Marika Mckissick, Marketing Expert in Atlanta, GA, United States
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Marika Mckissick

Verified Expert  in Marketing

Marketing Expert

Location
Atlanta, GA, United States
Toptal Member Since
May 29, 2023

Marika is a passionate data-driven marketer with more than ten years of experience providing leadership in the development and execution of strategic marketing campaigns, advertising, branding, content strategy, digital marketing, and operations. Marika's direct experience includes developing and overseeing digital strategy, leading strategic marketing initiatives, and optimizing digital performance across paid, earned, and owned media.

Project Highlights

New Digital Donor and Email Marketing Program
Developed and initiated a new digital donor marketing program in addition to revamping and transitioning to Salesforce to relaunch and scale the email marketing program.
Digital First Content Marketing and SEO Strategy
Successfully audited clients' websites to improve user experience, enhance SEO, and write and promote content based on digital insights and SEO best practices.
Rebranded and Introduced New Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategy
Helped initiate and orchestrate the rebranding of The College of Southern Maryland through new taglines, creatives, website redesign, and collateral.

Expertise

Work Experience

Senior Strategist

2022 - 2023
Pace Communications
  • Worked with client and internal teams to develop a new digital-first content strategy.
  • Orchestrated SEO keyword research, scoped the digital archive for story optimization strategies, set KPIs, and defined content pillars aligned with the website.
  • Led the content strategy and digital-first omnichannel strategy for the client.

Director of Digital Strategy

2021 - 2022
RKD Group
  • Designed a new campaign that integrated Spotify playlists to elicit engagement and awareness, which had never been done before.
  • Led and collaborated across departments to define processes and systems, campaign execution, and campaign performance management.
  • Managed the development and the new strategy for e-newsletters for major donors.

Director of Marketing

2017 - 2021
The Salvation Army
  • Developed the 1st-ever customer marketing program for The Salvation Army retail stores and eCommerce website.
  • Built the first loyalty program that levered micro-influencers and loyal customers to promote The Salvation Army stores, where they earned discounts in return.
  • Designed a new omnichannel marketing program that generated a new line of revenue, sales, and customer management system.
  • Redesigned the email marketing program, transitioned to Salesforce, and integrated a new donation platform.

Integrated Marketing Coordinator

2011 - 2016
The College of Southern Maryland
  • Helped initiate and orchestrate the rebranding of the college after 15 years of using its existing brand.
  • Developed their 1st-ever social media strategy and digital marketing strategy to reach enrollment and retention rates.
  • Developed their first social media policy and training program.
  • Launched their 1st-ever omnichannel marketing program that included PPC, paid social, radio, TV, YouTube, print, direct mail, and out-of-home advertising.

The Salvation Army Customer Marketing and Loyalty Program

Built the 1st-ever customer marketing program that featured online and offline marketing, a point of sale (POS), and a new loyalty program. As a result of the new program, The Salvation Army increased MOM revenue by 15% in the first month of launch.

Before launching the customer marketing program, The Salvation Army was only budgeting and marketing toward soliciting donations. After several months of research and final approval, I developed a cohesive marketing program that leveraged micro-influencers, social media, and digital marketing to increase brand awareness, sales, and repeat customers, which increased annual revenue.

New Digital Donor and Email Marketing Program

Developed and initiated a new digital donor marketing program in addition to revamping and transitioning to Salesforce to relaunch and scale the email marketing program.

After several years of relying solely on email marketing and 80% of email lists going to spam, the organization knew it needed to make a change. As a result, my team and I worked to migrate from internal CRM to Salesforce as the new CRM and email platform and integrated the new donor platform, Classy. Upon migration to Salesforce, I developed a new email acquisition campaign using Facebook. I redesigned the email marketing program to retain new donors and re-engaged existing donors through personalization and dynamic data that increased retention, revenue, and click-through rates.

Digital First Content Marketing and SEO Strategy

Successfully audited clients' websites to improve user experience, enhance SEO, and write and promote content based on digital insights and SEO best practices.

Historically, our client has always used their print magazine to inform digital content. However, we executed a digital-first strategy to improve SEO, brand authority, and user experience. Using this strategy, we leveraged digital insights, user data, and historical data to inform the content that would provide more value to our audiences and improve SEO and ranking.

Rebranded and Introduced New Digital Marketing and Social Media Strategy

Helped initiate and orchestrate the rebranding of The College of Southern Maryland through new taglines, creatives, website redesign, and collateral.

Developed The College of Southern Maryland's 1st-ever social media strategy and adopted digital marketing into their marketing strategy to better acquire and retain students. As a result, enrollment increased the following year by 20%, and the college was able to have an omnichannel marketing strategy that represented the entire customer journey.
2009 - 2011

Master's Degree in Public Relations and Corporate Communication

Georgetown University - Washington, DC, US

2002 - 2006

Bachelor's Degree in Mass Communications

Howard University - Washington, DC, US

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