Download Taking a Page from AbeBooks: The Evolution of a Team

August 2009
Taking a Page from AbeBooks: The Evolution of a Team
On July 2, 2009, Antonio Frias, Manager of Email and Online Marketing at
AbeBooks.com, an online marketplace for books, sat down at his desk. He had just met with
Christine, the Affiliates Manager in his Online Marketing team, and she had let him know
she was thinking about leaving the company. If Christine resigned, then all three positions
in his department would have turned over since the beginning of June. Antonio considered
the situation and looked out the window across the Upper Harbour in Victoria, BC.
The recent economic downturn had not slowed the IT job market as it had in other
industries, and competition for fresh talent remained fierce among the major ecommerce
players. Even when skilled young professionals were recruited to a technology company
like AbeBooks, they would often leave after only a few years in favour of building their
resume. The two Online Marketing employees who had recently resigned were prime
examples of this career restlessness within the X and Y generations. Antonio wondered how
he could best fill his team’s vacant positions and what could be done to encourage new
employees to stay longer.
Antonio was also thinking about what the recent acquisition of AbeBooks by the
ecommerce giant Amazon would mean for his department. Since the acquisition had been
announced in December of 2008, the parent company and its new subsidiary had been busy
putting together a three-year integration plan. A major focus of this plan was AbeBooks’
adoption of the technology and systems currently used by Amazon, which would mean
changes to the roles within the Online Marketing team.
Antonio wondered if there was an unseen opportunity amidst all this change and
reached for his keyboard with this thought in mind. He would have to determine the best
course of action before his meeting with the Marketing Director and the Human Resources
Director this afternoon.
Elena Prill prepared this case under the supervision of Angela Kelleher, BCIT Instructor in Business
Administration, with the close cooperation of AbeBooks and a generous grant from the British Columbia
Innovation Council (BCIC). This case is intended as a basis for class discussion rather than to illustrate effective
or ineffective handling of a managerial situation.
Copyright © 2009 by Angela Kelleher and BC Institute of Technology. All rights reserved.
1
Company History
The first chapter in the history of AbeBooks was written by the two founding couples
– Rick and Vivian Pura and Keith and Cathy Waters.
In 1994, the self-professed booklover Cathy opened Timeless Books after a career as a
computer consultant. "It was a typical used bookstore," said Cathy. "I stocked general
second-hand books, but people often came into the store and asked for books that I didn’t
have. Eventually, I put a half-page ad in a trade magazine, listing around 100 books that I
wanted to buy from other booksellers for my customers.”1
The ad generated an overwhelming response. Cathy received hundreds of replies by
mail from across North America, with information written on scraps of paper, postcards,
and in all sorts of different formats. While she was excited to discover the selection of books
available, she found sorting through the haphazard mail to be a real challenge. Cathy shared
her frustration with her husband Keith, who was working as a database designer for British
Columbia’s provincial government. He began to consider how Internet technology could
solve the problem.
“I’d probably been working with the Web for about a year before starting on
AbeBooks.” Keith commented, “I knew the Web was going to be massive. Used books were
close to home for me because Cathy owned a bookstore, so it seemed the obvious place to
apply the technology.”2
Keith thought that an online database that listed booksellers and their books in an
easy-to-search format would create a solution to Cathy’s woes. The couple put a plan
together and discussed it with their long-time friends, Rick and Vivian Pura.
Rick was also an IT contractor and had previously worked together with Keith in the
1980’s. He thought the idea had potential, and the two friends worked on the project during
evenings and weekends from the fall of 1995 until the site eventually went live in May, 1996.
AbeBooks kept its model focused on meeting customer needs to achieve successful
growth. "Our first business plan had five bullet-points and the first one was to buy a
computer," laughed Rick. "We could see what was happening elsewhere as the dot.com
boom was getting going and saw people spending lots of money but we thought they were
1
Meet the AbeBooks Founders.
http://www.abebooks.com/docs/CompanyInformation/timeline/founders.shtml. Accessed on July 14,
2009.
