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We are working with Liquidity Services in their search for an Online Marketing Manager based in Washington, DC. Liquidity Services’ provides business and government clients and buying customers the world’s most transparent, innovative and effective online marketplaces and integrated services for surplus assets.
The client seeks a talented, proven Online Marketing Manager who can have an immediate and visible impact on a ~$250 MM+ division of the company. In this role you will report directly to the VP of Marketing and be responsible for leveraging paid and unpaid online marketing media to drive traffic to LSI’s commercial marketplaces (including Liquidation.com and Secondipity.com), and for continually testing, refining, analyzing and optimizing marketing efforts and user behavior to drive buyer growth and interaction. Candidates must be energetic, smart, self-starters who thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment.
To fully appreciate what LSI does and why its basic concept is so cool, check out this piece about them on ABC News’ Nightline from January 12, 2012:
HARRY’S COMMENTS: My favorite Michael Dell quote is “inventory is the tangible manifestation of bad information.” Liquidity Services owes its very existence to this concept.
Liquidity Services is a very unique services company that has seen its stock skyrocket in the last 18 months. The company operates auction marketplaces for surplus and salvage assets, and it provides its services to businesses as well as thousands of government agencies. One million businesses have used its site, Liquidation.com, to buy surplus inventory from the world’s largest retailers.
Liquidity Services differs materially from eBay and Amazon specifically by targeting the wholesale sector. Not only does it not compete with eBay and Amazon, its customers actually sell on eBay and Amazon with product obtained from Liquidity Services. In fact, Liquidity Services has little to no direct competition, and as a result it has been able to strike liquidator deals with massive entities such as the U.S. Department of Defense. Today, Liquidity Services post 1.6 million registered buyers, 4000 selling clients, and has a presence in 116 countries. Insane.
The firm’s professional seller base includes:
- 139 of the Fortune 1000
- 7 of the top 10 U.S. retailers
- 2 of the top 3 Online retailers
- 3 of the top 4 warehouse clubs
- 8 of the largest industrial multinationals
- U.S. Department of Defense
- Manufacturers and OEMs
- 4,700+ state and local government agencies
- Middle market retailers
- Service companies
- Distributors and VARs
The U.S. reverse logistics market estimate for 2015 is $63 billion, and the primary reason for this market opportunity is straightforward: While a well-established forward supply chain exists for the procurement of assets, most manufacturers, retailers, corporations and government agencies have not made significant investments in their reverse supply chain process or systems.
The need for a business like this is so obvious, I’m surprised it wasn’t invented on, like, Day 2 of the Internet.
The company seeks an online marketing manager with a Spock-like grip on the numbers. Really, we are looking for an analyst at heart; someone who is not afraid to be the go to guy for marketing data within an incredibly process-oriented, data driven company.
When I say process oriented, I’m not kidding: Liquidity Services has a deep respect for the Six Sigma methodology, which is all about defining, measuring, analyzing, interpreting, and controlling business processes throughout the organization. It’s a culture where there’s nothing as devastating to an opinion as a number.
But wait, there’s more …
This role will also be about buyer acquisition for the company’s Liquidation.com website, which currently has nearly 2,000,000 users. The name of the game is making a market for each one of the auction 500+ product categories on Liquidation.com. The company’s addressable market is significantly larger than what it has now, and its target customers are people who classify themselves as small business owners.
According to hiring manager, Rob Caskey, the company needs to look at new and exciting ways to bring these customers on board. And it’s not just a matter of driving registrations on Liquidation.com. The company wants people to actively participate in its auctions.
Can you do that?
In addition to being a highly skilled web analyst, you will need to be extremely well-versed and paid search. For example, you might use your analytics expertise to …
- Drive page level insights about what’s working and what’s not,
- Understand which page design elements are important,
- Test and improve what the Google algorithm values for certain pages,
- Assess how Google updates like Panda and Penguin might impact certain pages,
- Know what data elements are necessary to be on a page in order to improve its SERP ranking, and
- Determine new ways LSI might build backlinks to specific pages on its site.
We need someone confident in this role.
In this job, you will need both gravitas and a vision for improving specific KPIs on the site. You will need to be super proficient with Google analytics, and you will need to participate in (and in some cases referee!) the lively debates in the company’s weekly KPI meetings.
