Follett Content Solutions has been a trusted partner for educators since 1873! We support our educators that touch more than 45 million students worldwide. Follett Content Solutions helps build a diverse collection of print and digital resources to support every student. We are currently hiring for a Strategic Marketing Lead, School & Public Libraries. This position is a full-time exempt position located in McHenry, IL. The pay range for this position is $103,000.00 - $115,000.00 and is bonus eligible. We offer a hybrid work schedule with 3 days in the office (Monday, Tuesday & Thursday) and 2 remote days (Wednesday & Friday). We will consider remote for the right candidate. We offer an array of benefits, to see those benefits click here

Any pay range disclosed is based upon a combination of neutral factors such as required qualifications, experience, education, skill, training, certifications, seniority, etc. Follett Content Solutions reserves the right to provide any successful candidate a salary at the most appropriate level set as a result of such candidate’ qualifications, experience, education, skill, training, certifications or seniority.

Position Overview:

The Strategic Marketing Lead, Library is a forward-thinking marketing leader who drives growth and engagement across our school and public library businesses. This role is responsible for developing and executing integrated marketing strategies that strengthen our brand, support sales, and deepen our relationships with library customers nationwide.

The ideal candidate brings a blend of strategic vision, team leadership, and hands-on marketing execution—balancing the needs of two unique but connected markets: school libraries and public libraries. This leader ensures our marketing efforts are aligned to business priorities, customer insights, and our commitment to literacy, learning, and community impact.

The Strategic Marketing Lead, Library is responsible for driving market strategy, positioning, messaging, and go-to-market execution across both the school library and public library markets. This role combines deep market insight with cross-functional leadership to ensure our products, services, and communications resonate with librarians and other decision-makers who serve young readers. The ideal candidate will be both strategic and hands-on, able to bridge customer understanding with impactful marketing programs that drive awareness, engagement, revenue growth, and retention.

Success in this role looks like…

• Clear, differentiated market positioning that strengthens brand leadership across both school and public library markets.
• Aligned, data-informed go-to-market plans that drive measurable growth in customer acquisition and engagement.
• Strong collaboration between marketing, sales, and product teams to deliver seamless customer experiences.

A unified voice and strategy that celebrates our deep roots in education while expanding our relevance in the broader library ecosystem.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Marketing Leadership

• Develop and implement comprehensive marketing strategies for both the school and public library segments, driving growth, engagement, and retention.
• Partner with business leadership to align marketing plans to overall company goals, market trends, and customer needs.
• Partner with product management to shape product roadmaps based on customer and market insights.
• Lead positioning, messaging, and go-to-market strategy for key products, services, and brand initiatives across both markets.
• Champion a unified brand identity while tailoring communications and campaigns to the unique priorities of each audience.
• Partner closely with Product Management, Corporate Marketing, Lead Generation, Sales, and Customer Success to ensure cohesive storytelling and market alignment.
• Serve as main point of contact for all marketing-related inquiries pertaining to school and public libraries.
• Prepare presentations, when requested, that highlight marketing plans, actions, outcomes, etc.

Market and Customer Insights

• In partnership with Product Manager, Library, serve as company expert on both the school and public library landscapes — funding, competitive landscape, customer challenges, etc.
• Stay current on trends in education, libraries, literacy, and publishing to inform strategy and uncover growth opportunities.
• Use data and research to understand customer behaviors and decision-making in both the school and public library ecosystems.
• Gather feedback from customers, sales, and partners to continuously refine messaging and product-market fit.
• Translate insights into actionable marketing strategies and differentiated positioning.

