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HARRY’S COMMENTS: We are working with Traeger Grills in their search for a VP of Digital Marketing based in Salt Lake City. This is one of the coolest digital marketing jobs we’ve ever seen.

However: Before you get all “fired up” about this opportunity, ask yourself: “Have I built an internal team that bought $10+ million annually worth of high performing digital media? Do I have a proven PROCESS for profitably integrating paid, owned, and earned media in ways that …

1. Attract new customers?
2. Increase transaction sizes?
3. Increase order frequencies?
4. Decrease order randomness?
5. Reduce churn / Increase the term of customer retention?
6. Lower costs per sale?
7. Recover / reactivate lost customers? and
8. Increase referrals? …

… across multiple channels, devices, locations and personalization factors?

We’re looking for someone who can use the latest digital technologies to “magnetize” the top of Traeger’s far-flung marketing funnel while turning the rest of that funnel into a greased chute — in ways that promote the success of every Traeger retail partner and vendor partner.

It’s called “channel agnosticism,” and at Traeger — it’s a religion.

Traeger Grills has been revolutionizing BBQ grilling and outdoor cooking for 30 years. Today, “Traegering” has become a verb and there are even classes in it. Now led by ex-Skullcandy CEO, Jeremy Andrus, the Traeger team obsesses over providing life-affirming, community building experiences to anyone and everyone who touches the company.

Sorta like if Disney (or a similarly customer obsessed company) ran a grill brand.

 

Outdoor cooking: An American past time

Outdoor cooking, specifically barbecuing, is often considered an American past time. According to the Hearth, Patio and Barbecue Association (HPBA), nearly 75 percent of US households own a barbecue or smoker. And get this: In 2015, nearly 30 percent of those sales were first-time purchases.

Over the past five years, the number of U.S. households earning more than $100,000 has risen sharply, and outdoor kitchens are among the fastest growing residential amenities for upscale homeowners, according to a study published by Coldwell Banker Previews International. With a higher number of luxury-driven consumers, outdoor cooking manufactures have enjoyed stronger demand for high-end merchandise.

Bottom line: The market for smokers is heating up.

While the majority of grill usage occurs on weekends and holidays, many consumers use their outdoor cooking appliances more regularly. Naturally, the more often a consumer uses their grill, the faster they’ll depreciate it. Having said that, grilling can be time-consuming and many busy consumers opt to cook using simpler methods.

Therein lies the opportunity for Traeger.

A Traeger grill is a thing of beauty: Its wood pellet grill pushes wood pellets into a burn pot that indirectly heats the grill surface at a temperature chef’s can control. (Think “outdoor convection smoker” rather than a simple charcoal or gas grill.) The result is a cooking experience that’s long on taste, versatility, ease, consistency, and community. Because a Traeger grill is every backyard barbecue’s ground zero.

About the Role

As Traeger’s new VP of Digital, you’ll manage an 8-figure media spend as you drive tens of millions in sales, both online and off. Reporting to Traeger’s VP of Marketing, you’ll be charged with aligning the company’s digital strategies with Sales, Product, and Marketing.

Basically, it’ll fall to you to drive brand awareness and visits to Traeger’s website and dealer locator. That means growing Traeger’s direct-to-consumer business without disrupting the firm’s existing wholesale trading relationships. The goal: Cost effective, brand accretive growth in a way that’s pie-enlarging, not pie-rearranging.

Aggressive yet balanced.

A while back I had a top marketer from Unilever tell me that “People buy products and join brands.” I liked that saying, and it certainly applies to Traeger. This role entails buying the right media to deliver the right message to the right consumer at the right time in the right place on the right device at the right price.

These things are like stones in an arch: If any one of these is soft and crumbly, the whole structure comes toppling down. Ad formats can include mobile web, in app, video, native, and display, and you’ll be expected to analyze huge amounts of data to maximizing Traeger’s performance across its desktop, mobile, display, video, and native advertising inventory (Facebook / Instagram / YouTube / DRTV / Radio / etc).

