Category Specialist – Tech/Telco

The Category Strategist for BuzzFeed’s Ad Product Solutions team is a strategic and enthusiastic solution-driver who puts category clients at the core of everything we do. This is an opportunity to be a platform and product expert, and become an expert in strategy within the category. With proven understanding of both digital and social content, this role is responsible for partnering with the sales organization to develop category specific ad product solutions, drive revenue, and use data and analytics to build a consultative solution for our clients. The Ad Product Solutions Manager will establish and strengthen key client relationships with a focus on driving revenue, advertiser education & advertiser satisfaction.

The successful candidate is both data-driven and has the ability to tune into market trends to inform marketing strategies and execution; they must work effectively with colleagues across the company to drive results.

General Responsibilities:

• Proactively create compelling ad product solutions and packages that will appeal to the specific needs of this category with a view to growing category revenue
• Fully vet and explore any new product / packaging ideas, as well as partnership opportunities, that pertain to this category regardless of where in the organization the idea may have originated from, with a view to growing both topline and category-specific revenue
• Own, develop, and maintain all materials, job aids, case studies, and messaging for category-focused solutions; working closely with Marketing to ensure the materials fit within BuzzFeed Style guidelines
• Drives product innovation based upon needs of clients in this advertiser category
• Work closely with the Ad Solutions team to develop category specific solutions

Relationship & Management:

• Define the marketing vision and advertising strategy for the category
• Develop and manage category marketing plan
• Work closely with the relevant Ad Solutions and Product Management leads and other relevant stakeholders (Sales & Sales Planning, Branded Creative, Events, Product etc.) to concept category-focused ideas, both small and large scale, and translate them into cohesive and sellable marketing solutions
• Partner with Research, Data Science, and Branded Distribution to source relevant data and insights to help position and sell in advertising solutions that will appeal to this advertiser category
• Regularly host focus groups and feedback sessions with Sales, Sales Planning, and other relevant stakeholders with a view to growing category-specific revenue and developing desirable yet scalable ad product solutions
• Be a key partner for the sales organization; educating relevant sellers on products and packages that appeal directly to this group of clients, and arming them with the tools, materials, and knowledge they need to be successful and significantly grow revenue

Strategy & Measurement:

• Create go-to-market sales collateral and media plan for BuzzFeed vertical focused ad product packages/solutions and articulate the goals, ideas and deliverables
• Outlines measurement solution based upon key KPI’s
• Track performance and benchmarks of category-specific solutions/creative formats, sharing relevant information with Ad Product Solutions Team and Sales / Sales Planning
• Work with Sales and Sales Planning to find suitable advertisers to test new packages
• Develop and maintain list of top advertiser goals and objectives by Advertiser Category, mapping our ad products and solutions against these objectives for use by Sales and Sales Planning
• Evaluate and explore new product ideas, including those that involve partnering with outside organizations
• Work with Ad Product Solutions team to determine the pricing and packaging for category-focused solutions
• Strategically assess the competitive landscape and prioritize revenue opportunities
• Constantly monitor the market, sharing relevant competitive intelligence with key stakeholders

Experience/Skills:

• 5+ years experience working with agencies and large brands on managing their online advertising strategy and buying activities
• Client-facing, vertical expertise
• Demonstrated ability to develop best-in-class marketing solutions, products and go-to-market strategies
• Fluency across the social web and key brand platforms inclusive of video, digital, experiential, and social
• Expertise in media strategy and creating media plans
• Strong presentation skills, Keynote expertise preferred
• Proven success collaborating with a team
• Familiarity with research tools such as Comscore, Moat ,Moat Pro, eMarketer, Kantar, or The List
• Expertise in multiple categories desirable but not required

About BuzzFeed

BuzzFeed is a global media company that produces and distributes original news, entertainment and video. BuzzFeed is redefining online advertising with its social, content-driven publishing technology and reaches a global audience of over 200M monthly uniques and 6B monthly video views.