Public Relations & Marketing Specialist

About the position

WGN Radio is seeking outgoing professionals to lead our Public Relations and Marketing efforts which include the area of entertainment, sports, lifestyle and spoken word. This is an interdepartmental and cross-company relationship role that works with many personalities. This position is a resource to multiple departments with a mix of wearing both creative and analytical hats.

Responsibilities

• Develop strategic partnerships with organizations across the market for potential cross-promotional and revenue opportunities.
• Work with sports team partners to develop cross-promotional and revenue opportunities (on-site and off-site broadcasts, contests, etc.).
• Create and manage promotional sales opportunities that also help market WGN and on-air talent.
• Manage WGN Radio marketing promo inventory.
• Write, schedule and traffic contest and event promos as needed.
• Manage on-air PSAs – scheduling and trafficking.
• Collaborate across the station with all departments – talent, programming, traffic and sales – on initiatives and programs.
• Collaborate and liaise with sales team on program ideation for prospective clients, recommendations on best practices and program execution.
• Maintain wgnradio.com/events and wgnradio.com/contests pages, the home page 'PROMOTIONS' section and WGN Radio history timeline on wgnradio.com.
• Develop and write event synopses, from special events and initiatives to monthly Your Hometown series.
• Create schedule, curate content, build from scratch, test as necessary, and send station monthly newsletters.
• Build contests in contesting third-party platform and publish them to WGNRadio.com/contests through WordPress.
• Customize, write, schedule, and send contest 'Invitation Emails' for every sweepstakes.
• Write all contesting rules, liaising with Nexstar legal as necessary for contesting questions, rule review for anything valued over $600 or unique contests.
• Manage station on-air contesting through weekly prize lists sent to main shows.
• Manage winner outreach and vetting process according to rule set and work with sales/merchandising coordinator for follow-up with releases, etc.
• Manage prizing by maintaining a winner database and collaborate with sales team for prizes and sales/merchandising coordinator for prize fulfillment.
• Maintain a checks-and-balances/record of on-air winners.
• Rollout contesting quarterly initiatives and ideas from webinar sessions with sales team.
• Develop strategies for growing newsletter databases.
• Write on-air talking points to route to show talent/producers for station events and promotions, big contests, and other initiatives.
• Prepare program recaps for sales department, logging URLs, social posts and pulling metrics on social posts and email open and CTR rates, contest performance with historical comparison where appropriate and key takeaways.
• Offer recommendations on ways to improve and how a program could be expanded in the future.
• Manage WGN Radio’s social accounts, populating feeds with show content, news from WGNRadio.com, contests, and events.
• Write, route and execute contracts for special events and partnerships.
• Web editor as necessary with show podcasts.
• Liaise with cross-company departments, including creative services and others on projects where necessary.
• Manage station comments email inbox and responding as necessary/appropriate.
• Participate in monthly Nexstar content calls and share relevant information with business unit.
• Station award management which includes call for entries, writing entry summaries as necessary, uploading entries, and paying submission fees.

Requirements

• Experience in the audio or media industry.
• Strong sales focus and driven personality.
• Ability to work in Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator is a plus.
• Ability to work weekends, off hours and where necessary.

Benefits

• Medical (with multiple plan options)
• Dental insurance
• Vision insurance
• Paid time off
• 401(k) with company matching contributions
• Life insurance
• Paid Parental Leave