Marketing Director

At Forge, we strive to foster a diverse and inclusive community. We actively recruit and champion candidates who bring new perspectives from varied professional backgrounds and experiences, and we are intentional about ensuring a positive hiring experience for everyone. Our job postings don’t contain experience inflation, and most don’t require college degrees. Instead, they’re crafted to focus on outcomes and transferable experiences that are assessed in a structured interview process carried out by trained hiring teams. 

·       Lead the annual CEDIA Expo marketing strategy, campaign calendar, and budget, aligning priorities with attendance, exhibitor, sponsorship, and revenue goals.

·       Define audience segments, personas, and customer journeys for systems integrators, installers, smart home and AV manufacturers, design and build professionals, and IT and networking specialists; tailor messaging to each audience’s needs.

·       Develop integrated attendee acquisition, retention, and reactivation campaigns using email, marketing automation, paid search, paid social, organic social, content, and partner channels.

·       Partner with sales to develop exhibitor and sponsorship value propositions, sales collateral, prospecting campaigns, and lead-nurturing programs that support new business and renewals.

·       Coach, develop, and inspire the marketing team; establish clear priorities, accountability, and opportunities for professional growth while remaining hands-on in execution.

·       Manage marketing spend and channel performance; establish KPIs, monitor registration conversion, acquisition costs, engagement, and sales lead generation, and use testing and reporting to optimize results.

·       Lead pre-show, on-site, and post-show marketing, including registration communications, exhibitor marketing toolkits, education and show-feature promotion, and follow-up campaigns.

·       Own brand positioning, messaging, and content strategy; oversee website updates, landing pages, creative assets, and compelling copy that communicates the value of attending and exhibiting.

·       Develop social media, community engagement, public relations, and industry partnership programs; collaborate with CEDIA, media partners, exhibitors, and internal teams to extend reach and maintain consistent messaging.

·       7+ years of progressive marketing experience, with experience leading integrated B2B campaigns.

·       People management and team leadership experience, with a hands-on, collaborative approach to coaching and execution.

·       Digital marketing experience across email, paid search/PPC, paid social, SEO, social media, and web analytics.

·       Experience with Hubspot, Salesforce, or comparable CRM and marketing automation platforms, including segmentation, lead nurturing, and campaign reporting.

·       Experience managing agencies, creative resources, media partners, and other external vendors.

·       Strong planning, prioritization, project management, and organizational skills, with the ability to manage multiple campaigns and event deadlines.

·       Demonstrated ability to use data to improve audience acquisition, registration conversion, campaign performance, and website effectiveness.

·       Experience developing marketing plans, managing budgets, and communicating performance against business objectives.

·       Excellent copywriting, presentation, and communication skills, with the ability to tailor messaging for attendee, exhibitor, and sponsor audiences.

·       Ability to build strong cross-functional relationships and thrive in a fast-paced, collaborative environment while demonstrating the company’s values.

·       Ability to travel to events periodically, up to 15% annually, for up to a week at a time.

·       BS/BA in Marketing, Communications, Business, or a related field preferred.

·       Trade show, conference, or event marketing experience preferred.

·       Interest in or familiarity with residential systems integration, smart home technology, AV, lighting, automation, security, or networking preferred.