2
Ibid.
2
crazy."3 The two couples initially attracted booksellers by going to antiquarian book fairs,
and the 1-800 customer service number helped immensely with building a loyal base.
Growth of the company remained steady throughout its early stages, reaching 1,000
booksellers by August 1997. With each additional 200 booksellers to join AbeBooks, the
company would have to hire another employee.
After achieving huge growth and success, Cathy and Rick eventually decided to
leave the company in 2001. Brent James was brought in as CEO, taking over the leadership
of the growing company. Keith and Vivian, the last of AbeBooks’ founders, left in 2003.
Looking back on the story of AbeBooks, Cathy reminisced, "We’re very proud of
what AbeBooks has become. I still feel attached to the company and everything it stands for.
It was a bit like nurturing a child: you can’t look after them forever. You have to be prepared
to step away and let them get on with it."4
By the summer of 2009, the company employed 135 people, with offices in
Düsseldorf, Germany as well as Canada. More than 10 nationalities are represented in a
talented, book-loving workforce. The employees even launched an AbeBooks staff blog
called Reading Copy in 2006.
Macleans Magazine consistently named AbeBooks one of Canada’s top 100
employers from 2003 to 2008.
Company Growth
AbeBooks’ growth was fuelled by an ever-expanding virtual inventory, increasing
numbers of customers and booksellers, and through the acquisitions of other companies.
In 2001, AbeBooks acquired a leading German online marketplace for used books,
JustBooks.com, which swiftly led to the development of AbeBooks.de in Germany and
AbeBooks.fr in France. One year later, AbeBooks.co.uk launched in the UK. In October 2004,
AbeBooks acquired IberLibro.com – a Spanish online marketplace for rare and used books.
In 2003, AbeBooks’ leadership was passed from Brent James to one of the former
founders of JustBooks.com, Hannes Blum. In the 2 years prior to his succession to CEO,
Hannes worked with AbeBooks in senior management roles in both the Düsseldorf and
Victoria offices.
From 2005 to 2008, AbeBooks continued to grow, acquiring a number of related
companies, including BookFinder.com and FillZ, which were price comparison and online
order management companies respectively.
3
Ibid.
4
Ibid.
3
In February 2008, AbeBooks launched Gojaba.com - a new no-frills, low-cost online
marketplace for used, rare and out of print books in emerging markets. Sweden and Russia
were the first markets to be served. In April 2008 the launch of an Italian language website,
AbeBooks.it was celebrated along with the acquisition of Chrislands.com - a service that
builds, hosts and maintains online bookstores. In December 2008, AbeBooks was acquired
by Amazon.
Today, thousands of independent booksellers are listing millions of books on
AbeBooks' network of websites. AbeBooks has grown into the world's largest online
marketplace for new and used books, and offers the greatest selection of books found
anywhere.
AbeBooks’ success has attracted global media attention. The New York Times
described the firm as “a true Internet success story,’ and the UN even named AbeBooks one
of the top e-business sites at its World Summit Awards in 2003.
See Exhibit 1 for the AbeBooks company timeline.
The Internet Giant: Amazon
Headquartered in Seattle, Washington, Amazon was founded in 1994 by Jeff Bezos
and was one of the first American companies to sell products over the Internet and allow
electronic transactions. Like many other companies, Amazon suffered immense losses as a
result of the dot-com crash, but it was able to turn its first annual profit in 2003 and
continued its growth into the Internet giant it is today.
Amazon was also one of the first companies to establish an affiliate marketing
program, which was a main contributor to its profitability. The basic affiliate marketing
model operates as follows: A website owner registers with Amazon (or any other affiliate
program), and then puts various links, banners, and products on their web site. When
visitors click through on these links and purchase a book or other product, the web site
owner is paid a commission for generating the sale. Amazon now counts approximately
500,000 sites in its affiliate network5.
