Digital Marketing Manager

ZT Auto • Houston, TX

24d • Onsite

About The Position

This role owns digital marketing performance across a group's dealership portfolio, setting strategy, managing agencies and technology vendors, and being accountable for traffic, leads, and cost efficiency that support sales and service. The position involves analyzing performance data, participating in vendor calls, navigating OEM compliance portals, and addressing store-level issues. The manager will lead the development and execution of digital strategy across various channels, manage budget allocation, and ensure marketing plans are data-driven. Responsibilities include optimizing website performance, driving conversion improvements, advancing digital retailing, and ensuring accuracy of pricing and disclosures. The role also encompasses operational audits of lead routing and data integrity, maintaining tagging and measurement infrastructure, and reconciling lead counts. Additionally, it involves building and managing CRM and email campaigns, directing local SEO efforts, managing online reputation, and overseeing OEM programs and compliance. Vendor and agency management, including contract oversight and invoice auditing, is a key aspect. The manager will also lead and mentor direct reports, align marketing with store-level sales objectives, and deliver actionable monthly reports.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in marketing, advertising, communications, business, or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• Five or more years in digital or performance marketing, with meaningful ownership of strategy and budget.
• Demonstrated ability to manage external agencies and vendors with accountability for results.
• Hands-on experience in Google Ads and Meta Ads Manager, including reading account structure and diagnosing performance.
• Working knowledge of GA4, Google Search Console, and tag management.
• Hands-on CRM experience including campaign build, segmentation, and reporting.
• Prior experience leading or mentoring team members.
• Advanced spreadsheet skills for budget, invoice, and lead reconciliation.
• Clear written communication skills for documenting decisions and holding partners accountable.

Nice To Haves

• Automotive retail, automotive agency, or high-volume lead generation experience.
• Multi-location experience.
• Experience across 15 or more rooftops.
• Familiarity with OEM co-op and tier 3 programs for represented brands.
• Experience managing agency transitions, vendor consolidation, or platform migration.
• Working knowledge of inventory feeds and vehicle listing ads.
• Google Ads and GA4 certifications.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of digital strategy across paid search, display, video, paid social, vehicle listing ads, third-party marketplaces, and OEM tier 3 programs.
• Own budget allocation by store, channel, and inventory need, reallocating as necessary based on store performance and objectives.
• Build marketing plans based on data, store objectives, and budget parameters.
• Review account structure, targeting, bidding, and creative on a regular cadence, critically evaluating agency reporting.
• Track cost per lead, cost per sale, and attributed units by channel, escalating underperformance with specific recommendations.
• Own website platform performance across all rooftops, including search results pages, vehicle detail pages, and landing pages.
• Drive conversion improvement through user experience, form performance, page speed, indexation, and lead generation paths.
• Advance digital retailing to ensure a continuous online-to-in-store handoff.
• Ensure accuracy and consistency of specials, incentives, pricing, and payment disclosures.
• Coordinate site tools including trade valuation, payment calculators, chat, credit application, and digital retailing.
• Own decisions regarding the addition, replacement, or cancellation of site tools.
• Conduct operational audits of lead routing, call tracking, form submission, and listings data integrity.
• Drive fixes with store teams and vendors for operational issues.
• Maintain tagging and measurement infrastructure (tag manager, conversion actions, offline import) for trustworthy reporting.
• Reconcile lead counts across website, CRM, and vendor reporting, investigating discrepancies.
• Build and manage CRM and email campaigns, including audience segmentation, send calendar, and performance reporting.
• Coordinate equity mining, service retention, and conquest campaigns with store and BDC leadership.
• Direct local SEO across all rooftops, including content calendar, model research, technical fixes, and internal linking.
• Own Google Business Profile per store, managing hours, photos, posts, Q&A, and service attributes.
• Manage review generation and response across Google, DealerRater, Cars.com, and OEM platforms.
• Track manufacturer satisfaction scores (OSAT, NPS, CSI) and work with store leadership on survey send volume and response rates.
• Manage co-op claims, tier 3 enrollment, and reimbursement across all represented brands.
• Document and track advertising spend by store, including co-op eligible spend, for claim support.
• Submit advertising for OEM pre-approval where required and clear compliance findings before deadlines.
• Track program changes, enrollment deadlines, and approved vendor lists.
• Serve as the day-to-day owner of agency and vendor relationships, setting expectations and evaluating performance.
• Maintain a current register of digital vendors by store, including contract terms, costs, and renewal dates.
• Audit invoices against contracted scope, identifying redundancies and underperforming services.
• Manage additions and cancellations of vendors end-to-end.
• Ensure advertising and analytics accounts are group-owned for continued access during partner changes.
• Manage, mentor, and develop direct reports, setting clear performance expectations.
• Partner with dealer principals, general managers, and regional operations to align marketing with store-level sales objectives.
• Deliver monthly reporting by store and channel that general managers can act upon.

Benefits

• Performance measured by lead volume and cost per lead by store and channel.
• Performance measured by vehicle detail page views and conversion rate.
• Performance measured by organic session and organic lead growth.
• Performance measured by digital spend against budget and removal of spend from underperforming tools.
• Performance measured by co-op dollars claimed against dollars available.
• Performance measured by survey response rate and manufacturer satisfaction scores.
• Performance measured by timeliness of OEM compliance submissions.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Mid Level