Growth Marketing Manager, Direct Response

BAD Marketing · United States · $90k – $120k · posted today ago

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About this role

About The Role

We're looking for a strategist who can own growth across a pod of 5-8 clients in our direct response/info marketing division. You'll lead a cross-functional team - managing a media buyer, copywriter, and PM - and you'll be the person responsible for making sure every client has a real plan, real goals, and someone actively driving toward them.

This is the most senior client-facing role in the division and you are setting the strategic direction for each client's marketing - offer positioning, funnel strategy, creative direction, KPIs - and then leading your team to execute against it. When something's working, you know why; when something's not, you've already diagnosed the constraint and you're prescribing a fix, not waiting for the client to notice.

You're also a people manager. Your pod reports to you, which means setting priorities, running 1:1s, giving direct feedback, developing your people, and holding the standard on everything that leaves your pod. A strategist who does good strategy, but doesn't lead their team is only doing half of the job.

What Success Looks Like

Every client has documented goals broken down from quarterly to monthly to weekly, with specific KPIs - not vague targets or whatever the client said they wanted on the sales call
Your clients feel like someone is actively driving their growth, not maintaining what's already running and they trust you as an advisor
You lead client calls with a clear agenda, performance context, and recommendations which are prepared well before
When results are off, you can point to the specific constraint - not just "CPL is up." You know whether it's a creative fatigue issue, a funnel conversion problem, an offer misalignment, or a media buying execution gap, and you've already started working on it
Your team knows what they're working on and why it matters: they understand how their work connects to the client's goals
Your PM trusts you to push strategic initiatives proactively so they can build the plan. You're not making them guess what's next or chase you for direction
Team members on your pod are developing - they're getting real feedback, growing their skills, and they feel like they work for someone who's invested in them - not just someone who assigns work

A Day In This Role

Morning: You start the day reviewing performance across your accounts. Not deep analysis yet - a pulse check. Where's spend pacing? Any KPIs trending outside range? Any client messages that need your attention versus things your PM can handle? You walk into your pod standup knowing where each client stands and what the priorities are for the day so you can guide your team.

Throughout the day:

Lead or prep for client calls - clear agenda, updated performance narrative, strategic recommendations ready
Review team output: copy, creative briefs, funnel pages, ad concepts. You're checking that everything aligns with the strategy and meets the quality bar before it reaches the client
Push new strategic initiatives to your PM - a new funnel test, an offer restructure, a creative direction shift
Handle the judgment calls that require strategic thinking: a client pushing back on your recommendation, a media buyer flagging a performance anomaly, a copywriter unsure which direction to take on messaging

Meetings: You lead client calls while your PM captures action items and handles the follow-up, but you own the strategic conversation - performance narrative, recommendations, expectation management, the hard conversations when results aren't where they need to be.

Weekly rhythm: 1:1s with every direct report, priority sync with your PM, funnel mapping maintenance in Miro, and written client updates whether or not there's a call that week. You ensure reporting data is current and accurate - you don't necessarily pull every number, but you make sure the infrastructure is in place and the data is right.

Experience & Requirements

5+ years in a marketing role - ideally in direct response, info/coaching, or performance marketing environments where you've owned client outcomes, not just deliverables
Demonstrated experience managing a team - this isn't your first time being responsible for other people's performance
Cross-discipline marketing competency: you don't need to be the best media buyer, copywriter, or funnel builder in the room, but you need to know what good looks like across all of them. You're directing and QA'ing work across paid media, copy, creative, funnels, and offers - you can't do that if you only understand one lane
Experience with offer strategy and positioning - pricing, packaging, and understanding what makes an offer convert in the info/coaching space
Clear written and verbal communication - you adapt how you communicate based on who you're talking to: strategic narrative for clients, clear direction for your team, concise context and recommendations for directors
Experience working in async-first environments
You use AI tools where they actually help - data analysis, research, consolidation - and you understand where they don't

You'll Do Well Here If

You think in terms of goals and constraints, not just campaigns and deliverables. "What is the client trying to achieve and what's actually in the way?" is how your brain works
You lead from the front - you set direction, make calls, and own the outcome
You're comfortable being wrong and adjusting - strategy is iterative. You set a plan, watch the data, and course correct when the numbers tell you to - you don't dig in on a bad plan because it was your idea
You're a people leader, not just a strategist with direct reports. Developing your team, giving real feedback, and building trust with the people who work for you matters to you
You push back when something doesn't make sense - with clients, with your team, with leadership. You do it with data and reasoning, not ego
You stay current on platforms, tools, and industry shifts
You're energized by the problem-solving side of this work - diagnosing why a funnel isn't converting, figuring out the right offer structure, identifying the one variable that's dragging performance

This Probably Isn't For You If

You see this role as account management with a strategy title. Keeping clients happy is part of the job, but if there's no plan and no measurable progress, the relationship doesn't matter
You default to reactive mode - waiting for problems to surface on client calls instead of catching them in the data first
You're not comfortable managing people - delegation is not the same as leadership
You avoid hard conversations - whether that's telling a client their expectations are unrealistic or telling a team member their work isn't at the standard
You rely on gut feel over data - the "I think this will work" answer, without being able to articulate your reasoning that is rooted in data and experience
You're looking for a role where you can specialize in one discipline: this role requires breadth across media, copy, creative, funnels, and offers
You treat AI as either a replacement for strategic thinking or something you can ignore entirely

ABOUT BAD MARKETING:

We're a team of 170+ passionate leaders and creatives who have worked diligently to make BAD Marketing one of the largest and most robust Growth Marketing Agencies in the world. At the core of our philosophy is the belief that excellence stems from a united team working toward a common objective: to not only help our clients grow profitably but also to provide them with an experience they can’t find anywhere else.

We specialize in info/coaching, local lead generation, e-commerce, and information marketing; catering to clients that span from auto and local shop owners, to online consumer product brands, and more. Our approach to success involves more than just Bold And Disruptive strategies. We invest in our team through extensive training, continuous support for growth and learning, and the cultivation of a happy and confident company culture. For us, finding fulfillment in your career is just as crucial as excelling in it.

BENEFITS:

Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance plans (US Residents Only)
PTO
Paid US Holidays
Opportunities for professional development and advancement within the organization.
A collaborative and innovative work environment with a focus on creativity and results.