AbeBooks Online Marketing Department
AbeBooks’ business model can be classified as both business to business (B2B) and
business to consumer (B2C). On the B2B side of the business, AbeBooks generates revenue
by selling its marketing services to booksellers and by providing access to a secure platform
for transactions. The company never actually handles any inventory; all books are sent
directly from the bookseller to the buyer. On the B2C side, AbeBooks processes payments on
5
Gehman, Joel. What is Affiliate Marketing? http://www.clickz.com/827021. Accessed on August 15,
2009.
4
behalf of book buyers, manages the book buyer’s experience by providing online customer
support, and offers a full 30-day money back guarantee for purchases made through their
site.
AbeBooks’ marketing department focuses primarily on the B2C aspects of AbeBooks’
business. The department’s overarching goals are to bring as many buyers to the site as
possible and to manage the customer buying experience. Antonio’s Online Marketing team
is responsible for increasing traffic to the site, while a separate Interactive Marketing team is
mainly involved in managing the book buyers’ online experience.
Within Antonio’s Online Marketing team, the specific responsibility areas include
search engine optimization, paid search engine marketing, email marketing, and affiliate
marketing. The Online Marketer is responsible for optimizing search engine pathways to
ensure that whenever someone searches online for a book title, this potential book buyer will
find AbeBooks’ website. Meanwhile, the Email Marketing Specialist sends out emails to let
previous AbeBooks customers know about promotional events or books of interest. The
Affiliates Manager maintains AbeBooks’ relationships with its marketing affiliates.
Refer to Exhibit 2 for AbeBooks’ Victoria office organization chart and Exhibit 3 for
AbeBooks’ Online Marketing job postings.
History of the Marketing Department
Prior to Antonio’s arrival at AbeBooks, the Online Marketing employees were
overseen by the Marketing Director, Sebastian Eberley. Sebastian was a strategic thinker
with a practical approach, and he was highly in-tune with the most up-to-date trends in
effective ecommerce marketing. Originally from Germany, he joined AbeBooks’ Victoria
office in 2006 after working for various online agencies in Europe. Sebastian’s position was
originally responsible for AbeBooks’ marketing within the North American and UK regions.
When he joined AbeBooks, the company had been taking a traditional approach to
marketing by advertising offline and participating in PR events. However, Sebastian’s
tactical insight led him to realize that the results of these efforts were not measureable, and
he shifted the focus of the department. The move towards a more quantifiable marketing
model, together with AbeBooks’ ongoing success and international growth, prompted an
evolution of the roles within the Marketing department over the next few years. Sebastian’s
position grew into the oversight of all international marketing, and managerial positions
were created for sub-teams within the marketing department.
Antonio’s Arrival
Born in Argentina, Antonio studied business in Venezuela and worked for major
corporations in Latin America, such as Coca-Cola and Clorox, before relocating to Canada.
Antonio’s first Canadian role brought him to Montreal, where he worked as the Senior
5
Marketing Manager for Ice.com, one of the largest online retailers of jewels, for four years.
However, the cold winters eventually began to wear on him, and he and his wife discussed
relocating to a milder climate to start their family. Antonio initially focused his search on the
larger west coast city of Vancouver. But by chance, he stumbled across the AbeBooks
website and applied for the Online Marketing Manager position in Victoria. He began
working for AbeBooks in August of 2008.
Now in his mid-30s, Antonio has a friendly, straightforward manner, and takes a
positive approach to managing his employees. He is an enthusiastic leader who is
passionate about his team’s success.
Employee Turnover
On May 22, 2009, Tim, the Online Marketer in Antonio’s team, came to Antonio with
some news. Tim had been offered a position with a smaller local technology company,
including an almost 35% pay increase. He said he hadn’t been actively searching for another
job, but had been unexpectedly recruited. Tim asked Antonio if AbeBooks would consider
matching this competitor’s offer.
Antonio consulted with Sebastian and Judy Hamza, AbeBooks’ HR Director. The
salary offer Tim had received was well above market value for his current position with
AbeBooks. Not only was the potential salary increase not feasible from a business
perspective, but it could also create concerns regarding internal inequity within the
marketing department. In addition, Tim’s recent yearly performance review highlighted that
he displayed some ongoing performance challenges – he was not a “top” performer.
