Media Strategy & Planning Specialist

Rust-Oleum•Vernon Hills, IL

3d•$64,000 - $78,000•Onsite

About The Position

This individual plays a key role in identifying, developing, and activating relationships with high-value talent and creators who are part of affiliate programs (such as Amazon Creators) with the overall goal of driving sales. This role involves close partnership with Sales, E-Commerce, Integrated Marketing, Media Strategy, and Consumer Engagement teams. The specialist will partner with E-Commerce teams to improve conversion performance through affiliate content, PDP optimization, ratings and reviews, and retailer content enhancements. A focus will be placed on lower-funnel creator and influencer partnerships, with a dotted line to the Consumer Engagement team who lead on organic strategy, ensuring a seamless social experience that reflects the Rust-Oleum brand and values. The role will lead affiliate work with influencer, social, and media agencies, recruit, onboard, and manage a portfolio of affiliate creators and partners, and develop long-term relationships that drive incremental sales and content production. Support will be provided on retail media networks in partnership with Media Strategy Managers, including plan activation, project management of timelines, development of briefs, sourcing of content, and building strong relationships with Rust-Oleum retail partners. The specialist will define strategy to optimize influencer or creator content for advertising in conjunction with agencies and the Consumer Engagement team, and evolve media affiliate strategy based on data, acting as a thought leader in the affiliate marketing space for Rust-Oleum. The role aims to drive sales while supporting broader brand awareness, consideration, and confidence objectives, and to educate end-users and build confidence when using Rust-Oleum products. Support will also be provided for affiliate negotiations, commission structures, creator agreements, and promotional opportunities with agency partners and creators.

Requirements

3-5 years of experience in affiliate marketing, influencer marketing, performance media, retail media, e-commerce marketing, or social commerce.
Bachelor’s Degree in Communications, Marketing, Public Relations or related field.
Experience managing creator or affiliate campaigns focused on measurable sales outcomes.
Strong analytical skills with the ability to translate performance data into optimization recommendations.
Experience using digital advertising/social media channels, tools, techniques and best practices for business.
Experience analyzing marketing data and social analytics and identifying/communicating key insights.
Working knowledge social listening and publishing tools including social listening software.
Working knowledge of retail affiliate and creator ecosystems, including Amazon Creator Connections, Amazon Influencer Program, retailer-owned creator programs, and commerce-driven social platforms.
Experience with affiliate platforms and creator commerce ecosystems such as Amazon Influencer, Impact, Rakuten, Partnerize, CreatorIQ, LTK, ShopMy or similar platforms.
Working knowledge of web, search and social analytics tools.
Team player with the ability to collaborate across a cross-functional team.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting retail media programs.
Experience within consumer goods, home improvement, or retail environments.
Experience with Sprout a plus.
Experience with Google Analytics, Facebook Insights, or Pinterest Analytics a plus.

Responsibilities

Identify, develop, and activate relationships with high-value talent and creators for affiliate programs to drive sales.
Partner with Sales, E-Commerce, Integrated Marketing, Media Strategy, and Consumer Engagement teams.
Improve conversion performance through affiliate content, PDP optimization, ratings and reviews, and retailer content enhancements.
Focus on lower-funnel creator and influencer partnerships, ensuring a seamless social experience aligned with brand values.
Lead affiliate work with influencer, social, and media agencies.
Recruit, onboard, and manage a portfolio of affiliate creators and partners, fostering long-term relationships for sales and content production.
Support retail media networks, including plan activation, timeline management, brief development, content sourcing, and partner relationship building.
Define strategy to optimize influencer or creator content for advertising.
Evolve media affiliate strategy based on data and act as a thought leader in affiliate marketing.
Drive sales while supporting brand awareness, consideration, and confidence objectives.
Educate end-users and build confidence in product usage.
Support affiliate negotiations, commission structures, creator agreements, and promotional opportunities.
Harness data to understand end-user motivations and optimize strategies.
Maintain reporting cadence on KPIs, sales, and strategies.
Understand affiliate tracking, attribution, commission structures, and conversion measurement.
Monitor affiliate program performance and optimize tactics to improve ROAS, sales, and efficiency.
Manage affiliate and creator budget allocations.
Drive optimization based on real-time insights to measure impact on purchase intent, point of sale, and brand affinity.
Drive conversions through optimized, cohesive marketing content.
Analyze affiliate performance using attribution and retail sales data to identify growth opportunities and optimize investment decisions.
Evaluate incremental sales impact, ROAS, conversion rate, click-through rate, and other key affiliate KPIs.