We don’t need a programmer, per se. However you will find it useful to be snow proofed in basic programming languages like HTML and JavaScript so that you can speak knowledgeably about these things.
Perhaps more than anything, Liquidity Services seeks someone who can “talk to the data” and bring a hypothesis-driven approach to online marketing. Certainly, the company wants you to make your numbers. But just as importantly, there is a stigma against not knowing one’s numbers. Liquidity Services has an entrepreneurial environment, and all of its leaders are drivers.
Hard on the issues; Soft on the people.
The company’s culture is a meritocracy. These are smart, highly motivated, business-oriented individuals who love to win, believe in fair play, and are focused on building a world-class organization. What that means though, is that you’ll have to bring your “A game” every day. If you’re up for that, then be prepared to discuss the following during the hiring process:
- Your familiarity with creating and using pivot tables. Be prepared to get nitty gritty.
- Any analytics implementations you may have managed. Give us examples, actions you took, and results you attained. We want details.
- For SEO, show us the sites you maintain – and step us through any challenges you may have encountered thanks to Penguin and Panda.
- For PPC, take us through your current campaigns and explain your use of SQRs.
If any of this sounds fun to you, please apply below. Personally, I have done a ton of homework on this company, and I think that given where online commerce is headed both at home and abroad, LSI’s best days are waaaay ahead of it. Click here to download an 18-page transcript of the company’s Q3 2012 earnings call and then ask yourself “Isn’t it time I went to work for a real company with real competitive advantages and real pricing power in a high-growth, high-margin market?”
Responsibilities
Traffic Driving
- Manage, enhance and optimize paid search advertising (including comparison shopping engines) for all LSI commercial marketplaces
- Optimize marketplace site structure, link strategy and content to maximize qualified organic traffic
- Leverage all non-search online advertising vehicles (i.e. third-party e-mail, banner advertising, affiliate networks) to drive site traffic at proper ROI
Optimization
- Continually optimize all traffic driving efforts to minimize acquisition costs and maximize efficiency
- Design and conduct website tests (including A/B, multivariate, heatmapping, etc.) to optimize key performance indicators for site visitors
- Thoroughly leverage website analytics tool to identify user paths and interaction; utilize this data to inform future testing and site improvements
- Utilize in-house and third-party data sources to compile, interpret and act on weekly and ad hoc KPI data to evaluate success and identify areas of opportunity; conduct root cause analysis of trends observed and act independently to change offers and testing strategies based on results
- Set overall priorities for website development and serve as primary liaison between marketing and development teams
- Other duties as assigned
Qualifications
The following qualifications specify the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required to perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.
- Ideal candidate will possess a bachelor’s degree in marketing, business administration or related field, and will have 5-7 years progressive experience in traffic driving and analysis/optimization
- Experience in and familiarity with all aspects of e-commerce and online marketing
- Proven results leading the e-commerce traffic driving and analytical efforts for a top-tier B2C or B2B website
- Must have experience developing and executing a cohesive, ROI-driven marketing plan with proven results
- Expertise in SEO (with examples) and a passion for staying on top of current trends
- Expertise in SEM (with examples) and proven experience in managing and optimizing high-volume, complex campaigns that achieve targeted KPIs and business objectives
- Expertise in the setup, utilization and analysis of statistical data from website stats packages (i.e. Google Analytics, Omniture, etc.) to identify and react to key visitor trends, as well as the utilization of in-house and third-party data sources
- Experience developing and executing a website testing plan and using third-party tools to gather results (i.e. Visual Website Optimizer, Google Website Optimizer, etc.).
- Top-notch analytical skills and the ability to leverage statistical techniques (i.e. correlation, regression, etc.) to synthesize data from multiple sources
- Experience in HTML programming, Javascript, CMS and overall website structure and production
- Expertise in leveraging paid (i.e. affiliate, third-party e-mail, banner advertising) and unpaid (i.e. grassroots and social media) efforts to drive business objectives
- Six Sigma training with a focus on root cause analysis, highly preferred
- Ability to multi-task and react quickly in a rapidly-changing environment
- Excellent oral and written communication skills and the ability to clearly and persuasively present results
- Proficient in Microsoft Office Suite, especially Excel
- Must be highly motivated and a self-starter
UPDATE: THIS SEARCH IS CLOSED.
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