Director of Online Marketing

Lindblad Expeditions is the country’s leading expedition travel company, pioneering expedition travel to the remote and pristine places around the globe such as Antarctica, the Arctic, Galapagos, Baja California and beyond.

 

Celebrating nearly 50 years of expedition excellence, we have recently partnered with the National Geographic Society to expand our offerings to our 15,000+ guests that join Lindblad Expeditions each year, inspiring our guests and the wider population to explore and care about the planet. Lindblad Expeditions and Sven-Olof Lindblad, our founder and president, have been the recipient of numerous travel and environmental awards.

 

Based in New York with an office in Seattle, LEX has more than 150 full-time employees as well as a long roster of acclaimed naturalists and expedition leaders based around the world from which we staff our expeditions.

 

In the past five years, LEX has experienced strong, solid growth as well as secured a deep partnership with the National Geographic Society (NGS) which draws from the Society’s exploration and photographic expertise, provides a platform (LEX’s fleet of ships) for joint media projects, and offers multiple collaboration opportunities in the areas of exploration innovation, geographic education and conservation stewardship projects. Joint marketing in the areas of direct mail, web, advertising, events and strategic communications initiatives are all in progress with NGS.

 

JOB SUMMARY

 

The Director of Online Marketing will be responsible for online marketing and web execution. Using the web to engage visitors in our expeditions and in important issues is a key part of LEX’s overall marketing strategy.

 

ESSENTIAL DUTIES

·         Develop annual web and online marketing plan and budget allocation across multiple channels including website development, paid search, email marketing, lead generation. Manage online media plans, negotiations and marketing agreements.

·         Schedule email and website messaging to tie in with the overall marketing department calendar; optimize messages for different audiences across all vehicles (home page, landing pages, promotional space, video, user content areas, news). Set up email program reporting and identify areas for improvement.

·         Design and distribute web reports. Analyze web traffic; plan and conduct usability testing & surveys; develop customer segmentation and keyword bidding strategies for all paid search programs; oversee search vendor.

·         Evaluate and interpret key metrics; map out the purchase decision process/timeline and how LEX web should serve the customer at each stage

·         Drive promotional web strategies consistent with the Lindblad brand, and supported with strong direct response marketing messaging

·         Leverage online best practices from a variety of industries, and respond quickly to industry and technology changes

 

Online marketing responsibilities include recommending, managing and optimizing paid search, advertising, email marketing and user-generated content. With the VP of Marketing, determine short- and long-term goals for the website as a marketing tool and community platform. For online marketing, this individual must be able to build our audience and acquire customers for all Lindblad products and services through compelling and successful campaigns tracked from start to finish. Leading a rapid increase in online marketing, acquiring new customers, and providing deeper opportunities for current customers to interact with Lindblad’s unique value proposition will be a primary focus for this individual.

 

For web execution, this individual will ensure that the LEX websites meet the needs of designated customer segments (new prospects, current customers, highly loyal repeat guests, travel agents and affinity clients) and that design is clear and easy to navigate. This includes identifying agency and outsourced tech resources to assess design effectiveness, SEO and map out further enhancements, utilizing focus groups and usability testing where needed. Will leverage Lindblad’s vast, always-growing library of video and photography assets to draw visitors and create the optimal user experience and highest conversion influence.

 

The Director will work closely with the VP of Marketing to map out the online execution of the brand experience, decision process and customer acquisition efforts so that the integrated brand presentation is seamless and powerful. This multi-faceted position requires a progressive, critical thinker who is online-savvy, creative, detail oriented, opportunistic and able to collaborate with multiple departments and vendors on detailed execution. To fully communicate the unique philosophy that separates Lindblad from its competitors, an interest in values-led marketing or corporate social responsibility is preferred.

 

 

QUALIFICATIONS

·         Bachelor’s degree (MBA a plus)

·         5+ years of online marketing experience at the senior manager or director level

·         Demonstrated excellence in website management and online marketing. A passion for values-led marketing or corporate social responsibility is preferred

·         Extensive experience in web usability and site design, and experience with A/B testing methodology for optimizing results. Expertise in SEO, best practices for merchandising and display advertising

·         Strong understanding of running and managing online marketing campaigns, plus proficiency in buying and measuring online media

·         Excellent written and verbal communication skills

·         Demonstrated commitment to teamwork along with creativity, flexibility, tenacity, good humor and a high level of energy

·         Strong quantitative skills and full understanding of web analytics and reporting

·         Proficient with WebTrends, MS Excel and PowerPoint



Interested?  Please visit our website at www.expeditions.com.  No Phone Calls Please.