The Marketing Manager will serve as Marigold Academy's central marketing leader, responsible for driving the company's overall marketing strategy, brand growth, lead generation, and franchise marketing initiatives. This role will coordinate all marketing activities across corporate and franchise locations while serving as the primary liaison between leadership, franchisees, and external marketing vendors.

This individual will oversee the execution of marketing campaigns, manage agency relationships, optimize lead generation efforts, support franchise launches and grand openings, strengthen Marigold's brand presence, and continuously improve the systems and processes that support scalable growth. They will ensure marketing initiatives are aligned with business objectives while using data and performance metrics to drive continuous improvement.

Social media and content marketing remain a key component of Marigold's growth strategy. The Marketing Manager will oversee the development and execution of engaging content that authentically showcases the heart of our schools through high-performing short-form video, photography, storytelling, and digital campaigns that build trust, increase brand awareness, generate inquiries, and support enrollment.

This role is ideal for someone who is both strategic and hands-on—an organized project manager, confident communicator, collaborative leader, and creative marketer who thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment. The ideal candidate is comfortable leading agencies, managing vendors, coordinating cross-functional projects, building scalable marketing systems, analyzing performance, and executing marketing initiatives from concept through completion.

AI proficiency is an expectation of this role. The Marketing Manager will remain current on emerging AI tools and marketing technologies, leveraging them responsibly to improve efficiency, increase content output, strengthen campaign performance, and support data-driven decision-making.

This is a full-time position with flexibility. Periodic travel is required for Discovery Days, school visits, content capture, franchise launches, grand openings, conferences, and other corporate marketing initiatives. (20% bonus potential)

Responsibilities:

Vendor & Agency Management

• Serve as Marigold Academy's primary point of contact for all marketing vendors and agency partners.
• Lead recurring performance meetings with marketing agencies, digital advertising partners, CRM vendors, SEO vendors, photographers, videographers, and creative partners.
• Hold vendors accountable for timelines, deliverables, campaign performance, responsiveness, and agreed-upon KPIs.
• Provide clear strategic direction and creative feedback to ensure work aligns with Marigold standards.
• Evaluate vendor performance and recommend improvements or alternative partners when necessary.
• Coordinate communication between Operations, Franchise Development, Leadership, and external marketing vendors.
• Build streamlined approval workflows that improve execution speed and accountability.

Marketing Strategy, Social media & Brand Growth

• Own and manage Marigold Academy's overall marketing strategy across corporate and franchise locations.
• Develop and manage the marketing calendar, campaign schedule, and social media content calendar.
• Build and execute high-performing campaigns that support enrollment, franchising, hiring, community awareness, and brand growth.
• Oversee social media strategy across Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and emerging platforms.
• Ensure all content aligns with Marigold's brand standards, messaging, and business objectives.
• Review, approve, and provide direction on all social media content created by internal teams and external agencies.
• Understand the childcare buyer journey and develop marketing strategies that build trust with prospective families.
• Review and approve social media content created by agency and ensure it reflects Marigold’s tone, standards, and brand identity.
• Actively support social engagement efforts:
• Responding to comments/messages as needed
• Monitoring local activity
• Ensuring our brand presence feels warm, responsive, and consistent
• Understand the childcare buyer journey and how young mothers and families make school decisions through social proof, visuals, local relevance, and community storytelling.

Franchise Marketing Support & Grand Openings

• Serve as the primary marketing contact for franchisees throughout pre-opening, grand opening, and ongoing operations.
• Lead recurring marketing meetings with franchisees to review campaign performance, upcoming initiatives, and enrollment strategies.
• Coordinate grand opening marketing efforts including vendors, signage, photography, videography, promotional materials, social media, and community outreach.
• Support franchisees with local marketing planning, community engagement, employer partnerships, and enrollment campaigns.
• Develop scalable launch playbooks and marketing timelines for every new school opening.

CRM Integration & Lead Management

• Oversee CRM setup, integration, and optimization using childcare-specific CRM.
• Ensure automations, workflows, and lead funnels function properly across new and existing locations.
• Monitor lead quality—not just lead quantity.
• Analyze inquiry-to-tour-to-enrollment conversion trends and identify opportunities for improvement.
• Partner with Operations and franchisees to improve enrollment funnel performance.
• Troubleshoot system issues and collaborate with vendors to resolve them quickly.
• Coordinate launch readiness for new school lead funnels, including fast-turn timelines and rollout support.

