Associate Director of Media Planning - Hillsdale College : Job Details

Position Title: Associate Director of Media Planning Posting Number: S193P Department: Marketing Position Type: Staff Job Description: Job SummaryThe Associate Director of Media Planning is a strategic and analytical position to drive the planning, execution, and optimization of omnichannel, full-funnel media strategies that advance Hillsdales mission to teach 50 million Americans by 2030, becoming the #1 most trusted teaching brand, shaping culture. Reporting to the Executive Director of Brand Management, this associate-level role collaborates with the marketing departments functionsMarket Research, Product Marketing, Digital Product, Social Media, and Creative Studiosand manages the external media buying agency partner to consolidate fragmented efforts into a unified, audience-first approach. The Associate Director will focus on the Audience Decision Journey, targeting Truth-Seeking Americans and Legacy Keepers to boost brand awareness, engagement, and fundraising, while ensuring cost-efficient donor acquisition and educational outreach.Essential Job FunctionsMedia Strategy and Planning

• Develop and execute omnichannel media plans (e.g., DRTV, CTV, Linear TV, Radio, Podcasts, Influencers, Google Display, SEM, Meta, X, email/MMS prospecting, print) aligned with Hillsdales brand strategy and annual plan, as directed by the Executive Director of Brand Management.
• Map media efforts to the Audience Decision Journey, addressing trigger points, awareness, exploration, consideration, decision, onboarding, success, and advocacy stages for key offerings like online courses, undergraduate programs, and donor engagement.
• Prioritize channels for Truth-Seeking Americans (e.g., broadcast TV, Facebook, email newsletters, YouTube) and Legacy Keepers, recommending innovative mixes to drive growth in brand equity and audience reach.

Agency Partnership Management

• Oversee the selected media buying agency partner, providing briefs, brand guidelines, and strategic input to ensure alignment with Hillsdales mission and goals, such as teaching 50 million Americans.
• Monitor agency performance on deliverables like budget allocation, campaign scheduling, and optimizations, ensuring no bidding conflicts or inefficiencies from fragmented buying.
• Collaborate with the agency to test full-funnel Audience Decision Journey models for fundraising (e.g., $1M pilot), comparing against current performance tactics and scaling successful approaches.

Omnichannel Campaign Execution

• Manage full-funnel media buying to balance awareness (e.g., brand equity building), consideration (e.g., course exploration), and conversion (e.g., donor acquisition at scale, cost per donor), optimizing for ROI and surplus in NDOs target model.
• Partner with Product Marketing to promote offerings like online courses and K-12 programs, Digital Product for seamless user journeys, and Social Media for integrated paid-organic campaigns on Meta, X, and TikTok.
• Work with Creative Studios to align ad creatives with mission-aligned influencers and content, ensuring cultural relevance for Truth-Seeking Americans.

Performance Monitoring and Optimization

• Track and analyze media KPIs (e.g., aided/unaided awareness, sentiment, registrations, donor acquisitions, retention, cost per donor, impressions, engagement rates) using tools like Google Analytics, CRM, and agency dashboards.
• Deliver monthly consolidated reports with optimization recommendations, supporting the Executive Director in evaluating campaign impact and reallocating budgets (e.g., shifting $15M based on pilot results).
• Leverage Market Research insights to refine targeting and media mix, ensuring strategies drive yearly teaching audience growth from 10M to 50M.

Cross-Functional and NDO Collaboration

• Coordinate with National Donor Outreach (NDO) to optimize donor-centric media at deeper funnel stages, supporting $50MM fundraising with $10M surplus while nurturing progression from small (