Ultimately, they decided not to make a counter-offer, and Tim decided to take the new
position.
Viewing this turnover as an opportunity to raise the bar in his marketing team,
Antonio began to consider what qualities he would ideally like to see in the new incumbent
of the Online Marketer position. As the most junior role within the Online Marketing team,
AbeBooks expected that they would need to train the person who stepped into the Online
Marketer position. However, they would need to find the right kind of individual in whom
to invest this training.
As Sebastian often said to Antonio, “AbeBooks is a technology company, not a book
company.” Employees in the marketing department were expected to not only be creative
individuals with knowledge in marketing practices, but to also be able to perform solid
numerical analyses within an IT environment. For example, in order to determine whether
their efforts were effective and efficient, the Online Marketing team calculated the Expected
Revenue Share (ERS) – the amount of revenue that was anticipated as a result of each dollar
spent. As Antonio put it, they would need to find someone with both left and right brain
skills.
6
AbeBooks launched a search to fill the vacant Online Marketer position, but it was
met with mixed results. Although they received many resumes, very few met the newlydefined criteria for the role. The position remained unfilled.
Meanwhile, a week after Tim’s last day at AbeBooks, Antonio’s Email Marketing
Specialist, Peter, approached him with a dilemma. Peter’s girlfriend was moving back to her
home country, England, and he wanted to go with her. Unlike Tim, Peter’s recent
performance review results were very strong. Antonio recognized that Peter had a lot of
potential to grow within his career at AbeBooks, particularly with the opportunities
afforded through the recent acquisition by Amazon. However, Peter was only 23 years old,
had yet to see much of the world, and was personally compelled to relocate. Although
Antonio counselled Peter on the career benefits he could be passing up, he completely
understood Peter’s individual choice to leave.
Unfortunately, Peter’s absence left Antonio with a problem: how would he fulfill his
duties as the team’s Manager, fill in for the still-vacant Online Marketer position, and take
over Peter’s former responsibility of sending hundreds of emails per day? The Email
Marketing Specialist role was a more senior position than the Online Marketer, with a
higher level of responsibility and a demanding workload. Finding a new Email Marketing
Specialist became a priority, while the search for the Online Marketer was placed on hold.
Recruitment for the Email Marketing Specialist was even more challenging than
trying to find a new Online Marketer. Not only did Antonio need someone who was well
balanced in both creative and analytical skills, but he also wanted someone with prior
experience in email marketing. The position had a steep learning curve, and Antonio’s
already short-staffed team needed someone who could step in immediately.
In response to the Email Marketing Specialist job posting, AbeBooks received dozens
of applications. Some were independent consultants who operated their own consulting
businesses, but hiring one of these enterprising individuals would have been a risky conflict
of interest in an industry that competes on innovation. Others were professionals with
traditional marketing backgrounds; they had experience in the creative realm and
production of marketing materials, but very little direct experience in email marketing and
numerical analysis.
If Antonio compromised and hired a person who was a typical marketer, they would
struggle with the analysis. But if he hired someone who was a pure analyst, they wouldn’t
have the skills to make appropriate marketing decisions and apply creativity. As luck
would have it, the right person was closer than Antonio thought.
Brandon had been with AbeBooks’ Sales and Account Management department for
over a year and expressed an interest in the Email Marketing position when he learned that
it would become vacant. Antonio agreed to interview Brandon and was impressed. Despite
7
his non-tech background, Brandon possessed a strong technical aptitude. For example, he
had taught himself to program in SQL, a computer language used to manage relational
database management systems. Brandon also demonstrated an artistic flair. Antonio recalled
coming into the office one morning to find a painting of a tiger leaned against the wall of
one of the boardrooms. It was a project that Brandon had been working on over the
weekend. Antonio was sure that Brandon would be a good fit when he expressed his
curiosity about how the position might grow in the future. To Antonio, this question
demonstrated Brandon’s enthusiasm and motivation, qualities that Antonio was looking for
in his new team.
