Archive for category: How We Work

Nexus Marketing’s Atlanta-based team is growing!

Our team is made up of talented writers, personable account managers, and incredible content publishing coordinators. Together, we create unique content that helps mission-driven businesses connect with nonprofits in need of effective software and services that amplify their work.

We’re always looking to expand our team with headstrong individuals who want to push the nonprofit sector forward. If you’re curious about what it’s like to be part of our team, learn more about life at Nexus Marketing by exploring these topics:

• What is Nexus Marketing?
• What does the hiring process look like?
• Do any colleges recommend working at Nexus Marketing post-graduation?
• What are Nexus Marketing’s core values?
• What is the company culture like?
• How does new hire training work?
• Will there be ongoing training opportunities available?
• Does Nexus offer remote work?
• What do employees have to say about the company?
• How is performance management handled?
• What opportunities are there for promotions & career advancement?

As we’re hiring across a range of roles, we aim to recruit outstanding candidates who are eager to hit the ground running and learn through the job. If you’re thinking about joining the team, we want to make sure that you’re a good fit for the role and will be happy working here.

What is Nexus Marketing?

Nexus Marketing is the only online marketing agency that works specifically with mission-driven businesses that offer tools and services that power social good to create a better world.

We work with companies to create unique, engaging content and turn their websites into revenue-generating assets. Our core services include content creation, search engine optimization, and lead generation. Check out some of our case studies to see our work in action.

What’s more, our team is made of passionate storytellers, savvy marketers, and analytics nerds. We’re always looking for innovative ways to improve our clients’ success and grow our team with talented individuals.

What does the hiring process look like?

Our goal is to find inspired individuals and hire great fits for the team. That’s why joining the Nexus Marketing team requires a few different steps. Here’s what to expect:

1. You apply! Visit our Job Openings page to see what roles we’re currently looking to fill. If one sounds like a good fit, send us your résumé, a cover letter, a list of references, and any other materials the listing requests.
2. Someone from our leadership team will review your materials. If you’re approved, you’ll receive an email saying you’re moving on to the next step of the hiring process.
3. You’ll complete an assessment and a short one-way video interview. This will help us get to know you better as a candidate!
4. Our leadership team will personally review your assessment and one-way interview. From there, we invite select candidates in for a full interview, which is currently being done over Zoom.
5. You’ll complete a mock assignment and talk to someone who’s currently in the role. The mock assignment will give us a chance to see your skills in action, and the ‘Day in the Life’ chat will give you a chance to ask any questions you have about the role and company culture.
6. We’ll reach out to your references. As a final step, we’ll reach out to the references that you provided us early on in the process. After this, we’ll let you know whether you’re hired!

Do any colleges recommend working at Nexus Marketing post-graduation?

Our goal is to make Nexus Marketing an incredible place to work for inspired individuals. We work closely with some of the top universities in our area to connect with ambitious individuals who’d be great additions to our team.

As part of our relationships with these colleges, we are currently:

• Preferred Employers for the University of Georgia’s Grady College of Journalism
• Soar-Level Sponsors at Emory University
• A top company for hiring English / Creative Writing graduates at Emory University

What are Nexus Marketing’s core values?

• Support a culture and environment where high performers feel challenged, are empowered, and want to work. We strive to create an atmosphere where people feel inspired to pursue growth and directly influence their peers to do the same.
• Indecision is the only wrong decision. If you’ve got a reasonable shot at making the right call, take action. Nexus thrives on generating timely, meaningful results for clients and partners. As you get into the groove of your role, you’ll be able to make quick decisions that leave a positive impression on your peers and external stakeholders.
• Demonstrate best-in-class responsiveness with quick, proactive, and thoughtful responses to clients, partners, prospects, and team members. Your team members and external stakeholders will depend on timely responses. When it comes to communicating quickly and effectively, no one does it better than the Nexus Marketing team!
• Give back to your community and the causes you care about. As a company, we want to support the causes you care about. That’s why we encourage you to support your local community through giving programs like matching gifts, volunteer grants, and fundraising sponsorships.
• Stay open to new ideas and advocate for them, but commit 100% once a decision is made. Sometimes you have to adapt based on clients’ or partners’ preferences. Always keep an open mind to their suggestions and come up with innovative solutions when necessary.
• Treat clients, partners, prospects, and team members fairly and exceed their expectations. Nexus Marketing relies on effective and collaborative relationships between clients, partners, prospects, and peers. You’ll need to do your part to keep the ball rolling on projects and go above and beyond when needed.
• The status quo is unacceptable. Strive to learn and grow professionally while pursuing the best ways to drive impact at the company. Working at Nexus means constantly pursuing growth through additional training opportunities to increase the impact of your work, drive the business forward, and feel more confident in your abilities.

