Senior Marketing Specialist

A Day in the Life

No two days are ever the same in the life of a Senior Marketing Specialist. One day you could be focusing on organizing industry events or trade shows and all the vital logistics, and the next you are looking to optimize digital ABM campaigns for specific segments or leading the communication of key announcements. In the morning, you spend the first hour or so checking emails and actioning anything that's necessary for the day and week. Working with different internal and external partners your day will include various meetings to get updates about the various projects and make sure everyone is running to schedule. Usually, one or two of those meetings are with your key partners and distributors to brainstorm on co-marketing initiatives, discuss their ongoing activities or review joint initiative performance. You spend time in the day to supervise and report on the success of the campaigns you are working on.

About the position

The Senior Marketing Specialist is responsible for developing and executing local and sector-focused marketing programs that drive business results in the Benelux region. 

The marketing plan you will own needs to start with a clear view of country segmentation, an alignment with sales strategy and to demonstrate a solid understanding of local market trends within specific product lines and customer market segments. You will be responsible for rolling out processes to ensure the development, delivery, implementation, and successful results of marketing programs, maintain quarterly and annual activity management and reporting, and act as a proactive member of the WatchGuard sales and marketing team.

You will regularly meet with partners and distributors to agree on effective regional co-marketing programs to ensure organic growth and profitability, and increase partner recruitment, cross sell opportunities and channel retention based on regional needs and financial goals. 

Key responsibilities

• Lead all elements for execution of the marketing plan including events, webcasts, local communications, partner recruitment, cross sell initiatives and end user lead generation on top of brand awareness/thought leadership.
• Align closely with Field Marketing Management and Sales organizations and provide regular updates on regional plans, weekly activity calendar, marketing initiative results and return on investment.
• You will also be responsible for executing marketing campaigns to improve field engagement through our ABX toolset to drive targeted channel recruitment, increase cross-sell and channel retention as well as individual partner growth.
• Support wider PAN, Northern European marketing programs and initiatives across the North region (UKI, Benelux & Nordics) including communications, webinars, ABM campaigns, reporting, events and growth programs.

Budget Management

• Accurate budget management.
• Ownership, management, and reporting of MDF/COOP spend based on local channel business scheme.
• Review and gain approval for all expenditure plans on a quarterly basis from management.
• Responsible for planning and reporting of marketing budget, accrual, and expenditure.

Communication

• The Senior Marketing Specialist will work together with HQ corporate marketing teams to support roll-out of corporate campaigns across the regions and is responsible for ensuring consistency in the corporate brand, messaging, and identity at a local level. 
• You will be responsible for downstream communication to the WatchGuard sales force and reseller community on channel strategy, product, and campaigns.
• Partner with the Corporate PR team and PR agency to align, influence and execute PR and social media activities – both organic and paid
• Develop local success stories and case studies whilst following appropriate process management.
• Proficiency in social media tools including ability to convert corporate messaging to social messages 
• Translation review and localization of corporate assets
• Events
• Research key virtual and face-to-face events appropriate for end user lead generation, partner recruitment and/or brand awareness/thought leadership.
• Execute local trade shows, industry events, roadshows, and any sponsored events whilst working closely with sales managers – and local partners if appropriate, to provide them with all appropriate materials, presentations, and content they need. This also includes appropriate event vendor management & coordination.
• Maintain event calendar 

Channel Management

• Promote the effective use of turnkey marketing campaigns and develop meaningful, measurable programs for the recruitment of new resellers. Also assist sales team in the development of cross-sell initiatives to help develop existing WatchGuardONE partners. 
• Quarterly management of all channel programs and budgets in agreement with country manager and appropriate local channel account manager
• Track lead flow to ensure the appropriate sales reps are following up on marketing activities on a timely manner
• Maintain reports on partner and distributor activity by partner/type
• Requirements
• Experience developing and implementing field marketing plans that include measurements of success combined with some strong Channel Marketing expertise.
• Self-motivated, highly organized, detail oriented and a strong sense of accountability, teamwork and passion
• Validated ability to meet deadlines and ability to work in a fast-paced work environment.
• Strong project management skills
• Fluent Proficient in English & Dutch. French is a plus
• Experience with ABX tools and other digital tools driving digital transformation., database management, marketing automation tools and CRM tools

Skills and Qualifications

• Prior experience with technology, cyber security solutions is a plus
• Ability to build relationships with peers, resellers and end customers.
• Able to travel up to 50% (mostly within the country) when required
• Minimum of 5 years prior experience in marketing or channel marketing