It was the beginning of July, and things were looking up. Now all Antonio had to do
was fill the Online Marketer position.
But it was then that Christine asked to meet with Antonio. During their meeting,
Christine expressed that she was feeling dissatisfied in her role and would like to be given
more creative work. She also requested a shortened four-day work week. Christine had
graduated with a degree in Greek and Roman mythology from the University of Victoria,
and her passion for books led her to join AbeBooks in the Customer Service department in
2006. Now 28 years old, Christine felt unsure whether this was really where she wanted to
be in her career.
This was not the first time Antonio had heard Christine’s uncertainty about her
position. When Antonio first joined AbeBooks almost a year ago, Christine was already
feeling frustrated and was contemplating whether or not to resign. Antonio and the HR
department worked together with Christine to see if there were things they could add to her
role to make it more satisfying for her, such as creating content for web pages and designing
the company newsletter. For a while, Christine seemed happy and the team continued to
work well together.
But in the spring of 2009, Antonio began to notice signs that Christine was becoming
discontented again. He was not completely surprised when she asked to meet with him at
the start of July, but this time, he wondered if they were running out of options to get
Christine to stay.
The acquisition of AbeBooks by Amazon and the impact of the integration plan on
the roles within Antonio’s team was another important factor in Christine’s circumstances.
The acquisition was a natural fit because the two companies’ cultures were closely aligned;
both focused on providing outstanding customer service within the ecommerce business
environment. AbeBooks was also able to continue operating as a separate entity following
the acquisition, so there was no impact on the location or structure of the company. The only
change anticipated by AbeBooks, aside from the alignment of internal operational processes
and procedures, was the integration of capabilities that were available through the
8
technology giant, Amazon. New technology and the transfer of knowledge would require
Antonio’s team to be enthusiastic about learning Amazon’s marketing techniques.
Antonio knew that Christine’s position would be directly impacted by this
knowledge and technology exchange. Amazon had a very successful affiliate marketing
program, and AbeBooks hoped to be able to leverage a similar model to further develop
their affiliate marketing plan. As such, Christine’s role would be changing from simply
being a relationship manager, where she sent numerous emails a day and generated
analytical reports, to having a more strategic product development focus.
Refer to Exhibit 3, “Affiliates Manager” for a more detailed description of Christine’s
newly-defined role.
Considerations
There were numerous factors to deliberate given the current circumstances in
Antonio’s Online Marketing team. As a website that operates 24 hours a day, seven days a
week, AbeBooks did not have a precedent for allowing its full-time employees to work less
than five days a week. Antonio wondered whether offering this flexibility would be a good
retention strategy for AbeBooks, or whether the costs would outweigh the benefits.
Within AbeBooks’ workforce, generation X made up 42.5% and Generation Y was
48.8%, with only 8.7% coming from the Baby Boomers. Such a young workplace
demographic put significant pressure on the company; despite its reputation as an employer
of choice, it was common to see a position turn over roughly every three to four years.
However, AbeBooks’ current level of turnover was considered average for the technology
industry.
Performance Review Process
Part of AbeBooks’ efforts at developing its employees is the performance review
process, which occurs formally twice a year. At the major yearly review, employees are
asked to conduct a self-evaluation of their performance against goals that they had
previously set for themselves. 360 degree feedback from peers, supervisors and subordinates
is then incorporated into a final assessment.
At the yearly review, employees also set their goals for the coming 12 months. These
goals are revisited at a six month interim review, which is used to gauge how much progress
the employee has made, if any changes to the goals are needed, and what ongoing support
the employee requires. In addition to these bi-annual reviews, managers are encouraged to
document their team’s performance on a monthly basis and to maintain open
communication regarding performance achievements and concerns as they arise.
9
Rewards
Annual increases are linked directly to the results of the formal yearly performance
review.
Individuals
who
display
outstanding
performance
receive
more
robust
compensation packages than peers who don’t perform as well. Compensation for these highperformers may include stock options and proportionately higher salary increases.