What is the company culture like?

We want team members to love where they work, which is why we aim to create an inclusive and welcoming environment. Team members regularly host culture and social events covered by the company both in and out of the office.

From company-wide dinners to Braves games, our culture events are a great way for team members to get to know each other and explore the city!

During office hours, we have team and company meetings to help everyone collaborate on the most important tasks for their roles, work through challenges, and build professional camaraderie. We’re also located in the Inman Park neighborhood of Atlanta, so you might catch team members strolling along the beltline for a quick break or grabbing lunch together at Krog Street Market.

How does new hire training work?

Over the years, we’ve built a very robust training process with thorough reference materials, so you’ll know exactly what you’re doing by the time you’re introduced to partners or clients.

When you come in for your first day of work, we’ll kick things off with an orientation meeting and dive straight into your onboarding process, which lasts around a month. The first few weeks are jam-packed with training sessions and courses, led by your manager and other team members across the business. We strongly recommend asking any questions you have because, chances are, we’ve all had the same ones at some point!

We also strongly believe that the best way to learn is by doing. That’s why we’ll get you started on your first assignments within your first day or so. Don’t worry, though! You’ll receive plenty of feedback from your manager to put you on the right track. You’ll also be paired with a new hire mentor, who will guide you through the transition into your new role for your first six months at the business.

One final note: we believe that training and forming relationships are best done in person. So, while we traditionally follow a hybrid work model, your onboarding process will be heavily hosted in person, so expect to come in every day for your first few weeks.

Will there be ongoing training opportunities available?

Beyond initial training, we also have a company training philosophy that we implement to help push team members toward ongoing professional growth. Beyond our weekly team meetings, here are some of the core ongoing training opportunities we offer:

• Scaling Up Book Club: This is our company book club which aims to teach team members to become business-minded by learning the best ways to grow and optimize a business. Everyone reads the assigned chapter, then comes together to discuss the most important takeaways and how it applies to our company. Everyone is welcome to join!
• Manager Tools: Manager Tools is a podcast that focuses on giving career advice and helping managers become more effective in their roles. Everyone listens to the same episode. Then, we come together as a company to discuss everyone’s perspectives and how we can apply the advice to our own careers, either as managers or direct reports.
• SEO Training Tuesday: Once a month, the entire Nexus Marketing team comes together to discuss the latest trends in SEO best practices. The meeting facilitator sends out an article for everyone to read. Then, everyone comes together to brainstorm how we currently use the advice in our work and how we can more intentionally leverage it in the future.
• Ad Hoc Training Courses: Each employee is allotted a training budget to spend on training materials like books, classes, and online courses directly related to their role. The company also helps cover the costs of professional certification for long-term employees.
• Food For Thoughts: Individual team members set up these meetings to share particular skills or projects that their peers might find interesting or useful. Past topics have included site audits, content development, client upsells, image creation, and many more.

Does Nexus offer remote work?

Our goal is to create an office environment where people want to come in and get to know their coworkers while still having the flexibility to do what works best for their needs. That’s why we follow a hybrid work model.

Each week, different teams have a set day in the office. Then, everyone has one additional required day of their choosing. However, team members are welcome to come in as often as they’d like!

Note that newly hired employees are required to come into the office every day for their first three weeks before shifting to this model. The goal is to help them build relationships with one another, get to know other employees from across the business, and get them up and running in their new roles!

What do employees have to say about the company?

