Digital Marketing and Engagement Specialist

ISPU is seeking a Digital Marketing and Engagement Specialist to join our Communications Department.

The Institute for Social Policy and Understanding (ISPU), a nonprofit research organization dedicated to providing objective research and education about American Muslims, is seeking a dynamic, energetic, creative, and passionate Digital Marketing and Engagement Specialist to build and inform communities through innovative email and social media marketing campaigns as part of a nimble, high-volume, detail-oriented team. The Digital Marketing and Engagement Specialist will take the lead on sharing our research and calls to action across a variety of platforms to reach the general public and build community. You’ll grow our readership, convert readers to donors, and entice donors to become monthly sustaining givers.

The ideal candidate is an excellent writer and communicator and is able to multitask, stay highly organized, and use good judgment to confidently create and distribute materials across ISPU’s platforms to drive engagement with our research and donation opportunities, as well as increase general awareness of our organization. You’ll work across departments and serve as an “air traffic controller” of ISPU’s many platforms to create, manage, and publish content that disseminates ISPU’s research, education, event, and donor communications to the general public in clear, engaging ways.

Success in this role will be measured in part by audience growth and engagement across key platforms, email engagement rates, and donor conversion and retention metrics. This position reports to the Director of Communications and is a full-time (40 hrs/week) salaried remote position. Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S..

Applications are due by July 10, and will be reviewed on a rolling basis.

Job duties include:

Social media:

• With input of Directors, create integrated editorial calendar for monthly/quarterly planning, including research rollouts, fundraising campaign promotion, acknowledgement of special days/months, regular promotion of ISPU event registration/videos/podcasts/newsletter signup and more.
• Execute editorial calendar and digital communications strategy across all departments, in mass mailers and all social media platforms
• Monitor real-time trends and conversations to identify opportunities for timely engagement and amplification of ISPU research.
• Manage direct community engagement by responding to messages and comments across platforms and fostering dialogue with ISPU’s audience
• Ensure digital content follows best practices for accessibility (e.g., alt text, readable formatting) and basic SEO principles to maximize reach
• Promote legacy content–utilize past years’ research products to be both proactive and reactive in sharing past years’ research as it pertains to current events and conversations
• Tailor content and messaging for platform-specific audiences (e.g., LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter/X, Facebook) to maximize engagement and reach
• Build understanding of ISPU’s existing audiences and collaborate with the team to refine audience personas to improve targeting and messaging.
• Build relationships with partners and amplifiers to reach collaborative audiences and identify opportunities for sharing our work

Email marketing:

• Draft, manage, and send institutional and research-related communications including newsletters, event invites, research publication announcements, and more
• Alongside Directors of Communications and Development, design and execute multi-part fundraising campaigns
• Create and maintain lists for segmented communications across all departments; ensure existing list health by keeping up on best practices for email communications
• Set up and manage automation and drip campaigns in Hubspot to reach our communities with new and existing research and to nurture donors

Overarching duties:

• Master ISPU’s “voice” so all communications have consistent tone and quality
• Alongside communications department, develop ideas for new products for use in innovative campaign communications
• Support marketing and registration efforts of digital and in-person events for both research and development events, as well as supporting live coverage of virtual and in-person events (e.g., live-tweeting, stories), and creation of post-event recaps to maintain audience engagement.
• Work with Creative Communications Specialist to gather needed content and visual materials
• Stay current with trends in digital marketing and suggest new tools, techniques, or strategies to strengthen ISPU’s online presence.
• Monitor and make decisions based on metrics and other indicators of campaign strategy (open rates, impressions, reach, shares, etc.) utilizing various tools
• Ensure alignment and coordination across teams by maintaining regular communication and sharing updates related to digital campaigns.

Our ideal candidate has:

• Strong writing and editing skills; comfort in social media platforms and planning tools
• Previous experience managing a customer management service (Hubspot, Salesforce) and/or mass mailer system (Constant Contact, Mailchimp, etc.) a plus, but not required.
• Possesses a deep interest in following news of the day and social media conversations, and is excited about building and engaging community around ISPU’s research.
• Demonstrates strong analytical thinking, with comfort in reading campaign metrics (open rates, click-throughs, impressions, reach, etc.) and using those insights to improve performance. Experience running ads on social platforms a plus, but not required.
• Understands digital accessibility and basic SEO principles, or is willing to learn and apply them consistently.
• Is strategic and proactive, capable of thinking critically about messaging, audience segmentation, and timing for maximum impact.
• Experience working in a start-up-like or non-profit environment is a plus; strong understanding of and interest in the American Muslim community required.
• Is detail-oriented with excellent organizational skills and follow-through. Must be self-motivated and comfortable working remotely on individual projects and deadlines, but equally able to be responsive to multiple team needs across multiple workstreams.