While AbeBooks does not offer monetary team-based rewards such as bonuses, each
team’s manager is able to provide celebratory team rewards at their discretion. For example,
a manager may decide to take the team out for a nice dinner with their spouses to celebrate
outstanding performance.
Succession Planning and Leadership Development
At the year-end formal performance review, managers and directors are asked to
identify and collaborate on who they would see as successors for key positions within their
departments. These decisions are incorporated into the yearly development goals for each
individual. Leadership training at AbeBooks takes the form of workshops, tuition
reimbursement programs for employees who take courses, fast track progression through
AbeBooks position levels, and increased exposure to leadership and management duties.
AbeBooks has an informal approach to mentoring, encouraging employees to initiate
their own meaningful mentoring relationships. In doing so, the company reinforces
employees’ self-identification of learning and development needs and encourages initiative
to follow through on the determined path to achieving those goals.
Antonio’s Challenge
Antonio’s meeting with Sebastian and Judy was just hours away, and he needed to
contribute well though-out recommendations about Christine’s position and his team’s
development.
Antonio knew that if they didn’t do something soon, Christine would likely leave the
company. Seeing a long-term employee walk out the door was never desirable, but it was
especially daunting given the recent resignation of Antonio’s two other team members in the
Online Marketing team. Given this turnover in his department and the career transience
trend of the X and Y generations, Antonio debated whether he should recommend that
AbeBooks allow Christine’s request for a flexible work schedule. Increasing Christine’s
salary or perks wasn’t an option within the department’s budget constraints, and Antonio
knew that money wouldn’t solve the problem anyway.
In addition, he was still trying to fill the Online Marketer position. Antonio
understood the direction that Sebastian was taking the team, and he knew whoever he hired
would need to be both creative and analytical. He wondered what other characteristics
10
would strengthen the composition of his department. And once Antonio had defined these
desirable qualities, where and how could AbeBooks find this person? They had already
posted the job on the company’s website, but with little positive result.
Antonio also realized that something would need to be done to solidify his direct
reports, whether new or veteran, into a cohesive team. The recent staff changes and shift in
responsibility of some of the Online Marketing positions might leave Antonio’s employees
questioning where they fit in. It was up to him to make the team stronger and more effective
than ever.
11
Exhibit 1: AbeBooks Company Timeline
12
Exhibit 2: AbeBooks Victoria Office Organization Chart
Hannes Blum
President and CEO
VP Engineering
Sebastian Eberley
Director, Marketing
Director, Sales and Account
Management
Engineering Team
Manager, Customer Service
PMG
Quality Assurance
Antonio Frias
Manager, E-Mail and
Online Marketing
Finance
Online Marketer
Customer Service Team
Site Operations
Chief Financial
Officer
VP PMG
Judy Hamza
Director, HR and
Administration
Email Marketing
Specialist
Affiliates Manager
HR and Administration
Interactive Marketing
Corporate
Development
Design
13
Exhibit 3: AbeBooks Online Marketing Job Postings
Director, Marketing
Reporting to the COO, the Director, Integrated Marketing (Online and Offline) manages the strategy,
programs, budget and results for the complete process from online customer acquisition, to site
conversion and buyer activation. The Director will set the strategies and tactics around the use of
specific marketing vehicles including search marketing, affiliate programs, site merchandising and
email marketing strategies.
Responsibilities:






Strategy & Innovation – ability to establish online marketing, merchandising and email
marketing strategy including necessary infrastructure, organizational responsibilities, key
processes, partnerships and contribution to key business metrics. Must recognize and
capitalize on new industry trends and opportunities for customer acquisition and activation.
Tactical Execution and Program Management – deployment and management of online
marketing, merchandising and email marketing initiatives and budget spends across all
channels. The Director must be a leader in best practices regarding Natural Search, Paid
Search, affiliate marketing, merchandising and email activation.
Leadership – maintains positive and productive relationships with internal and external
partners. Displays leadership and independence as individual contributor.