Content Capture System + Media Library Development

• Capture photos, videos, interviews, and stories on-site at schools for marketing use.
• Coordinate content capture across schools by developing repeatable systems that allow directors and staff to consistently provide high-quality marketing assets.
• Plan and coordinate professional photography and videography as needed for corporate initiatives, grand openings, and franchise development.
• Build and maintain a highly organized content library with reusable assets categorized by:
• Age group / classroom type
• Parent experience moments
• Curriculum highlights
• Teacher spotlight stories
• Events, celebrations, seasonal campaigns
• Testimonials and brand trust content
• Franchise development content (Discovery Days, grand openings, milestones)
• Create repeatable content systems for schools so footage is consistently gathered and usable:
• weekly prompts
• “send us your clips” systems
• content quality standards
• training guides for directors/staff contributors

AI Integration & Modern Marketing Tool Adoption

• Stay current on modern AI tools and trends and apply them to accelerate marketing execution.
• Use AI responsibly for:
• Social hook + reel scripting
• caption writing and content repurposing
• video editing workflow support (subtitles, formatting, variants, clipping)
• design iteration and template variations
• reporting insights and KPI analysis
• Identify, test, and recommend new AI tools that improve speed, content output, and performance.

Content Creation & Brand Development

• Develop and own Marigold Academy’s brand identity, including visual style, tone, look/feel, and brand experience across all platforms.
• Create, maintain, and update brand guidelines to support consistency across corporate and franchise locations.
• Design branded assets using Canva and Adobe Creative Suite, including:
• social media content
• Signage
• brochures, presentations, print materials
• digital ads and promotional campaigns
• Build template libraries and branded resources for corporate teams and franchisees:
• Flyers
• event materials
• curriculum graphics
• enrollment packets
• center marketing materials
• Support all new center openings with branded materials, launch content, and promotional needs.
• Develop executive presentations, Confirmation Day presentations, franchise recruitment materials, sales collateral, and corporate marketing resources.

Website, Landing Pages & Digital Presence

• Collaborate with the agency on updates to website pages and landing pages, including new locations, tour scheduling, franchise development pages, campaign pages, and SEO-driven content.
• Ensure web and landing page flow aligns with lead generation funnels and enrollment strategy.

Corporate Partnerships, Community Marketing & Local Outreach

• Support marketing initiatives tied to employer partnerships, local business collaborations, and community engagement.
• Build relationships with local Realtors to increase visibility for new families relocating into the area.
• Assist with outreach materials, presentations, and campaigns that expand Marigold’s presence within key local markets.
• Support grand opening marketing, community events, employer partnerships, realtor outreach, and local networking initiatives.

Reporting, Analytics & Performance Optimization

• Monitor and analyze marketing performance across all channels.
• Track KPIs including:
• Lead volume
• Lead quality
• Cost per Lead
• Tour conversion
• Enrollment conversion
• Organic social growth
• Paid advertising performance
• SEO rankings
• Website traffic
• Prepare weekly and monthly executive reports.
• Present actionable recommendations backed by data.
• Continuously optimize campaigns based on ROI and business performance.

Systems, SOPs & Playbook Development

• Create and maintain marketing SOPs and playbooks, including:
• Social media standards
• Content capture guidelines
• Enrollment marketing processes
• Grand opening marketing checklist
• Franchise marketing onboarding materials
• Create standardized marketing workflows that support franchise launches, grand openings, recurring campaigns, vendor coordination, and ongoing marketing operations.
• Support marketing readiness for new franchisees throughout their onboarding and launch phases.

Qualifications & Requirements

• 3–5+ years of marketing experience, preferably in multi-location, franchise, education, or consumer service industries.
• Demonstrated experience developing and managing integrated marketing initiatives across digital, social media, lead generation, brand, and local marketing.
• Experience managing external marketing agencies, vendors, freelancers, and cross-functional business partners.
• Strong project management, organizational, and prioritization skills with the ability to manage multiple initiatives simultaneously.
• Experience with CRM platforms (HubSpot, IKS, Salesforce, or similar) and marketing automation tools is preferred.
• Experience interpreting marketing analytics and using data to optimize campaign performance and ROI.
• Strong understanding of digital marketing, including social media, paid advertising, SEO, website management, email marketing, and lead generation.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to present ideas clearly and professionally to leadership, franchisees, and vendors.
• Ability to lead projects, influence stakeholders, and hold vendors accountable without direct authority.
• Strong design skills using Canva and Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign); motion graphics or video editing experience is a plus.
• Comfortable creating and editing marketing content—including short-form video, presentations, branded collateral, and digital assets—while also directing work produced by agencies, freelancers, and internal contributors.
• Comfortable using AI tools and committed to staying current with emerging marketing technologies that improve efficiency, creativity, and business results.
• Willingness to travel periodically for Discovery Days, school visits, grand openings, content capture, conferences, and other corporate marketing initiatives.=

Pay: $65,000.00 - $80,000.00 per year

Benefits:

• Employee discount
• Paid time off

Experience:

• Marketing Manager: 3 years (Preferred)

Ability to Commute:

• Randolph, NJ 07869 (Preferred)

Willingness to travel:

• 25% (Preferred)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Randolph, NJ 07869

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