Digital Marketing Manager

Reports to: Head of Editorial
Contract: Employee, preferably full-time employment
Location: UK based, at present working remotely
Salary: £38,000
Application details: Email CV, portfolio links and letter to [email protected]

The Booker Prizes have a unique place in the literary sphere, enjoying an enviable reputation as a cultural institution that is highly respected, much loved and hotly debated throughout the world. Over the past 50 years, more than 500 extraordinary books have been brought to the attention of the public, influencing reading tastes and transforming British culture in the process along with the careers of hundreds of authors from around the globe. 

The Booker Prize Foundation is a registered charity, established in 2002, whose purpose is to promote the art and value of literature for the public benefit. Among the ways in which it fulfils this mission is the awarding of the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize. Other aspects of the foundation’s work include reading initiatives in prisons, writers’ visits to universities, the distribution of books to disadvantaged readers and the funding of Braille and audio editions of Booker Prize books through the RNIB. The UEA Booker Prize Foundation Scholarship is awarded annually to a candidate for the Creative Writing MA at the University of East Anglia. Many past BPF scholars have since met with literary success. 

In 2021, we launched a new digital strategy at www.thebookerprizes.com to showcase our nominated books alongside their exceptional authors in one unique online space. Called the Booker Library, we aim to create a unique entertaining cultural destination that brings fresh attention to our books by combining 1) originally commissioned or created content for our website and social channels such as long reads, video, imagery and audio; 2) audio and video archive material such as broadcast video of ceremonies or interviews with our winners; 3) archive material from our authors, publishers and partners as well as our own physical archive at Oxford Brookes University including manuscripts, scrapbooks, documents and photographs and 4) curated content from across the web. 

We’ve identified the concept of the Booker ‘Golden Thread’: a bendable, flexible strand that runs through all our books, authors, themes and subject matters. We aim to bend and stretch this thread in many directions to help our audiences explore our world with the goal of encouraging more people to read more books. We believe that this blend of writing, audio, video, visual art, manuscripts and interactives will bring new insights and attention to the books, their themes, subject matters and the art of fiction writing itself. We are not driven by a daily publishing schedule of quick bites, social media hits or desk-researched listicles and articles. Our yardstick will be is this genuinely unique and will audiences be enthralled by it? Is it exceptional? Could it be syndicated to a UK or international publication or picked up as a news story?

We are building a small in-house editorial, marketing and partnerships team to take responsibility for executing this plan.

The Booker Prizes are looking for an experienced digital marketing manager with hands-on media planning and implementation experience. Reporting to the Head of Editorial, the digital marketing manager will lead the creation and implementation of the Booker Prizes’ digital marketing activities globally in line with our content and prizes’ yearly schedule. This will cover our digital portfolio (website, social, audio, YouTube, newsletter) for all our longlisted, shortlisted and winning books for both the Booker Prize and the International Booker Prize in its 52-year history, as well as those nominated each year.

Key objectives will be to increase user reach and retention across our digital portfolio, increase brand awareness and appreciation amongst our core target audiences and grow our subscriber base. The person in this role will work closely with our small new editorial and partnerships team to encourage people across the world to read more of ‘our’ books. 

We are looking for someone who enjoys a hands-on role and has digital marketing experience for content brands, preferably across international territories. They will have an acute understanding of how to represent a respected cultural brand such as the Booker Prizes online.  Most importantly, this person will have the opportunity to create our marketing operation from the ground up and will have to tenacity to make things happen in our small but high-profile world.

• Develop and deliver effective digital marketing plans, working closely and collaboratively with in-house and external colleagues to achieve the set KPIs
• Originate, brief and deliver imaginative and impactful digital marketing campaigns for specific audiences across a breadth of platforms and destinations
• Develop and execute digital marketing strategies and campaigns to increase user engagement and grow our audience significantly across our digital portfolio
• Develop and execute earned and paid media strategies
• Closely monitor analytics and optimise media strategy
• Collaborate with colleagues (editorial, design, publicity and partnerships) to ensure best-in-class creative delivery
• Develop and manage a global digital marketing plan and budget, utilising any not-for-profit or charity schemes where appropriate 
• Communicate plans, coordinating with colleagues, reporting post-campaign analysis
• Keep abreast of regulations and best practice in relevant territories.

• Demonstrable experience of digital marketing for a content or cultural brand for adult global audiences
• Proficient in using Google Ads/YouTube, Apple Ads, Facebook advertising, Amazon Advertising platforms
• Good hands-on knowledge and proficiency in SEM, SEO 
• Ability to conduct paid media research to inform tactics
• Ability to brief internal and external designers/agencies and assess digital creatives that work for the target audience
• A strong understanding of the creative process across a range of digital media will be crucial
• Excellent project management skills with the ability to take the initiative on multiple campaigns and deliver to tight deadlines
• Ability to collect, synthesise and report data in order to propose and action optimisation recommendations
• Ability to communicate effectively and work with cross-functional teams, both internal and external
• At least an Intermediate level user of Excel, PowerPoint and Google Analytics
• Experience of working in a high growth team or start up 
• Self-starter who can work on their own initiative as well as collaboratively within a team, and with third parties or external individuals/companies.