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides)
• Proven competency with social media (Facebook/Instagram), inbound marketing, and paid media strategies
• Ability to assess and report on strategic performance using analytics tools

Tools

• WordPress (required)
• BrightLocal (preferred)
• SEMRush (preferred)
• Salesforce.com (preferred)

Communication Skills

• Ability to secure clear direction and buy-in from business leadership and then maintain visibility as strategy is executed
• Able to work with teams to take high-level vision and translate down to executable actions
• Ability to foster strong professional relationships and manage expectations with clients and fellow team members
• Ability to work across multiple projects and thrive in an environment with shifting priorities and time-sensitive deadlines
• A strong sense of organization and attention to detail are required
• Strong verbal and written skills are required
• Strong ability to prioritize and balance competing requests for support
• Ability to work independently once strategy and direction are identified while maintaining strong visibility for the agency

Qualifications:

• BS/BA required
• Two (2) years of digital or online advertising experience preferred
• Education marketing experience

Summary of Approximate Time Allocation