Social Media and Digital Marketing Specialist

Ascent is a leading provider of innovative financial products and student support services that enable more students to access education and achieve academic and economic success. Everything Ascent offers is designed with the best-in-class teams and technology to increase every student's ability to plan, pay, and succeed in their education and career. Ascent's planning tools and financing resources are co-created by students for those in college, graduate school, and career training programs. Ascent offers financial wellness education, student success services, and one-on-one and digital career coaching that put students' academic and professional goals within reach. Ascent has been widely recognized for its strong culture – named “Best Places to Work” by the San Diego Business Journal for the past 5 years – and as an industry leader – named “Best Student Loan” by NerdWallet for the past 3 years.
The Social Media and Digital Marketing Specialist will maintain positive, engaging relationships with our audiences online by sharing Ascent’s exciting story with the world.
Qualities we’re looking for:
Be excited about sharing Ascent’s story on social media and beyond.

• Understand the importance of brand consistency across all digital channels.
• Be diligent about managing social media content daily and partnering with our marketing intern to find new opportunities to expand each channel.
• Get excited about following trends and best practices in social media and digital marketing.
• Be a creative problem solver. We work in a highly regulated industry.
• Be willing to challenge the status quo. We are revolutionizing the way people pay for higher education, so we must be disruptive. 
• Be able to think outside of the box, enjoy being challenged to grow your skills, and not be afraid to step outside of your comfort zone.
• Passion for building and maintaining relationships through excellent communication.
• Strong desire to learn and grow, not afraid to ask questions!

 
In this role you will:

• Build monthly social media calendars with the social media and content teams.
• Develop organic and paid social media and digital marketing campaigns to increase brand awareness, promote products and services, and drive conversions.
• Identify new social media and digital marketing trends for Ascent, such as a brand ambassador program and new social media platforms.
• Track social media KPIs monthly and analyze performance against top marketing goals to improve the content strategy.
• Conduct monthly social media research and provide the team with competitive insights.
• Optimize key features of our social media and digital marketing channels such as Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Email, SoTellUs, etc.
• Build relationships with other brands and influencers to further promote our brand.
• Partner with our SEO agency to follow SEO best practices including keyword research and use SEO guidelines to optimize content.
• Grow our audiences with engaging using Ascent’s brand voice, as well as find new ways to gather user-generated content.
• Monitor our social media marketing best practices, trends, platform updates, and advertising offerings to make expert recommendations to the team.
• Improve our existing social media and digital marketing strategies and translate metrics into actionable next steps.
• Support the Content Marketing Manager to manage content on the Ascent Funding website.
• Partner with the content and student engagement teams to develop creative email campaigns for Ascent’s customer databases.
• Provide monthly reports to the team with clear takeaways and a plan of action on how to further optimize our social media and digital channels. 

 
You could be a fit if you have:

• Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing, Integrated Marketing Communications, or relevant field.
• Minimum of 2+ years of experience in social media and/or digital marketing campaigns (internships count).
• Experience generating content and creating compelling copy for various social media channels such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
• Understanding of digital marketing concepts and best practices.
• Strong time management, organizational skills, and the ability to coordinate multiple projects in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience in researching and optimizing digital and industry trends.
• Experience using scheduling tools like Hootsuite and Hubspot (or similar) is a plus!
• Experience with SEO, Wordpress, Google Analytics, Google AdWords, SEMRush, and Canva (or similar) is another plus!

Competitive pay with bonus, and comprehensive benefits package that includes, but not limited to:

• Compensation is $25-$30 per hour commensurate with experience, plus bonus and options.
• Company Stock Options
• 401(k) + Company Match
• Medical, dental, and vision coverage
• Annual HSA contribution of $1,600
• Life insurance, disability, and critical illness
• 14 Paid Holidays! Eleven (11) + Two (2) Community Days + Your Birthday!
• Snacks and drinks in the office
• Tuition reimbursement program
• Generous paid leave policies
• $2,000 Vacation Incentive Plan after 3 years + $1,000 Sabbatical Day
• Wellness, Work from Home funds, and more!
   

The Job Description is intended to be a general representation of the responsibilities and requirements of the job. However, the description may not be all-inclusive, and responsibilities and requirements are subject to change.
 
Equal Employment Opportunity
 
It is the policy of the Company to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants without regard to unlawful considerations of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, sensory, physical, or mental disability, marital status, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, discipline, and termination. Reasonable accommodation is available for qualified individuals with disabilities, upon request.