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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 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: 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 17 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: 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: 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 18