SHARON WHITING

sharonwhiting1@comcast.net

SUMMARY

Experienced Consumer Marketing Manager with thorough knowledge of online and print content and product marketing. Skillful at driving marketing campaigns from concept to finish.  Communicates effectively with all levels of an organization. Customer-focused.  Skilled marketing writer.  Adept at identifying and articulating customers’ passions.  Expert at accelerating subscription revenue growth by increasing lifetime value.  Strong increases in revenue growth, average LTV, ROI on marketing campaigns. Strengths include:

• Analysis and forecasting
• Creative execution
• Campaign management
• Customer relationship management
• Leading cross-functional teams
• Building relationships

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Yahoo! Inc, Sunnyvale CA 2005 - 2009

Rivals.com, the largest network of college fan community sites online was purchased by Yahoo! July 2007. It is known as the authority on college football recruiting. Premium subscriptions generate approximately 80% of Rivals.com revenue.

Brand Marketing Manager, 2007 - 2009

Developed and implemented all subscription marketing for college division of Yahoo! Sports.  Advised and assisted team site publishers with marketing efforts including copywriting of ads, message board postings and emails. Developed and maintained Rivals marketing calendar.  Developed and produced traffic, subscription and revenue reporting and analysis for senior management.

• Increased subscriptions by 18% from July 2007 to December 2008 using various subscription incentives and seasonal promotions.
• Developed partnership with Sports Illustrated to provide magazine subscriptions as incentives for annual memberships.
• Increased average lifetime value of subscriptions 10% by increasing annual % of subscriptions 19%.

Circulation Director, Rivals.com 2005 - 2007

Developed and implemented all consumer marketing campaigns for subscriptions, sponsored games and features.  Advised and assisted team site publishers with marketing and user community development efforts. Wrote all ads, message board postings, emails and press releases.  Secured user comments and postings for testimonial ads. Created process for upgrades from monthly memberships to annuals. Introduced and promoted new and special features for subscribers. Developed and maintained Rivals marketing calendar. Developed and produced traffic, subscription and revenue reporting and analysis for senior management.

• Increased subscriptions by 50% within two years.
• Implemented launch of text alerts product.
• Championed conversion of text alerts to annual membership feature, created and implemented conversion campaign.
• Designed aggressive campaign for Rivals.com NCAA bracket game including emails, message boards and publisher incentive program, which resulted in 200% increase in players in 2007.

University of Washington Extension, Seattle WA 2005

Email Marketing Manager

Implemented all PPC campaigns and email promotions promoting UW Extension and individual Extension programs, wrote all copy and provided results analysis, using proprietary list management and email programs.

• Improved efficiency of UW Extension emails, increasing click through by 15%.

pH Sciences, Inc, Seattle Wa 2003 - 2005

Nutritional supplement manufacturer and distributor that develops and produces alkalizing dietary supplements that improve lifestyle and healthy aging with a healthy body pH.

Direct Marketing Manager

Created online direct to consumer channel for alkalizing dietary supplements.  Executed all marketing activities including search and PPC campaigns, email marketing, online sales efforts, continuity programs and online surveys.

• Converted pH Sciences to new shopping cart (1Shoppingcart.com), brought online orders from 5% of total direct business to 65% within two years.
• Created multi-effort autoresponder email series targeted by product and by prospect type, resulting in growth of repeat purchases from 6% to 41% of sales.

ESPN Internet Group, Seattle WA  1997-2001

(formerly Starwave Corporation)

Marketing Director 2000 - 2001

Managed a team of eight marketing specialists, including online media buyer, market research analyst, and creative staff. Created and managed $6 M annual marketing budget. Coordinated cross-promotion efforts with ESPN TV, Radio and Magazine divisions. Supervised production of first-ever TV ads for ESPN.com, 3-Play and fantasy games. Managed ongoing market research program including surveys, focus groups and usability testing.

• Planned and implemented branding and launch for 3Play game on ESPN.com, resulting in over 2 million unique registered users.
• Contributed to ESPN.com growth from 6.2 million to 10.8 million in unique users, from 1998 to 2000.
• Grew exposure to 30 “18/58” TV crawlers per day and 10-12 radio mentions per week.

Senior Product Marketing Manager 1999 - 2000

Developed and implemented marketing campaigns for ESPN Insider and Fantasy Games.  Coordinated online portion of ESPN Magazine launch marketing. 

• Increased customer base and revenue for online subscription product ESPN Insider by 50% in one year.
• Increased fantasy games revenue and customer base by 75% during same time period.
• Brought in the first 25,000 subscriptions for ESPN Magazine.

Marketing Manager 1997 - 1999

Consolidated premium content into subscription product called ESPN Insider, conducted launch and all marketing for Insider and fantasy games. Developed online and offline marketing materials.

• Established ESPN Insider as a product.
• Instituted ad tracking for internal promotions.
• Created and implemented premiums and celebrity newsletters as subscription incentives.

Previous Marketing Experience in the magazine publishing and online content industries, including Sail Magazine (1981-1986), Canoe Magazine (1986-1987), Pinnacle Publishing (1993-1997), and Wizards of the Coast (1997).

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Arts, Economics, Reed College, Portland OR