DSG is seeking a dynamic and results-oriented
Director of Marketing to lead our marketing efforts and drive brand growth. This position is responsible for collaboratively developing the short and long-term marketing strategy through demand generation, customer focused efforts, brand management, business analytics, leadership and data management. The Director of Marketing will lead the organization’s brand and design, customer engagement, sales enablement, business analytics, data management, and event management, in alignment with our customers, values and company brand. Preferred work location is in either Plymouth, MN, Fargo, ND, or La Crosse, WI, but opportunities for hybrid or remote work may be available for the right candidate.
At DSG, we are dedicated to building futures one job at a time. Starting with yours. As an ESOP, we are a community of peers, first and foremost. And we focus on cultivating an environment of respect, teamwork and growth. Where your career path is rich with possibilities. Where every success is shared. And where every challenge is overcome together. For more than a century, we’ve delivered more than supplies, we’ve offered true partnership and valuable solutions. By continuing to empower the future of our vendors and customers, we will empower a future of ongoing success for all of us.
On Any Given Day in the Life of a Director of Marketing:
- Administrative
- Manage department day-to-day operations including customer focus, strategy, personnel and project schedules.
- Manage marketing information utilizing asset management and data management systems.
- Establish and maintain an annualized budget with the VP of Sales, Marketing, and National Segments.
- Optimize marketing P&L, expense management, and reporting.
- Website / Digital Marketing
- Develop marketing plans to enhance the influence of online products or services with Digital Marketing and the Director of E-commerce
- Responsible for digital campaign strategies, including integrated ad planning, audience/customer research, digital media plans and creative development that will work in conjunction with traditional advertising initiatives.
- Subject matter expert of all current digital technologies and practice.
- Manage online brand and vendor/product campaigns to grow sales and raise brand awareness with VP of Segments Strategy.
- Measures and reports the performance of all digital marketing campaigns and assesses against corporate goals (ROI and KPIs).
- Brainstorm and implement new and creative growth strategies through digital marketing.
- Collaborate with Digital and Segment teams and vendors to create landing pages that optimize our site for “best in class” user experience.
- Advanced knowledge of content management systems (CMS) and website analytics.
- Data-driven and insights: leverage data, analytics, and segmentation to identify opportunities and insights and translate needs into executable integrated marketing plans that improve performance and deliver on objectives and growth.
- Above average knowledge of digital marketing best practices, optimizing our current/future capabilities to grow sales. This includes, but not limited to: SEO/SEM, email marketing, social media, and blog content development.
- Experience and working knowledge of Product Information Management (PIM) systems.
- Must see the value in collaboration and alignment with DSG’s Digital and IT departments.
- Events, Travel and Customer Incentives
- Manage corporate travel and industry events including trade shows, customer engagement events, budgeting, development, planning and return on investment.
- Provide support to all departments at DSG on corporate events, regional events, or branch events.
- Oversee development, design, and production of all marketing collateral.
- Oversee and organize photo and video shoots for DSG.
- Collaborate with vendors and sales to ensure the design and implementation of events meet customer needs and align with DSG’s marketing strategy, vision and brand.
- Marketing Analytics / Data Management / Marketing Research
- Master and be responsible for the analytical understanding of customer behavior, customer demand and business performance.
- Perform ongoing ad hoc analysis in assessing the efficiency of our marketing spend, building reporting infrastructure, and assisting in marketing budgeting recommendations to optimize growth.
- Hire and/or develop resources to design and deploy predictive analytics solutions.
- Play a foundational role in deciding how we can best engage and grow e-commerce users by determining and helping to execute opportunities for growth through analysis of behavioral and transactional data.
- Transform raw data into meaningful and impactful analysis characterized by strong data governance, technique, clarity, and clear documentation.
- Identify key metrics that drive the performance of marketing channels and marketing products, make these accessible to partners through dashboards and reports, and drive these metrics through statistical analysis of experiments.
- Ensure the application of research, data, and customer insights into decision-making systems and processes.
- Independently research and analyze the relationships between key business metrics and present the findings and recommendations to business leaders.
- Oversee market, customer, competitor, and industry trends.
- External Planning
- Provide a single point of integration for DSG’s marketing priorities (short and long-term), creating consistency with brand profiles across all marketing, media relations, visitor engagement, and platforms.
- Manage DSG’s corporate brand throughout its entire footprint, both inside and outside branch and office locations, internally and externally
- Work closely with DSG’s Communications Manager on internal and external communications, including developing key messages and media relations, at the direction of the Executive Leadership Team.
