Director,
Digital Experience
May 2022 - January 2023
Director,
Digital Experience & Lifecycle Marketing
January 2023 - October 2023
Key Accomplishments:
Developed and executed a comprehensive B2C and B2B digital strategy that increased consumer applications by approximately 60 per month, leading to an overall revenue increase of 30% YoY, equivalent to $9M per year.
Key Responsibilities:
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Increased Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) by 275% by implementing the organization’s first sprint planning process for all cross-functional key stakeholders. This improvement greatly enhanced productivity for multiple team members, facilitating an organized and swift decision-making process while managing multiple projects.
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Led and managed a team of 7 direct reports responsible for development, copywriting, graphic design, SEO, email marketing, and user experience. Decreased the website bounce rate to less than 50% (a company first) by implementing dozens of UX improvements.
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Oversaw and launched a comprehensive revamp of the website and a complete rebranding that resulted in a 7% YOY increase in matriculations. Each step was strategically synchronized with business objectives and coordinated across various channels, including blog posts, B2B and B2C Email Marketing, Social Media Campaigns, Digital Development, A/B Testing, SEO, and Graphic Design.
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Maintained and organized the website’s backend system (WordPress) and asset library, and ordered the design and development of new WordPress blocks and features in order to improve the customer user experience to increase both B2C and B2B applications.
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Oversaw, wrote, and launched the organization’s first AI chatbot, in order to route potential students to the correct team, based on self-written natural language questions. This cut down on turn-around time by 5 business days between inbound leads and initial interviews with the Admissions team.
About My Role
I joined Flatiron School in 2022 and had the honor of leading a very talented group of Digital Marketers. My team included Content, Design, Development, SEO, Lifecycle Marketing, and more. We made many improvements to the website that ultimately led to an increase in MQLs, applications and B2B leads, while also drastically decreasing bounce rate.
One of the largest undertakings in this role was a complete re-branding, which featured simpler, more natural language, and brighter imagery, among many other things.
With an non-traditional sales funnel that spans more than 45 days, the application page is one of the company's main focuses. Testing this page was incredibly complicated, but through many small tests, that were done in isolation from each other, we were able to increase the overall number of applications, which increased matriculations, and of course, revenue.
Without promotional or sales codes, and a fixed-price product that is very hard to discount, scholarships were the one lever that our team had access to, in ordered to help drive applications during times of need. In the example above, we created a stand-alone page that featured available scholarships and added the page to the website's global header, which helped drive applications and scholarship use during those times of need.
Professional Recommendations
Anna Van Deusen
My Direct Report
I had the pleasure to work for Mike as a Marketing Content Manager during his 1.5 years as the Director of Digital Experience at Flatiron School. When I say that Mike is the best boss I’ve ever had, I’m not exaggerating. It’s a rare thing in a supervisor to combine both the macro vision to develop and execute effective strategy, while still having the skills to get “in the trenches” so to speak on just about any project that came our team’s way. Whether it was spitballing copy, redesigning a web page, or something in between, Mike was ready to support me in any way he could - whether I just needed feedback, or help in crafting the final product.
What’s more, he is a genuine leader in the truest sense of the word. No matter what was happening in the greater company or the downward pressure from leadership, he worked to keep our team positive and maintain a low-pressure environment in which we felt confident to explore, iterate, and grow. He is a champion, a mentor, and an all-around great guy. I hope I get to work with him again one day!
Catherine Sommerfeld
Colleague
Mike is the kind of marketer every team needs: smart, strategic, and always willing to jump in and help. Mike joined Flatiron School shortly after I did and immediately started implementing structure in the Digital Experience team.
No matter the project, Mike always had a creative solution and ensured things kept moving forward. He had the ability to work seamlessly with both internal and external partners, because Mike is an all around great guy. I miss working with him, and I’d welcome the opportunity to work with him again.
Any company would be lucky to have him.
Sara Keith
Colleague
I'm so glad I had had the opportunity to work with Mike as part of the Marketing Leadership Team at Flatiron School. As the Director of Digital Experience, he was amazingly knowledgeable of all things digital and could turn around tight-deadlines (read: needed yesterday) in a blink of an eye -- truly a needed skill on a lean marketing team! I didn't work for Mike directly, but he was wonderful to work with and it was clear his team enjoyed working for him. He very much has a genuine willingness to address team challenges and roll up his sleeves to help.
I could bring any project to Mike and get his opinion, options, and what he thought would work best to fit the situation. He was pivotal in bringing my digital projects to fruition and I'm so grateful he was there. His support was invaluable to me and the rest of the marketing team as a whole. Mike is one of the best marketers I've worked with and I truly hope I get the opportunity to work with him in the future.