Inc. 500 CMO Seeks “Top 10%” Director of Demand Generation for Hyper-Growth Food Tech Company Ranked as One of LA’s “Best Places to Work”

Dear Director of Demand Generation,
I’m looking for a top 10% marketing pro who has proven experience driving significant traffic, leads, opportunities, and revenue for B2B products and services. Proven B2C growth is icing on the cake.

If that’s you, this will be the most important “job ad” you’ll read this year (and likely for some years to come).

Why? Actually, there are three reasons:

1) Riding in a rocket ship is fun. We’re one of the fastest-growing companies in America and you’ll have a unique opportunity to apply your marketing experience to a platform that has already gained significant momentum in the marketplace. You’ll have levers to pull.

2) The work is fulfilling. Our products and services help make the world a better place and our culture encourages people to become the best version of themselves. You’ll be challenged to do the best work of your life, which will create lasting impact in the world.

3) You’ll receive transformative mentorship. I can help you become a better marketer, a better leader. SnackNation Alumni have gone on to start businesses, successful podcasts, thriving consultancies, and land exciting new roles that were previously out of reach. If you seek mentorship and guidance, I’ll help you become the person you’ll need to become to achieve your personal and professional goals.

As Director of Demand Generation, you’ll lead our Demand Gen team, grow traffic with high quality content production and link building strategies, expand and optimize our paid media program, discover and deploy new inbound channels, develop new ways to leverage marketing automation, improve the impact of our email marketing, and make our funnels higher converting with better copy, design, and CRO process.

In short, you’ll be a thought leader and a linchpin within our organization.

Who am I?

I’m a digital marketer, serial entrepreneur, and combat-decorated U.S. Naval Officer who led a Special Forces fast-boat team in the Iraq War. I’m also the Co-Founder & CMO of SnackNation.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewmackensen/

Before I get into the specifics of the role, here’s a little more about us…

SnackNation is the leading healthy snack membership experience, fueling high performing companies and empowering healthy lifestyles across the U.S.

SnackNation exists to inspire more conscious food decisions. We do this by connecting healthier brands with engaged consumers through a smart marketplace. We understand that snacks are not just snacks, but are integral to living a happier, healthier, more purposeful life.

We currently curate and deliver great tasting snacks to half a million people in more than 4,000 awesome offices – places like LinkedIn, Microsoft, MailChimp, and NFL Network. Our healthy snack boxes are an easy way to kickstart the vibrant company culture that companies need to recruit and retain top talent. Consumers can also enjoy our unparalleled curation at home via SnackNation Market.

SnackNation is committed to fighting hunger outside the office too. To date we’ve donated more than 3 million meals to families in need through our partnership with Feeding America.

SnackNation was voted as one of the “Best Places to Work” in LA by the Los Angeles Business Journal, one of the "Top Company Cultures" by Entrepreneur Magazine, and one of “50 Start-Ups to Watch” by Built in LA. We also recently earned the coveted Great Place to Work® certification.

More about the role…

1) THIS IS NOT A “STANDARD” MARKETING DIRECTOR ROLE.

You’ll be very active in the day-to-day management of our team and making decisions on where to spend your budget. This is a “roll up your sleeves,” get involved, and create massive value type of role. You’ll be in charge of the Demand Gen P&L and will be expected to drive results based on clearly defined KPIs.

2) DIRECT RESPONSE MARKETING VS. BRAND MARKETING. 

You’ll need to have a very clear understanding of the differences here. You’ll drive demand gen with a deep understanding of direct response marketing while our Director of Brand Marketing drives our brand marketing initiatives. The two of you will work together closely in a symbiotic relationship because, while demand gen and brand are two unique functions within marketing, they are incredibly powerful when working harmoniously together.

3) WE’RE FUN AND YOU SHOULD BE, TOO.The first thing you'll notice about us is our unique culture, super-fun office environment, and positive family spirit. We like to infuse fun in much of what we do…it just makes pursuing your passions that much more…well…fun!

4) RARE OPPORTUNITY.

This type of opportunity rarely comes around in life. We’re uniquely positioned to step on the gas with a product-market fit that already has traction in the market. You just need to know how to step on the gas! This is a dream job for the right individual who has a natural curiosity to learn new things, a strong work ethic, and an unwavering hustle to make it happen.

5) WE HIRE CHARACTERS NOT POSITIONS.

If you have what it takes as an individual - in other words, if you have a positive mindset, are nice to other people, and care deeply about your work - then you'll fit in well at our company. We find that the most successful individuals in our organization have both their heads and their hearts in the right place.
Even more about this role…

 
1) ONLINE AND OFFLINE EXPERIENCE NEEDED.