Product and Business Planning – has solid understanding of Abebooks product capabilities
and business model. Helps defining the product roadmap to achieve the goals of the group.
Communication – very competent in verbal and written communications both internally and
externally. Ability to drive meetings, presentations and discussion regarding issues and
solutions. Ability to pull together teams to drive and influence new ideas or resolve issues.
Analytics and Judgment – world class analytical capabilities. Can effectively identify,
understand, model and communicate key metrics and insights of his areas of responsibility.
Can utilize analytics and complex data with sound business judgment to make strategic and
tactical recommendations.
Profile:







Bachelors degree or equivalent preferred, MBA is a plus
Deep knowledge of online marketing and / or direct marketing strongly preferred
7-8 years professional experience with minimally 3-4 years of significant online and offline
marketing experience
Project management experience and knowledge of related tools or methodology
Excellent communication skills – verbal, written and presentation
Ability to connect, motivate, provide and exhibit leadership with others
Ability to work and operate effectively in fast-paced environment with high degree of
complexity and change
14
Manager, Email and Online Marketing
Reporting to the Director Marketing, the Manager Email and Online Marketing manages the
development and execution of all email and merchandising activities of AbeBooks with the objective
of increasing conversion and activation of the user base.
Responsibilities:






Manage a team of 2 merchandising and email marketing specialists
Create and lead development of ongoing communications targeted toward multiple key
segments within AbeBooks user base
Formulate segmentation, targeting, content, and messaging strategies to build customer
relationships and activate user base
Create and lead development of effective merchandising strategies across the AbeBooks site
with the focus of increasing conversions on all levels of the site
Drive development of reporting requirements/analytics
Champion necessary product/tools development within the organization
Profile:





5+ years of relevant experience, preferably in an e-commerce environment
Exceptional communication skills required -- both written and oral
Demonstrated leadership skills and abilities important for leading team
Outstanding analytical skills
A minimum of a Bachelor Degree required. Preference will be given to candidates with an
MBA
15
Online Marketer
Reporting to the Manager, Online Marketing, you will be responsible for planning, execution,
optimization and growth of our paid search (SEM) and natural search (SEO) channels together with a
team of other Online Marketers in both the Victoria and the Düsseldorf office.
Responsibilities:












Planning and implementation of tactical and strategic North-American paid search (SEM)
campaigns
Responsible for the all the paid search management tasks including all the search engine’s
platforms and third parties PPC management tools
Planning, support and execution of tactics and strategies directed towards the improvement
and growth of the natural search (SEO) channel
Responsible for all the natural search management tasks, including Google’s Webmaster
Central maintenance, sitemaps submission and robots.txt audit, among others
Support search partners (paid and natural) account/relationship management, with an eye to
improving Abebooks’ search marketing efficiency and increasing revenue
In charge of reporting and analysis for the search marketing channels including daily, weekly
and monthly reports and ad hoc analyses
Quantitative analysis of market segment performance, costs and activity levels
Assist in product planning/management and requirements development
Development and execution of search marketing tests and suggestion of actionable items
based on the results
Responsible of achieving budgetary goals for SEO and SEM (including sales and expenses)
Responsible of communicating the importance and potential of the SEO channel to the rest of
the company
Responsible of being up to date on the latest developments on the natural search and paid
search arena and communicating them to the Manager, Online Marketing and the Director of
Marketing
Profile:







Strong project management and organizational skills, with the ability to effectively multi-task
in a fast-paced, highly dynamic environment
Ideal candidate is highly analytical with a strong quantitative background in engineering,
statistics, mathematics, economics, or related discipline
Demonstrated ability to think creatively and innovate
Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Access, and PowerPoint Prior experience in
consumer/retail/internet marketing or advertising a plus
Working knowledge of SQL a plus
Education: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent
16
Email Marketing Specialist
The Email Marketing Specialist develops, executes, documents, and advises on best practices for
customer-facing email marketing. Successful candidates will enjoy mastering and staying abreast of
trends in email marketing, learning new software and email marketing platforms, executing many
deadline-driven projects simultaneously, and consulting with teams to solve marketing needs.
