Digital Marketing Specialist at Nebraska Wesleyan University in Lincoln, NE, USA

Job description

• The Digital Marketing Specialist will own the daily execution of NWU's paid digital marketing presence - building campaigns, identifying and evaluating target audiences from a wide field of options, monitoring performance, making data-driven adjustments, and keeping our channels active and precise. Roughly 80% of the role is digital marketing strategy and execution; the remaining 20% is hands-on video and photography production in support of those campaigns.
• This person will work closely with the Director of Marketing and Communications and alongside NWU's agency partners to ensure our digital channels are coordinated, measurable, and continuously improving. They will bring both analytical discipline and creative instincts - comfortable reading campaign data in the morning and scripting a 60-second Reel in the afternoon.
• Critically, this is someone who thinks in audiences. They understand that reaching a prospective theatre student in high school requires a fundamentally different message, platform, and creative approach than re-engaging an alumnus who has been out of touch for a decade. They use personas to anticipate behavior and place ads with precision, and they know how to make both conversations feel personal.
• NWU is seeking a Digital Marketing Specialist to build and run a paid digital presence that matches the energy of our campus. You will own campaigns across Meta, Google, TikTok, OTT platforms, and whatever comes next - identifying target audiences, managing spend, reading the data daily, and adjusting until the work performs. You are the person who knows why an ad is underdelivering at 9 a.m. and has already made a change by 10.
• This role also brings a creative edge. Roughly 20% of your time will be spent behind a camera - filming short-form video and capturing photography that shows NWU as it actually is, not as a stock photo library imagines it. The rest is strategy, targeting, analytics, and the discipline to do it all again tomorrow.

Responsibilities

• Paid Digital Campaign Management (approximately 80%)
• Build, manage, and continuously optimize paid campaigns across Meta, Google (Performance Max, Search, and Display), TikTok, YouTube, OTT/connected TV, and emerging AI-powered advertising platforms.
• Develop and execute sustained campaign structures layered with highly targeted campaigns tied to NWU's strongest academic programs and distinct prospective student audiences.
• Research, evaluate, and select target audiences from a wide range of available options -- identifying who to reach, on which platform, with what message, and at what stage of their decision.
• Monitor campaign analytics daily, making real-time adjustments to targeting, creative, bidding, and budget allocation to improve performance.
• Build and manage audience strategy using first-party data signals, persona-based targeting, and location-based tactics to reach prospective students and their families with precision.
• Determine the best timing and strategy for boosting organic social content to extend reach beyond existing audiences.
• Track platform trends and emerging tools, identifying effective ways to incorporate them into NWU's digital strategy before they become standard practice.
• Manage and support email marketing campaigns, including prospective student drip sequences coordinated through NWU's CRM.
• Collaborate closely with NWU's writers and content team on social media strategy, ensuring paid and organic efforts are aligned and mutually reinforcing.
• Work alongside agency partners to coordinate campaign strategy, provide institutional audience insights, and ensure NWU's brand is represented accurately across all paid channels.
• Produce clear, actionable performance reports that translate data into recommendations -- not just numbers.
• Contribute to SEO strategy and support website content updates as needed.
• Video & Photography Production (approximately 20%)
• Film and edit short-form video content for Instagram Reels, TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and paid ad creative -- fast, authentic, and built for how people actually watch.
• Capture photography in support of marketing campaigns, events, and digital assets, with a preference for real moments over staged ones.
• Build and maintain a digital asset library of b-roll footage, photography, and brand visuals the broader team can draw from.
• Adapt video content across formats and aspect ratios for different platforms and campaign objectives.

Requirements

• Required
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, digital media, or a related field -- or equivalent demonstrated experience.
• Two or more years of hands-on experience in digital marketing, with direct responsibility for paid campaign strategy and execution.
• Proven experience managing Meta Ads campaigns end-to-end: campaign setup, audience targeting, budget management, creative testing, and performance optimization.
• Experience with Google Ads, including Performance Max, Search, and Display campaign types.
• Working knowledge of TikTok Ads Manager and comfort with the platform's distinct content culture and algorithm behavior.
• Understanding of OTT/connected TV advertising and how it functions within a broader campaign mix.
• Demonstrated ability to read and act on campaign analytics daily -- not just pull reports, but use data to make decisions.
• Experience building audience strategy using personas, first-party data, and behavioral targeting to reach distinct audience segments with tailored messaging.
• Familiarity with geofencing and location-based advertising tactics.
• Experience with A/B testing: setting up tests, reading results, and iterating on creative and targeting based on findings.
• Understanding of pixel implementation, conversion tracking, and event-based optimization.
• Experience with email marketing platforms and CRM-integrated campaign sequencing.
• Video production and editing skills, with proficiency in Adobe Premiere Pro, Final Cut Pro, CapCut, or equivalent tools.
• Proficiency in Canva for social graphics, ad creative, and campaign asset production.
• Photography skills, including comfort working in uncontrolled, real-world environments like campus events and outdoor settings.
• Strong written communication skills -- able to write for distinct audiences and adapt tone across platforms and campaigns.
• Genuine curiosity about where digital marketing is heading, including AI-powered ad tools and emerging platform features.
• Experience in higher education marketing, or experience marketing to audiences facing a significant, values-driven purchase decision.
• Familiarity with Slate CRM or similar enrollment management systems.
• Experience with YouTube advertising, including TrueView, skippable pre-roll, and bumper ad formats.
• Working knowledge of SEO best practices.
• Adobe Creative Cloud proficiency beyond video, including Photoshop and/or After Effects.
• Experience working within brand guidelines alongside agency partners.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted campaign tools such as Meta Advantage+, Google AI-powered bidding, or similar platforms.

Skills

Required

• Meta Ads
• TikTok Ads Manager
• OTT/connected TV advertising
• Campaign analytics
• A/B testing
• Canva
• Photography
• Strong written communication

Preferred

• Higher education marketing
• Slate CRM
• SEO best practices

Benefits

• NWU offers a competitive wage and comprehensive benefits package including health insurance, life insurance, disability benefits, retirement, seven weeks of combined vacation and holiday time annually, and 100% tuition discount for dependents after one year of service.
• DOE/Q