Our strategic plan driving us to $100M in recurring revenue heavily leverages both online and offline marketing to get us there. You’ll need to have in-depth experience of online demand generation, conversion, and funnels. Direct mail, including fully sequenced ABM campaigns, will be a large part of our marketing mix going forward. You’ll be leading the charge here, including getting your hands dirty with list-building, data appending, and CRM scrubbing to make sure our mailings have high ROI.

2) PASSIONATE ABOUT MARKETING.

You have a burning desire to be the best marketer you can be. You love reading marketing and business books, listening to podcasts, and reading marketing blogs. You’re on other successful marketers’ email lists. You’re innately curious and love learning.
3) MUST BE A HIGH ACHIEVER.

You've had some big wins earlier in your life and you yearn for another big win at your next company. You constantly want to get better. This position is the opposite of a “cushy,” set-it-and-forget-it type marketing role.
SKILL REQUIREMENTS

1) At least 5 years of online and offline marketing experience, including:

• Traffic generation
• Lead generation
• Conversion rate optimization
• Email marketing
• Marketing automation
• Co-marketing partnerships
• SEO
• LinkedIn, Adwords, Facebook, and Display
• Direct Mail
• Funnel math and optimization
• Tracking & analytics
• Recurring revenue fundamentals (we’re subscription-based)

2) Experience managing a team

3) Ability to plan & execute marketing campaigns from start to finish

4) A good mix of being logical vs. being creative

5) Ability to manage third party/vendor relationships

6) Results focused and great at driving KPIs

7) Excellent written and verbal skills

8) Persistence, persistence, persistence

9) Organized and detail-oriented

10) Great personality who is fun to work with and displays positive attitude/energy

11) Marketo/Salesforce experience a huge plus

OTHER STUFF YOU’LL BE DOING

• Oversee proper allocation of the demand gen budget to achieve our monthly revenue targets
• Figure out ways to improve the ROI of each dollar spent from the demand gen budget
• Report on performance of each acquisition channel and create action plans on how we can improve each
• Own our SEO strategy - determine the keywords we should target, meet with the team to decide how to create the best content for that keyword, set the monthly content calendar, and ensure our in-house team coordinates writing of each post with external writers. You’ll also be responsible for managing our external SEO agencies and holding them accountable.
• Set quarterly goals with demand gen team and hold team accountable to achieve those goals
• Own our direct mail strategy, from acquiring the best possible lists of prospects to coordinating mail pieces with our external mail house
• Find new demand gen channels to test and oversee, from email sponsorships to new ad products from our existing channels
• Build out and implement an ABM strategy
• Work with our Communications Director, PR Manager, and Paid Media team to create and promote our yearly, industry-leading reports
• Find and test promotion channels to grow the email list for SnackNation’s podcast, Brand Builder
• Work with our outbound team to improve their team’s conversation rates from prospecting emails. Also work with SDR Managers to improve conversion rate of direct mail campaigns with SDR follow-ups.
• Work with the demand gen team to ideate and implement new split tests across all our acquisition channels
• Test new tactics to convert more of our blog visitors into qualified leads

COMPENSATIONThis is a $100K+ role. Your compensation package will be commensurate with your experience. We’ll design your package collectively, including a competitive base salary plus performance bonus tied to agreed upon KPIs.

OTHER RESOURCES:

Watch our company culture and overview video:

www.snacknation.com/careers

Here’s how we choose the world’s best snacks:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IqXdOSqNxw

Examples of some of our long-form content that performs well:

http://www.snacknation.com/blog/employee-wellness-program-ideas/

http://www.snacknation.com/blog/2017-state-office-manager (report download)

HOW TO APPLY

No exceptions - in order to apply please provide the following:
1) Write a COVER LETTER:
a) Why do you think you’ll make a phenomenal Director of Demand Generation at SnackNation?
b) What one professional accomplishment are you most proud of and why? 

c) What one professional failure did you learn the most from and why?
d) One day, you wake up and realize you’ve entered into a bizarre time warp where your life is magically put on hold for one week and there’s $10,000 cash sitting there on your nightstand, for you to use however you like. No to-do’s, no emails, no chores, and no less-than-desirable obligations like you might have in your regular life. You can do anything with your time and anything with the cash, for seven straight days. Once the seven days are complete, you will magically transport out of the time warp and your life will continue like normal (it will pick up right where it left off), like nothing ever happened. Describe the next week of your life.
e) On a scale from 1-10, how weird are you and why?
2) Click the green "Apply For This Job" button
3) Follow the prompts on the page. Make sure to copy/paste your cover letter into the "Cover Letter" section and upload your resume via the resume upload button.
If you make it to Round 2, you'll receive explicit instructions on next steps, plus you'll get more detailed information on our company.
That's it! I look forward to hearing from you soon.

Happy Snacking,

Andy Mackensen