If you think you’d like to work at Nexus, hear more about the different roles we offer from our employees: 

Colleen Carroll, Content Publishing Coordinator

A lot of the daily work of a CPC involves managing our robust partner network, following up on deadlines, and holding partners accountable for what they agreed to do. This means sending lots of emails, keeping an eye on calendars, and tracking the progress of projects.

But there is also a creative side to maintaining each partnership. Every quarter, we build content calendars for each of our partners. This activity almost feels like solving a puzzle because I have to align the interest of my partner with the interests of 2-6 of our clients by finding an article title that will please all parties, benefit the client, and be unique on the partner’s blog.

Then, there is the relationship-building aspect of the partnership. I meet with each of my 30+ partners every quarter and exchange emails with many of them every few weeks to maintain our connection. The final facet is partner sourcing. In 2021, the CPC team onboarded over 125 partners, and we are now working to continue to grow this network in 2022. In order to do so, as a CPC team member, I often find myself:

• Researching organizations
• Making connections on LinkedIn
• Building pitch presentations
• Hopping on calls with organizations to share why I think they would enjoy being a Nexus partner

The CPC role is a very public-facing one — I am representing Nexus to each of my partners. If you consider yourself to be organized, friendly, and a great communicator, you’ll likely enjoy this role.

Outside of the role itself, I really like the company culture at Nexus.

We are a young, engaged, and detail-oriented group that enjoys working with each other and participating in optional company activities outside of work hours.

There are also many opportunities for collaboration with other teams and personal growth.

Jessica King, Account Manager

As an account manager, no two days are ever the same! I’m the face of Nexus for our clients — I’m their main point of contact. I coordinate the work that gets done on each of my accounts each month, I liaise between the Nexus teams, and most importantly, I’m in charge of setting the strategy to lead our clients to their SEO goals!

The account managers have a monthly workflow that starts with deciding the most important activities for client accounts that month and ensuring the copywriters and content publishing coordinators know what they should focus on to best support our clients’ goals.

Then, there are two weeks where we’re actively meeting with clients, analyzing their data, and reporting on the results of our work to collaboratively make decisions about the strategy. Once calls are all wrapped up, then there’s a week to plan the next month’s work, make any changes to the strategy, think of ways we might grow client accounts, and keep pushing Nexus forward!

This job is a great fit if you value:

• Variety: there’s always something new to do!
• Autonomy: as the account manager, you’re making the calls for your client accounts.
• Fast pace: making sure you’re keeping up with the latest in SEO best practices and client priorities and quickly helping teammates get unstuck to drive results!
• Data-driven decision-making: each month, you’ll assess the strategy to see what’s going well and what opportunities there are to pivot if results aren’t where we want them to be.
• Lots of interaction: you get to meet and collaborate with just about every stakeholder in the business, from C-level executives at our clients’ companies to copywriters, content publishing coordinators, and company leadership at Nexus.

If that sounds like you, the account management team might be the perfect fit!

Madalyn McRae Gunnell, Copywriter

As a copywriter at Nexus, I spend most of my time writing for clients with the goal of creating authoritative, interesting online content that can help them connect with their customers and be more visible on search engines.

In my role, I’m assigned to seven to nine different clients at any given time, providing plenty of variety in the subject matter I get to research and write about every day. (Our clienteles’ services range from nonprofit fundraising consulting to donor management software and beyond!)

In the day-to-day, I research and outline pieces of content, write, edit my coworkers’ work, brainstorm graphic design ideas, and manage content on the backend of clients’ websites. I’m also responsible for communicating with clients (mostly via email, but occasionally on Zoom) to ensure that the content I write for them fits their unique brand voice.

At Nexus, I feel like I’m always learning something new and encountering new challenges that keep my job interesting!

Here are a few other reasons I love my job:

• I get to use my expertise (creative writing and journalism) in a very practical and unique way to help social good-centered companies grow.
• Nexus provides plenty of opportunities for you to get to know your coworkers and participate in the company’s fun internal culture, from patio parties to bake-offs.
• When I have new ideas for how our internal processes could be strengthened, I know I can voice those ideas and see them come to fruition.
• Nexus offers me lots of opportunities to take on new responsibilities, whether it’s leading team-wide meetings or mentoring new team members.

