Spark No.9 is looking for a sharp-witted Marketing & UX Designer
What if market research produced actionable strategies, not just insight?
Spark No. 9 uses ad campaigns to test new product concepts, pivots, and brand positioning at a strategic level. Our methodology is more effective than traditional market research because a) we reach people in real-life settings–social media, and b) we track actual behavior–clicks on ads, signups on landing pages, and so on.
We are experts at defining online audiences, using lifestyle and other factors, and then identifying how to frame brand and message to resonate effectively with each audience. Our goal: to create road-tested, scalable, statistically valid customer acquisition strategies for our clients. Our deliverable: working models for customer acquisition.
We are in search of a Marketing & UX Designer who can move seamlessly between strategy and implementation. You are experienced in designing customer journeys that start with thumb-stopping ad creative; continue on cleverly designed landing pages, email campaigns, and remarketing; and conclude with an action on the part of the user. Equally important: you are able to design multiple, distinct, parallel customer paths that can be tested side by side to determine the best way to develop and launch a new product. And you aren’t fazed by the fact that the new product may not yet exist.
You believe that design drives human understanding, and you are willing to open up your hypotheses about effective design to behavioral research. You have an intellectual interest in what makes an effective ad or email subject line, and you are willing to experiment to prove it. You are highly goal-oriented and willing a) to eliminate what isn’t producing results and b) invent and iterate as needed to achieve desired results—because it’s all part of a process of learning
While your focus is on the strategy of the end-to-end customer journey, you are happy to roll up your sleeves to make the journey happen. While you may not have formal training in graphic design or coding, you can build a landing page or wrangle an email template to bring the user experience to life. You view new software as a way to achieve better results, and you have likely taught yourself how to use a website-builder or design program.
At Spark, we practice real-time design—moving quickly from concept to mock to customer testing. You will be tasked with bringing to life new product offerings for many different types of businesses in a way that drives engagement and conversion. Although we have high standards and love all things visual, we are not precious. We care more about your ability to achieve a goal with research, words, images, and data than we do about pixel-perfect design.
We are strong believers in smart people who wear multiple hats – the mortars, if you will. If you have a non-traditional background (studied philosophy, took a year off to hike through the Andes), and believe you would kill it at this job, we want to hear from you.
Primary Responsibilities:
- Design multiple, distinct, parallel customer experiences for new and repositioned products
- Collaborate with Spark team to structure tests for each stage of a potential customer’s interaction (ad, landing page, email. etc.)
- Build user-centric landing pages, quickly, to align with testing goals
- Use behavioral data to guide decision-making at every stage of the customer journey
- Interact with Spark’s clients to bring customer experience to life within their customer ecosystem and with Spark’s design team to build assets required for each type of test
- Work with Spark’s analytical team to ensure that tracking mechanisms (e.g., UTM) codes are in place at each stage of the journey
- Use behavioral data to support strategy development; communicate recommended strategy to client
Ideal Candidate:
- You are thoughtful and highly motivated
- You love working collaboratively and aren’t precious about your work
- You love social media, and have an implicit understanding of how all major platforms work
- You have at least two years of relative work experience
- You have a great portfolio of work you’re proud of, and you want to build it by exploring areas you think you’d be great at, but haven’t had the chance to try
- You’re eager to work at Spark No.9 and feel passionately about what we’re building
- Bonus: You love language, you can write, and you believe that content is part of design, not something that is slotted in afterwards
Future Growth Potential: Spark No.9 is a rapidly growing firm. There will be many ways for you to evolve your role as the company continues to get bigger and better.
To apply, please write Amanda (in conversational human-form, not cover-letter form) at [email protected], and send along your resume and a link to your portfolio.
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