Marketing Manager - Ashton Woods

Company Overview: Ashton Woods is more than just a home builder. From the sale of our first home in 1989 to recently being named Builder of the Year by Builder Magazine, our focus has always been on blazing new trails and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible in homebuilding. Ashton Woods, the #1 private home builder in the United States, markets its homes through its two award-winning brands, Ashton Woods and Starlight Homes. The Ashton Woods brand is known for designing thoughtfully curated, inspired homes for people who love design. The Starlight Homes brand builds homes specifically for the first-time homebuyer, offering affordable homes with well-executed designs and quality finishes for buyers looking to make the dream of home ownership a reality. The company’s commitment to innovation and continually evolving to meet the needs of the market is a key reason we are one of the most celebrated homebuilders in the nation, winning hundreds of national and local industry awards in product and community design, architecture, merchandising, sales, marketing, and customer service.

Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, Ashton Woods sells new homes in Atlanta, Austin, Charleston, Dallas, Houston, Nashville, Orlando, Phoenix, Raleigh, San Antonio and Tampa.

Position Overview

Ashton Woods Homes has emerged as a homebuilder of choice, driven by a strong entrepreneurial spirit and commitment to world-class product design and customer satisfaction. The company is focused on creating an innovative & differentiated customer experience via the web, digital media and CRM that pioneers new ground and surprises-and-delights our customers. The Division Marketing Manager plays a critical role in bringing this vision to life.

The primary role of the Division Marketing Manager is to lead marketing strategy and execution of programs designed to drive qualified traffic to Ashton Woods communities and ashtonwoods.com. The Division Marketing Manager also serves the broader role of brand gatekeeper for every touchpoint the consumer has with Ashton Woods in the division. If you’ve got outstanding attention to detail, high standards, and believe that the quality of work you deliver is as much a reflection on you personally as it is on the company, we want to hear from you!

Key Functional Responsibilities / Accountabilities:

1. Strategic Planning and Execution. Develop, manage and flawlessly execute annual/quarterly marketing strategies and division and community marketing plans. Includes:

• Work closely with VP of Sales to ensure marketing programs are aligned with Division goals.
• Develop comprehensive plans from audience selection to offer and messaging strategy, vehicle selection, creative development, evaluation and optimization in alignment with goals.
• Manage agencies in creation of online and offline marketing initiatives including direct mail, email, collateral, signage, displays, ads (online and offline), events and web page content.
• Provide agency partners with well-thought out, effectively written creative briefs and evaluate creative output against briefs in an objective, articulate, constructive manner.
• Own the holistic lead management database messaging capabilities for the division, responsible for all triggered emails, e-blasts, and messages sent on behalf of individual communities and/or at the request of individual sales counselors.
• Attend weekly sales meetings and conduct community visits to build rapport with sales agents, and monitor market trends and competitive activity.
• Serve as local market expert responsible for monitoring competitive activity online and on-site in communities.

2. Performance Measurement and Analytics. Manage marketing budget and regularly analyze program performance, consistently tying results to division objectives and strategies. Includes:

• Set performance goals for and deliver programs with a focus on optimizing Cost/Lead, Cost/Sale and ROI.

• Monitor community traffic on a weekly basis to identify trends, evaluate communities behind traffic / sales goals, and make marketing plan recommendations to improve performance.
• Utilize Salesforce and Pardot toolset to measure marketing effectiveness and gain insight into performance by traffic source to optimize performance and prioritize vehicles driving results.
• Review Google Analytics and digital media reports to ask probing questions, provide agency partners with appropriate guidance and regularly optimize media mix to drive ROI.
• Issue performance reports to key constituents on an ongoing and ad hoc basis.

3. Brand Gatekeeping. Serve as brand gatekeeper for the division, with ultimate responsibility for ensuring that every touchpoint the consumer has with the Ashton Woods brand is consistent, premium, world-class and in alignment with brand guidelines. Includes:

• Make frequent visits to models and sales offices, assessing model and sales office presentations, signage and collateral presentations.
• Assist community sales counselors with necessary on-site promotional support and self-marketing efforts.
• Evaluate and manage online content to ensure adherence to brand standards and drive consistent impact to conversion metrics. Includes ongoing review of division, community and plan pages at ashtonwoods.com to ensure appropriate USP, assets and promotional messaging are in place for the target profile.
• Book and manage new community photo shoots on a timely basis in accordance with guidelines, updating photo library and ashtonwoods.com with new model photography.

Key Business Skills / Experience Required

• Minimum 5 years of progressive marketing experience required
• BA/BS in Marketing, Communications, or related field required

• Possess an innate marketing acumen and a passion for the consumer
• Strong track record of developing and executing 360 strategic marketing plans and associated tactics
• Adept at managing agency partners and applying best practices in evaluating creative
• Equally comfortable in the arenas of digital and traditional (online / offline) marketing vehicles
• Data-based decision maker skilled at utilizing analytics to set and evaluate marketing programs
• Proven success using CRM and/or Marketing Automation to drive tangible business results
• Strategic thinker with strong analytical skills who can draw meaningful conclusions from existing data
• Unafraid to test boundaries, challenge traditional thinking, speak-up and lead-up to drive the business
• Highly organized with attention to detail & eye for quality execution, yet understands role in big picture
• Outstanding written and verbal communication skills, as everything about this role is consumer-facing

Education

• Undergraduate degree in marketing or related field required.