You won’t believe how much we know about this search …

I spent a ton of time on the phone with the client teasing out exactly what you’ll need to KNOW and DO to hit the ground running in this role. Some of the things I can share with highly qualified candidates include …

1. The “real” background requirements for this position, along with the top five things all resumes MUST have to be considered for the role.
2. The top five problems that exist due to this position being open. These are the little brush fires you will be expected to put out during your first month on the job. Every job has these — and this one’s no different.
3. What your average day / week will look like in this role. There’s what you read in the standard job posting … then there’s reality. We’ve got the reality.
4. The leading and lagging KPI’s that will determine your success in this role. In a nutshell: How you keep score.
5. The major projects you’ll need to complete by Day 100 to be considered a home-run in this position. We’ve got the lowdown on how you can plug-and-play and drive REAL value in this job.

We have a massive amount of proprietary intel to share with qualified candidates. Our industry research for this assignment exceeds 100 pages! Be sure to TEXT Harry Joiner at (404) 281-2025 for this info. Or simply use the email link when you apply for the role below.

View Harry Joiner’s profile

RESPONSIBILITIES:

Develop global digital and ecommerce strategy

• Continually improve all web KPIs and metrics and leverage an analytics-driven approach to increase online sales without disrupting the omni-channel strategy
• Build and maintain strategies to optimize customer acquisition based on CAC and Traeger’s overarching omni-channel strategy
• Deliver a premium user experience for all digital properties

Oversee global ecommerce operations

• Launch and maintain localized websites in key international regions
• Own relationships and contracts with digital service providers
• Maintain Google shopping feeds
• Optimize and maintain Google Analytics tagging and enable website and order flow automation where possible
• o Develop sales and unit forecast in collaboration with supply chain
• Execute A/B testing to optimize conversion, AOV and UPT
• Oversee enhancements to the core ecommerce application and related peripheral systems, including integration, maintenance and support
• Communicate technical requirements to engineers and manage delivery timelines and costs
• Own relationship with Cloud Commerce client success manager to make continual improvements to DTC strategy
• Ensure all webpages and websites are launched only after thorough QA
• Build process to maintain the coupon code database; limit abuse of coupon codes
• Oversee roadmap and integration in collaboration with IT team for all digital technologies and services

Develop and implement internally managed digital media strategy

• Build team to support content needs, media planning, media buying, reporting, and optimization
• Optimize customer acquisition for all digital media channels, including: YouTube, Facebook, Instagram and content subscription platforms
• Maintain cross-channel attribution and reporting

Oversee direct response strategy for TV and Digital

• Optimize long and short-form media spend, MER, and CAC for TV and digital
• Maintain cross-channel attribution and reporting

Oversee operations for direct response program

• Own relationship and agreements with media agencies and call centers
• Optimize call center performance, call-routing, and reporting

Own SEO strategy and execution with internal team

• Develop global social media strategy with internal team
• Maintain and scale Traeger’s dominance in outdoor cooking on all social media channels

Manage data analytics and centralize reporting in Domo for all marketing KPIs

Own P&L for digital marketing

REQUIREMENTS:

• BA/BS degree in Business, Marketing, Operations, Computer Science or Information Technology, or related field required
• Minimum of 10+ years experience in ecommerce for consumer products company (preferably a lifestyle brand)
• Experience managing budget of $10M or more annually
• Experience overseeing ecommerce sales of $10M or more annually
• Experience managing direct response television campaigns
• Ability to build budgets, forecast appropriately and manage expenses
• Experience managing Cloud Commerce ecommerce platform (formerly Demandware)
• Experience launching and managing international ecommerce websites
• Experience managing variable marketing channels with optimal ROI including: paid search, display advertising, retargeting, and affiliates
• Experience drafting comprehensive requirements documents
• Proven managerial experience in a fast-paced, high-growth environment
• Ability to communicate effectively to direct and motivate team
• Ability to work under pressure, managing multiple projects/initiatives and deadlines
• Extensive knowledge of third-party ecommerce platforms (Amazon, eBay, Buy.com)
• Interest and knowledge of the BBQ grilling industry a plus

UPDATE: THIS SEARCH IS CLOSED.