Go-To-Market Planning and Execution

• Champion development of marketing campaigns that drive awareness, demand, and loyalty across multiple channels (email, web, events, social, PR, etc.).
• Collaborate closely with lead generation, creative, and communications teams to execute campaigns.
• Lead the creation of launch plans for new products, services, and features.
• Direct thought leadership and storytelling initiatives that reinforce the company’s role as a trusted partner to librarians.
• Be responsible and accountable for ensuring a consistent and high-quality customer experience through all asset development.
• In partnership with Product Manager, Library, ensure products and services are merchandised effectively on Titlewave and follettcontent.com and align to campaigns, as appropriate, to ensure maximum impact. Work closely with Curations Team to ensure we have updated lists to support all key initiatives and special occasions celebrated by school and public libraries.
• Responsible for complete oversight and development of an integrated marketing plan focused on retention knowing 85% of our current topline revenue is attributed to our school library business. Create and direct all support resources on retention strategies ensuring accountability.
• Develop strategies and tactics to elevate referral business.
• Establish KPIs and work in partnership with analytic resources to build dashboards to track marketing effectiveness and ROI.
• Sponsor continuous improvement through testing, data analysis, and performance optimization.

Cross-Functional Collaboration and Partnership

• Working in close partnership with sales leadership, identify marketing resources needed to support Sales/SDRs in reaching company-established goals.
• Oversee all asset creation ensuring each adheres to brand standards and is accurate and effective. This means reviewing and approving daily projects/tasks to ensure team output is the best it can be before being shared with internal and external stakeholders.
• Partner with sales leadership to align marketing and sales strategies, ensuring mutual visibility and accountability for results.
• Collaborate with customer success, product, and operations teams to enhance the customer experience.
• Support executive communications and thought leadership initiatives that reinforce our market leadership.
• Work in partnership with events team to ensure our presence at all tradeshows and regional and local conferences is reflective of current focus areas/strategies and all assets adhere to brand standards, are accurate, and position us well to engage with prospective and current customers to drive new business and retain existing.
• Work closely with Director of Partner Management/Publisher Relations to ensure close collaboration on cooperative advertising campaigns and assets targeted to our library personas to ensure maximum impact.

Marketing Leadership for Future Growth Targets

• In partnership with other senior leaders, support existing growth areas and identify future areas for growth, determine potential revenue impact, and project what investment would be needed to achieve that growth.
• Communicate regularly with all marketing team members on expansion activities and ensure the team is allocating the appropriate headcount and budget to support expansion.

Budget and Resourcing Responsibility

• Prepare and submit budget and related reports.
• Ensure revenue and expenses meet or exceed budget.
• Forecast and accurately project expenses.
• Take corrective action to address variances.
• In partnership with other marketing leaders, evaluate freelancers and/or contractors, as needed, to support workload. This includes vetting, contract negotiations, communications, onboarding, and management.

Requirements:

• 10+ years of progressive marketing leadership experience, ideally in education, publishing, libraries, or related sectors.
• Proven success managing strategic marketing across multiple customer segments or business lines.
• Strong understanding of library systems, educators, literacy trends, and book buying workflows.
• Demonstrated ability to translate insights into actionable marketing strategies and measurable results.
• Proven track record of successfully launching new products and growing brand presence in existing markets.
• Strong understanding of project management and how to manage the priorities of multiple stakeholders in a complex environment, while keeping focus on the delivery of results in the form of awareness, engagement, and revenue.
• Excellent communication, collaboration, and interpersonal skills, with a demonstrated ability to influence and align stakeholders at all levels.
• Ability to work and thrive in a fast-paced environment and be intellectually curious.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to leverage data and insights to develop actionable strategies and recommendations.
• Passionate about reading, learning, and the library community.
• Strong project management skills with a history of successfully leading and delivering complex initiatives.
• Flexibility to adapt to changing priorities and manage ambiguity.
• Demonstrated leadership skills, including the ability to motivate and inspire cross-functional teams.
• Deep understanding of market trends and product lifecycles.
• Sharp negotiation tactics.
• Market research and assessment experience.
• eCommerce experience is highly desired but not required.
• Experience in product marketing is highly desired but not required.

We are an Equal Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, physical or mental disability, genetic factors, military/veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law. As an Equal Opportunity Employer, we are committed to providing reasonable accommodations to job applicants with disabilities. If you are interested in applying for employment and need assistance or an accommodation in the application process due to a disability, please contact us by email or phone.

• Email: Send request to fcshr@follettcontent.com
• Phone: Request assistance by calling 800.773.7010 x45130

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