Julie Wilkinson

Experience

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  ComputerLand

  Dec 1988 - Jan 1992

  Marketing Assistant

  B2B Marketing Assistant for one of Leicester's first PC Resellers. Managed local advertising and PR; event management; and customer relationship management.

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  PERLE SYSTEMS EUROPE LIMITED

  Jan 1992 - Feb 1996

  Marketing Executive

  B2B Marketing Executive for the European Headquarters of this Canadian IBM compatible OEM. Managed the European publication suite and promotional activity including brochures in 5 languages and multiple currencies; B2B event management; trade events; and customer relationship management. Managed the customer database and pipeline. Provided the Sales Team with corporate tools (e.g. corporate presentation) and sales leads.

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  GADC Networks

  Feb 1996 - Jun 2001

  Marketing Executive

  B2B Marketing Executive for a Network Solutions Service Provider. Managed the branding and corporate publication suite including brochures and website; B2B event management - for example an Information Security Seminar at Bletchley Park; trade events; and customer relationship management. Managed a team of 2 outbound callers for lead generation. Managed the customer database and pipeline. Provided the Sales Team with corporate tools (e.g. corporate presentation) and sales leads. Copywriting and research for customer case studies. Show less

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  The Open University

  Jul 2001 - Jul 2015

  Marketing Manager - Enquiry Conversion

  Specifically targeted, value-added conversion activities to the most viable prospects within a database of c.850,000 enquirers to hit UG and PG student number targets, which were achieved.• Responsible for the strategy and planning of integrated campaigns including emails; outbound calling; direct mail; web development, publications, and coordination with events, both local (open days) and online (webinars). • Management of a budget of around £370K pa.• Management of the workload for a team of an 18-strong in-house telephone team and a full time marketing assistant. • Applied customer segmentation to the database by working with Data Analysts to understand key conversion behaviours – resulted in a “hot, warm, cool” segmentation of the data to ensure that the most expensive resources were targeted where they were most effective. • Used CRM marketing to achieve conversion rates of 0.6% - 37% from enquirer to student, depending on the profile of the enquirer. • Developed content for campaign activity using intelligence from Market Research to determine the key and changing customer requirements, identifying behaviour and addressing key barriers to study. • Setting and management of KPI's, end-of-campaign reporting and the commissioning of analysis to understand performance against targets.• Full agency and key stakeholder relationship management. • Constantly monitored OU units for inspirational stories for PR and awareness raising campaigns using an ‘Open Minds’ Newsletter.• Brand champion - copy writing, proofing, editing and creative appraisal within the OU’s brand guidelines. Previous to this I managed the Prospectus Production Team producing around 18 undergraduate and postgraduate prospectuses, and joined as Publications and Web Officer for the OU Business School.I was also the marketing liaison officer for the BBC, managing the editing and production of the Ozone Magazine used to respond enquirers from OU/BBC co-productions e.g. Coast. Show less

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  Abbot's Hill School

  Oct 2015 - Apr 2016

  Marketing Manager

  From both a strategic and a hands-on perspective, the role encompassed:-• Management: Delivered a two-year Marketing Strategy for the school, and commissioned a Parent Satisfaction Survey (RS Academics) – results will inform further development of the brand personality and competitive positioning. • Brand Management: Managed all student recruitment activities including events, advertising, PR and corporate collateral using media-buying and design agencies and photographers as appropriate. Ensured that all material was “on-brand”.• Developed a “customer journey” to help the school focus on key touch-points and determine where customer service can be improved, and expectations can be exceeded – from pre-visit to conversion; student/parent experience; alumnae association; re-buy or re-join opportunities.• Developed good relationships with local and national press contacts. Front page article printed in local press about European Space Agency shout-out; 800-word school hero article published verbatim in the Independent School Parent magazine. • Marketing communications: Planned targeted campaigns using specific postcode areas and demographic profiles to achieve student number targets. Email and direct mail activity to prospects, customers and alumnae - monitoring opens, bounces and unsubscribes to measure effectiveness. • Established the foundations for a Development Office for future fundraising activity from alumnae.• Digital Marketing: Implemented a range of improvements to the school website; implemented a systematic and proactive Social Media plan including the seeking out of partnerships; planned regular updates to Facebook, Twitter and Alumnae network; success measured in the increase of likes and shares; measurement of online traffic using Google Analytics. Show less

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  BSI

  Aug 2016 - May 2021

  My global role at BSI enabled me to use the full breadth of my marketing skills and experience. Using market intelligence, research and analysis, I created marketing strategy and plans, developing content at a global level for our training business. Competitor analysis helped inform positioning strategy, and using marketing agencies to conduct customer research and UX helped to inform our marketing personas, sales tools and website projects. From training on medical device regulations to quality improvement; from food management systems to the built environment, BSI has a broad range of training products that all require unique positioning, messaging and marketing collateral. Working collaboratively with our global product champions, I created content for our sectors and streams including Food and Health & Safety training, and developing new product launch packs for exams and qualifications. Show less Management of a team of six digital marketing professionals. Responsible for developing marketing plans, managing the budget and setting KPIs for performance. Management of the marketing for the BSI Training Academy - marketing to delegates and organisations to promote our high-quality training courses. Our inspirational tutors are often rated over 9/10 in satisfaction surveys - I'm so proud to work for a business with such a great reputation. I promote a wide portfolio of courses - from Quality Management to Information Security, from CE Marking to Business Continuity. It's a fast paced business and I lead a highly productive team!My current portfolio includes CRM engagement campaigns, web enhancements, webchat, web performance (conversion, SEO, PPC, analytics), effective email, social and search marketing, marketing data, lead generation, brochure production and direct mail. I'm all about performance, measurement is key to everything that happens in my team. And the professional development and nurturing of my team is critical to our combined success.I've been involved with a number of projects including the development of a value proposition for training, persona development, UX testing, qualitative international market research and A/B testing. Critical to our campaign success is finding new audiences e.g. developing a reciprocal business relationship with the MBA alumni association of a local business school. Results, engagement levels and interaction KPIs are monitored constantly to achieve continual incremental improvement and to hit lead and conversion targets. The team are agile and able to respond quickly to changes in market demands. I mentor, coach and support the development of my team including PDRs. I recently graduated on an ILM accredited Coaching for Success course. As part of my ongoing CPD programme, I've recently attended training on Inclusivity & Diversity; ISO 9001; and ISO 27001. Show less

  • Global Marketing Portfolio Manager: Training

    Sept 2018 - May 2021

  • Marketing Communications Manager

    Aug 2016 - Sept 2018
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  NSF

  May 2021 - Oct 2024

  Senior Manager Marketing Food - Global

  I spent over 3 years working for NSF, a global not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve human and planet health. As global Senior Marketing Manager and Strategic Stream Partner for Food Consulting, Training and Sustainability, I supported the development of a global marketing strategy, and the marketing plans to deliver our targets. From competitor analysis and persona development, I sought to understand the challenges faced by the food industry, and looked at how NSF's solutions could help overcome those challenges. Show less

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  THE KENT AND EAST SUSSEX RAILWAY COMPANY LIMITED

  Oct 2022 - now

  I’m proud to have joined the Board of Trustees at the Kent & East Sussex Railway as the champion for our Marketing, Events and Communications Team!

  • Member Board of Trustees

    Jan 2025 - now

  • Volunteer

    Oct 2022 - now