Marketing Manager

THE DETAILS

Job Title: Marketing Manager

Department: Operations

Reports to: Managing Partner - Finance and New Business

Responsible for: No direct reports

Hours: Full time, permanent 

Location: Manchester, Northern Quarter. We operate a Hybrid working policy of ideally minimum 3 days in Manchester HQ per week.

THE ROLE

We're looking for an experienced Marketing Manager to lead our marketing efforts at Ear to the Ground. In this role, you'll be responsible for planning, executing, and optimising marketing initiatives to elevate our agency brand to both existing and potential new clients to drive growth and new business wins. We are a high-growth agency that is looking for an experienced executor who understands how to capture client interest and drive client engagement, leveraging the exceptional creative work we produce and showcasing client results.

This is a hands-on role where you will own the delivery of our always on marketing strategy with energy and efficiency, leveraging AI tools to be hyper-effective as we continue to grow and scale. The role holder will be responsible for the tracking, analysis and reporting of results back to the business and the board to support recommendations for future marketing spend on a monthly basis.

We're looking for a highly energised creative innovator with a hands-on delivery approach that knows what great content looks like, understands the football, gaming and entertainment culture and approaches marketing with a commercial mindset that is driven by results.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Marketing Campaign Delivery:

• Lead and optimise marketing campaigns and campaign delivery processes using our CRM (Monday.com & Hubspot) and LinkedIn, with an expertise in LinkedIn marketing campaign delivery.
• Develop and implement nurture and outbound strategies to drive lead generation and conversion based around calendarised events within the industry and the industries in which our clients operate.
• Lead the annual Fan Intelligence report, managing timelines, stakeholders, and content to ensure the successful delivery of this key thought leadership asset.

Content & Channel Management:

• Own the production and maintenance of content across all agency channels, including our website and social media (LinkedIn, X, Instagram) to drive engagement within our existing and targeted client base.
• Collaborate with internal teams and creatives to develop standout content that reflects our brand voice and values.
• Delivery of webinar content around specific campaigns working across leaders within the business to co-ordinate delivery to timescales. This will include management of external third parties.
• Coordination of Ear to the Ground Podcast series, leveraging the content for short form video content for use on social media platforms.

Media & Events:

• Plan, organise, and coordinate paid media campaigns and agency participation in industry events, exhibitions, and speaking opportunities.
• Ensure all event presence aligns with brand and marketing objectives.
• This role will hold accountability for the agency marketing budget.

Awards Submissions:

• Identify and recommend relevant industry awards and categories including costing and business rationale for investment.
• Coordinate and manage the end-to-end awards submission process, working closely with the Managing Partners to ensure high-quality entries.

Reporting & Analytics:

• Track and report on KPIs related to campaign effectiveness across all media streams for live campaign analysis, business insights, monthly reporting and Board Reporting.
• Tracking of marketing spend on a minimum 5:1 ROI ratio.
• Provide regular analytics and actionable insights to inform marketing strategy and performance improvements.

Supplier & Partner Management:

• Manage relationships with external partners, including PR agencies, webinar providers, and website developers.
• Work closely with Client Services, Strategy and Creative teams to ensure marketing outputs reflect live client work and agency priorities
• Ensure supplier deliverables are aligned with agency goals, timelines, and budgets.

KEY REQUIREMENTS

Our ideal successful candidate will have: 

• Experience in marketing, ideally in a creative, media, or B2B agency environment.
• Proven ability to plan, execute, and optimise multi-channel marketing campaigns.
• Strong content skills and a good eye for design and brand consistency.
• Proven track record of hands-on campaign execution, not just team management.
• Comfortable with marketing tools such as Monday.com, LinkedIn Campaign Manager, Google Analytics, HubSpot etc.
• Highly organised, self-motivated, and able to manage multiple projects and deadlines.
• Confident working with senior stakeholders and external partners.
• An analytical mindset with the ability to turn data into insight (reports) and action.
• A passion for music, sports, gaming, and entertainment.
• Thrives in high-growth environments where pace, adaptability, and attention to detail are critical.

THE AGENCY

Ear to the Ground is the global sports, gaming, and entertainment agency driven by Fan Intelligence®. Our proprietary Fan Intelligence® model, built on a network of over 11,500 culturally connected fans, ensures we stay ahead of fast-changing fan behaviours and cultural trends.

We work with the world’s most ambitious brands and rights holders to harness the commercial power of fan culture, delivering campaigns and insights that make a real impact. Whether defining brand propositions, refining asset portfolios, or co-creating standout activations, we help our clients build deeper, more meaningful relationships with fans.

OUR CULTURE

We are dedicated to making Ear to the Ground an amazing place to work where people grow, develop and thrive. We pride ourselves on our dynamic and exciting culture, excellent support of staff and fantastic benefits package. We have made it our mission to lead the way in being an inspiring, future-thinking, creative agency and are invested in our people because they are the ones that will make that happen.

Some of our benefits include:

• 🕒 Flexible & hybrid working
• 🎉 Birthday off
• 👶 Workplace nursery benefit
• 👩‍👧‍👦 Enhanced maternity & paternity
• 🏥 Private health insurance
• 🤒 Enhanced sick leave
• 🚴‍♂️ Cycle to Work scheme
• 📈 Personal development coaching
• + more!