MARCOM - Marketing Analytics and Optimization Specialist

Cedarville University • Cedarville, OH

6d • Hybrid

About The Position

Cedarville University invites applicants for the position of Marketing Analytics and Optimization Specialist. This is a full-time, exempt staff position in the Web Services Department within the Marketing and Communications Division. This position reports to the Executive Director of Web Strategy and Marketing Technology and works 2,080 annual hours. This position is primarily on campus in an office setting with some remote work possible. The Marketing Analytics and Optimization Specialist uses data to identify opportunities, solve marketing problems, and drive continuous improvement across Cedarville University’s digital marketing efforts. This position analyzes performance across websites, search, digital campaigns, content, audience behavior, and prospective-student journeys to develop actionable recommendations, partner in implementing improvements, and measure their effectiveness in supporting marketing and enrollment goals. The role serves as a key analytics and optimization resource within Marketing and Communications, connecting data across multiple channels and systems to provide a more complete view of marketing performance and user behavior. Working collaboratively with content creators, enrollment marketing, and other stakeholders, this position translates data into clear insights, helps teams prioritize opportunities, and supports informed decisions that improve marketing effectiveness.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Experience analyzing website and digital marketing performance using GA4 (Google Analytics), Google Tag Manager, SEMrush, Looker Studio, Siteimprove, Hotjar, or similar platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to translate complex data into clear insights and actionable recommendations.
• Knowledge of digital marketing measurement, user behavior, conversion analysis, and marketing performance indicators.
• Knowledge of current search engine optimization practices and evolving search trends, including AI-powered search and answer platforms.
• Demonstrated ability to use AI tools to improve productivity, automate repeatable processes, support analysis, and day-to-day workflows.
• AI Fluency — Demonstrated ability to integrate AI intuitively and appropriately into day-to-day work, adapting its use across different problems, contexts, and workflows without requiring step-by-step guidance.
• Ability to investigate problems, identify root causes, recommend solutions, and evaluate results.
• Ability to communicate analytical findings effectively to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to organize, prioritize, and manage multiple assignments in a fast-paced environment.
• Skills that apply to working professionally and collaboratively with a variety of people in a variety of work settings.

Nice To Haves

• Experience working in higher education.
• Experience analyzing prospective-student, enrollment, CRM, or Slate data.
• Experience with paid-media analysis and digital campaign measurement.
• Experience with data visualization or business intelligence platforms.
• Familiarity with SQL, BigQuery, or similar tools for combining and analyzing data from multiple sources.
• Experience with testing and conversion-rate optimization.
• Familiarity with structured data/schema markup, Core Web Vitals, and technical SEO.
• Experience evaluating AI visibility, answer engine optimization, generative engine optimization, social listening, or brand sentiment.
• Experience building AI-assisted or automated workflows that connect marketing, analytics, reporting, or research tools and processes.

Responsibilities

• Analyze performance across websites, campaigns, content, search, and other marketing channels; establish meaningful key performance indicators and benchmarks; identify trends, opportunities, and areas for improvement; and recommend and implement or help to implement, and measure changes that strengthen marketing effectiveness. Use AI and automation where appropriate to accelerate analysis, surface insights, and improve repeatable processes.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of paid and organic marketing efforts, including Google Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and other digital campaigns. Analyze audience acquisition, user behavior, landing-page performance, and downstream outcomes to identify friction and partner with campaign owners to implement, test, and measure improvements.
• Analyze search behavior, rankings, user intent, and emerging AI-powered discovery platforms to improve Cedarville's visibility across traditional search engines, answer engines, and generative AI environments. Apply established and emerging practices in SEO, AEO, and GEO to strengthen digital visibility and authority and measure progress over time.
• Conduct technical SEO evaluations and collaborate with Web Services staff to improve crawlability, indexing, website loading times, Core Web Vitals, structured data, internal linking, information architecture, and other factors influencing user experience, search, and AI visibility.
• Use search, audience, competitive, and performance data to identify content gaps, emerging topics, and opportunities to strengthen Cedarville's relevance and topical authority. Collaborate with content creators to inform content priorities, topic clusters, and optimization strategies and evaluate their effectiveness over time.
• Analyze how prospective students move from search, advertising, and other acquisition channels through Cedarville's digital properties and, where data is available, into inquiry, application, and enrollment activity. Identify friction, evaluate calls to action and conversion paths, and partner with appropriate stakeholders to implement and measure improvements to the user journey.
• Maintain reliable analytics and measurement practices, including GA4 (Google Analytics), Google Tag Manager, event-based tracking across relevant platforms, UTM standards, conversion tracking, dashboards, and reporting. Use tracking tools to analyze user behavior, website traffic, and conversions; translate data into clear insights and recommended actions for decision-makers; and develop efficient workflows that use automation and AI to reduce manual work, improve consistency, and increase the speed of analysis and reporting.
• Develop and support methodologies for testing improvements to landing pages, content, calls to action, and user journeys. Measure results, identify what is working or not working, and use findings to guide ongoing, iterative improvement.
• Partner with content creators, enrollment marketing, advertising stakeholders, and other Marketing and Communications staff to incorporate analytics into planning, execution, and evaluation. Equip stakeholders to understand relevant performance data, audience behavior, search trends, and optimization opportunities and translate these insights into action.

What This Job Offers

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