- Travel to DSG branches throughout each region, meeting with key stakeholders to develop and implement marketing plans, promotions, and campaigns that maximize growth and revenue.
- Oversee master branding process during mergers and acquisitions.
- Leadership & Supervisory
- Must possess strong leadership skills and the ability to build complex marketing strategies to ensure both short and long-term goals are met and/or exceeded.
- Ability to influence others in a desired direction using a servant leadership approach by establishing goals, conducting training, enforcing standards/rules, recognition, coaching, initiative, self-control, honesty, and priority setting to achieve business results.
- Ability to delegate and optimize the efficiency of an individual or group while maintaining personal control and a balanced approach.
- Ability to communicate effectively and listen attentively; clarifies and restates; uses good grammar; persuades effectively, asks for feedback; invites participation and collaboration; is enthusiastic; and continually checks for understanding.
- Ability to recognize performance strengths and limitations of subordinates and can effectively coach them to achieve their maximum potential.
- Ability to handle personnel issues decisively and fairly.
- Exhibit high ethical standards when handling confidential company matters.
- Appropriate collaboration and communication with HR.
Core Values & Competencies
- Integrity – Must always do the right thing – Be ethical honest and fair.
- Commitment – Dedicated to the success of our employee owners, customers and partners.
- Teamwork – Working together to unite goals
- Respect – Carry yourself with empathy, consideration and willingness to help others.
- Excellence – Elevating performance beyond expectations.
- Analytical – synthesizes complex, diverse, and technical information, track return on investment.
- Data-driven thinking – must believe in the power of data to build customer engagement and drive behavior.
- Problem solving – the individual identifies and resolves problems in a timely manner and gathers and analyzes information skillfully.
- Management – participates in planning, decision-making, and facilitating process improvements that benefit the organization.
- Leadership – the individual inspires and motivates others to perform well, accepts feedback from others.
- Judgement – individual displays willingness to make decisions, exhibits sound and accurate judgement, and makes timely decisions.
- Planning / Organizing – prioritizes and plans work activities; uses time and resources efficiently; develops realistic plans.
- Project Management – able to employ recognized project management skills whereby scope, schedule and budget are developed and adhered to.
- Computer skills – proficient in Microsoft Office Suite / 365; expert knowledge of design software including Adobe CS4 or higher; experience in CRM (Customer Relationship Management).
- Financial – experience managing a P&L.
A Successful Director of Marketing Typically Has:
- Bachelor's degree (B.S./B.A.) or equivalent from related experience in Business and/or Marketing, or related field.
- Minimum of 5 years of professional, relevant work experience in a marketing environment, focused on customer-first experience, managing teams, strategy, analytics, and leadership, showing progressively increasing levels of responsibility..
- Minimum of 2 years’ experience with Digital and E-commerce platforms, including understanding Content Management System (CMS), Product Information Management (PIM) and Data Management Platforms (DMP).
- Exceptional, compelling writing and verbal communication skills.
- Expertise in marketing analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics, Webtrends, etc.)
- Experience in setting up optimizing campaigns in platforms such as Google Ad words, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Facebook Ad Manager, etc.
- Strong, independent, analytical problem solver who enjoys thinking about and solving complex and nuanced problems.
- Growth mindset, with demonstrated adaptability and resilience through past experiences.
- Must be proficient with Microsoft Office programs
- Attention to detail, can-do attitude, and strong analytic and communication skills.
- Displays professionalism, strong work ethic, and ability to work in a fast-paced environment.
At DSG, We Offer Benefits Built for You:
- We are proudly 100% employee owned, which means your hard work and decisions directly benefit not only the success of the organization, but also your individual Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).
- We are highly committed to your training and development, offering personal and professional development opportunities and unlimited growth potential.
- We offer competitive compensation packages based on your experience and potential.
- You will receive generous Paid Time Off (PTO) and Extended Medical Leave (EML) allowances.
- Our comprehensive benefits package, including medical, dental, and vision, also offers a multitude of other perks such as life insurance, short- and long-term disability, paid parental leave, Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account (FSA), and Health Savings Account (HSA) with employer contribution, among many others.
- You will have the opportunity to prepare for your future through multiple retirement savings opportunities, including a 401(k) with employer match and ESOP.
- You will receive a discount on all DSG-supplied products.
- We believe in giving back to our communities and hope that you will too, which is why we offer paid volunteer hours in addition to PTO.
