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Opportunity Snapshot

It is well known in our area that if you want effective advertising, you advertise with the Victoria Advocate. This position is your opportunity to join the go-to media source in an important, high-profile role that has plenty of impact.

The Victoria Advocate is, relatively speaking, a smaller paper, meaning that your ideas will be welcome and won't get bogged down in layers and layers of bureaucracy. And, while it's no secret that the newspaper industry as a whole is facing challenges, the "sweet spot" in that landscape is mid-sized family-owned papers like the Advocate, and we're one of the few.

As our Marketing Director, you will be responsible for the planning and successful execution of all our marketing efforts to achieve business growth and brand strength. This is a very hands-on role and your accountabilities will include an interesting mix of projects such as cranking out a one-page sales flyer, developing messaging for our latest advertising promotion, fine-tuning the perfect Powerpoint for the sales team, and special event planning and coordination. Quick question for you - click here

Our Requirements

• Bachelor's degree
• At least five years of marketing experience at a 30,000+ circulation newspaper, including:
  • Experience managing direct reports
  • Experience with social media products and digital marketing.
  • Experience developing an annual marketing plan and budget.
  • Experience coordinating TV and radio advertising.
  • Copywriting experience strongly preferred.
• A demonstrated ability to produce results within tight deadlines.
• Proficiency in MS Word, Excel and Outlook.

What's in It for You

• Market leadership -- the Advocate dominates this market for a couple of key reasons. First, Victoria is just a little to far from either Austin or San Antonio for us to have any competition from media in those markets. Second, television and cable are both weak in this market. As a result, our sales team earns some of the best compensation in the area.
• Career growth -- your success in this role could set you up to pursue a number of paths within our organization. We hire with an eye on the future and bring in new talent whenever we spot it.
• A Sense of Pride -- you will be representing one of the best newspapers in the state and possibly in the country: we have won 57 awards since January of this year, of which two are national awards and 25 are for our creative work.
• Stability -- our current owners are strongly opposed to selling the company, and they get expert strategic advice from a board of directors made up of individuals with deep business experience.
• A great place to live and work -- Victoria is one of Texas' oldest cities, with a population of about 62,000. It is the cultural, historic and economic hub for the area, with many major retailers plus the University of Houston (UH) at Victoria and The Victoria College. We're within a two-hour to drive of Austin, Houston, San Antonio and Corpus Christi, and just 30 miles from the Gulf of Mexico. The area's economic outlook is upbeat: UH is getting ready to transition from a two-year program to a four-year program, and plans are underway to build a new power plant nearby. Victoria recently ranked #5 on a list of the top 10 markets in which real estate values are increasing.

More About Your Role

As a hands-on "working manager" you will lead a team that includes a Marketing Manager, an offsite copywriter (who is also a very seasoned marketing professional) and a Corporate Sponsorships Manager. Quick question for you - click here With your experience, you won't find too many things surprising about this role: as you know, marketing in the newspaper industry works under tight deadlines, and you'll find the pace swift and the projects dynamic.

Because we are a smaller paper, your role will include tactical and strategic elements; at a high level, you will be challenged with two primary initiatives:

• Integrating our project process/workflow system -- we recently implemented a marketing project tracking system, and you will ensure its full adoption so that all marketing requests are routed through the system. At the same time, you will educate the department leaders on which marketing programs are working and which ones aren't, educating them and thereby improving their ability to submit impactful marketing ideas and requests.
• Developing an annual marketing plan -- you will take our current planning process and formalize it, developing a clear roadmap for the upcoming year.

Your specific activities will include:

• Creating and implementing results-focused strategic marketing plans and campaigns with an emphasis on Advertising, Circulation and News Departments projects
• Overseeing community relations, including special events, that enhance the VAPCO brand and/or generate revenue
• Managing the department budget.
• Meeting and exceeding objectives driven by company goals.
• Assigning, supervising and managing all internal and external marketing projects.
• Tracking workflow on all marketing initiatives, measuring and reporting results of marketing efforts to the leadership team.
• Analyzing, interpreting and finding marketing applications for research data.
• Preparing custom sales presentations.
• Writing collateral materials.
• Placing media.
• Monitoring marketing efforts of competitors and creating messaging to counter those efforts.
• Interfacing with Advocate leadership daily.
• Consistently sharing innovative marketing ideas to grow revenue or enhance brand.

Keys to Success

Managing projects and expectations with equal skill is the key to your success in this role. You'll build a reputation for being someone who sets reasonable expectations and then delivers on those expectations.

If this sounds like the right mix of challenge and opportunity for you, and you meet the minimum qualifications, we want to hear from you!

Who We Are

The Victoria Advocate is 163 years old, Texas' second oldest newspaper. We're an independent regional media company and the area's premier information and advertising source. We value honesty, fairness, respectfulness, and service to our community.

According to a Belden and Associates 2008 Strategic Study, Victoria Advocate/VictoriaAdvocate.com is this market's leading information- and audience-delivery company. No other local media outlet reaches as many adults in the market as Advocate media.

Our circulation: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, 31,927; Wednesday, 32,155; and Sunday, 33,3681. We average 3 readers per copy daily and 3.1 on Sundays.

We are an equal opportunity employer. EOE M/F/D/V

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