The position is a very hands-on role that requires an organized team player with 0-3 years
professional
experience.
Strong
interest
in
interactive
marketing
is
essential.
Technical
background/knowledge is required, specifically, familiarity with database systems and HTML.
Outstanding communication skills are a must and experience within the interactive industry is a plus.
Responsibilities:





Define business objectives, develop campaigns strategies and testing plans and identify new
opportunities
Creating on- and off-template email campaigns using copy, images, and design specifications
supplied by the design, content team and other marketing staff. Campaigns can include
product information, transactional messages, surveys, topic-related emails, and other
messages tied to marketing campaigns
Working with the Manager, Online Marketing to develop practices and processes

to improve tracking and effectiveness metrics on outbound email communications
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to improve the company’s ability to manage and segment its customer data,
including opt-out and email preference information
Developing and maintaining strong communication lines with key stakeholders including
Marketing managers as well as CS and Sales & Account managers
Compile, analyze, and present performance metrics, push for tools and areas for
improvement; consulting with teams on how to use this information to improve results.
Profile:
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The ability to conceptualize and manage multiple projects
Strong analytical skills
Strong bias for action and ability to prioritize
Technical requirements include practical use of HTML, XML, Web design tools, and Excel,
plus the ability to learn complex in-house tools quickly
Working knowledge of: Internet, Word, Access, Excel, CSS and HTML (preferable also SQL)
Knowledge of Internet communication spaces
Marketing, Business Admin, MIS, or CS degree preferred
0-3 plus years in one or more of the following: email, software consulting, e-Marketing, direct
marketing or interactive agency
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Affiliates Manager
Reporting to the Manager, Online Marketing, you will be an enthusiastic self starter who will take
responsibility for product planning and execution throughout the Associates product lifecycle,
including: defining the product vision, designing the strategies and tactics to achieve Associates’
goals, supervising the creation of a strong, adaptable framework; and working closely with
engineering, and the rest of the technical team to maximize revenue and ensure the completion of the
Associates’ goals and objectives. The Affiliates Manager will be responsible of the Affiliates Channel
for the following market segments: North America, Australia & New Zealand and the United
Kingdom.
Responsibilities:
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Achieve quantitative and qualitative goals set for the Associates product, including sales,
traffic, number of associates and level of efficiency
Define the product strategy and roadmap and oversee its implementation
Prioritize the workflow and initiatives of the product and communicate it to the technical
side
Work with external third parties to maximize the performance of current relationships and
assess potential partnerships
Oversee AbeBooks’ Associates communication and incentive strategies with a focus on
current key accounts and recruitment
Propose and design improvements and additions to the current product including widgets,
reporting tools and platform changes among others
Be an expert with respect to the competition
Propose and develop a reliable, efficient and actionable set of KPIs to be used within the
Online Marketing team and to be distributed to the Senior Management Team in a periodical
basis
Design measurable tests to improve the performance of the product through the purchase
funnel, including the checkout process, oversee its implementation and analyze the results
Collaborate with the Amazon Associates team to take advantage of the potential synergies,
share relevant strategies and perform joined initiatives whenever possible
Be on top of current technologies and new developments on the Associates field
Profile:
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Strong product management and organizational skills, with the ability to effectively multitask in a fast-paced, highly dynamic environment
Ideal candidate is highly analytical with a strong quantitative background in engineering,
statistics, mathematics, economics, or related discipline
Demonstrated ability to think creatively and innovate
Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills
Product management experience a plus, one to two years related experience preferred.
Proficiency in Microsoft Excel, Access, and PowerPoint Prior experience in
consumer/retail/internet marketing or advertising a plus
Working knowledge of SQL a plus
Education: Bachelor’s Degree or equivalent. Master’s degree a plus
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