If you love learning, listening to music while you come up with pithy sentences, and enjoy seeing all the pieces of a final project come together, a copywriting role at Nexus may be just the thing for you!

Shannon Moran, Copywriting Intern

During my final year at the University of Georgia, I was looking for an internship that could offer me new skills and the potential to grow into a permanent position. After meeting with the team at Nexus Marketing, I knew it was the place for me.

Nexus Marketing values every team member and intern equally. From marketing to copywriting, Nexus understands that each role is vital in providing mission-driven businesses with the tools and services needed to power social good.

I had the privilege of joining their first internship program, and as a copywriting intern at a growing agency, I was able to make an impact on the company’s continued success. Here’s a rundown of what I did:

• Received intensive training that included Search Engine Optimization (SEO) writing best practices, Nexus Marketing style preferences, and editing strategies
• Conducted deep-dive research on a variety of topics in the nonprofit field
• Completed marketing and educational content from start to finish, including initial research, drafting, editing, and coordinating with graphic designers
• Joined a weekly, team-wide intern meeting to discuss upcoming projects and general SEO topics
• Met one-on-one with the internship coordinator regularly to ensure I was comfortable with the workload and on track for success

In such a fast-paced work environment, it’s important to manage and prioritize your work for multiple projects to meet defined deadlines. I kept a running to-do list of tasks which helped me to stay organized and efficient.

With a hybrid work schedule, most of my time was spent completing tasks remotely with regular opportunities to come work in the office and make connections with my coworkers.

My internship ultimately transformed into a full-time copywriting position, and I’m thrilled to continue my journey at Nexus Marketing.

Hear from even more Nexus Marketing team members in this quick video!

How is performance management handled?

At Nexus Marketing, we believe that ongoing performance management is a powerful driver of our team members’ success.

We understand that performance management can be nerve-wracking, especially for new employees! However, it’s important to track individual contributors’ performance while also making sure they have plenty of opportunities for growth.

To reduce the anxiety surrounding performance management, we make sure there’s consistent open communication about each individual’s performance.

Weekly

On a weekly basis, you’ll meet one-on-one with your manager to chat about what’s going well, any challenges you’re facing, and what to be thinking about for your future at the company.

During these meetings, your manager will provide positive and constructive feedback. This way, you can make adjustments based on their recommendations, and nothing comes as a surprise when you have your official performance review!

Biannually

Twice a year, there’s a more formalized process where directs undergo an official performance review with their managers and other members of the leadership team.

There are a few stages of an official performance review, including:

1. An individual’s self-evaluation: You’ll be asked to complete a survey where you evaluate your performance over the past performance period, provide insight into your peers’ performance, and share feedback about how the company can support your professional development.
2. The performance review meeting: The team member, manager, and another member of leadership sit down to discuss what was shared in the self-evaluation and the manager’s evaluation of the direct. This meeting is typically broken into a combination of wins, improvement opportunities for the next performance period, and other relevant items.

That’s all there is to it! What’s more, we believe that hard work shouldn’t go unnoticed, which is why compensation changes go into effect for high-performing team members each year.

What opportunities are there for promotions & career advancement?

We aim to reward team members who excel in their roles and want to take on more responsibility. Depending on your role, promotions and role changes can look a little different from one another.

Here are some examples of how role changes have worked across the business in the past.

David Myers, Copywriting Manager

David is one of our outstanding copywriting managers! He joined the team in 2018, and he quickly got up and running as a copywriter. After working diligently on clients’ sites and writing their content, he became a senior copywriter in 2019.

In his new role, he took on elevated leadership responsibilities for the team, which primarily included:

• Leading the weekly copywriting team meetings
• Contributing to the development of the copywriting role itself
• Developing standardized quality control systems to ensure the entire team’s writing was up to par with expectations

As the writing team started growing, there came a need for managers to help guide the team. As a high-performing team member, company leadership looked to him to step in. In 2021, David was promoted to copywriting manager and began managing a team of 4 direct reports.

Today, he continues to serve as a copywriting manager where he leads a growing team of talented individuals. He continues to guide the team toward greater heights by leading training for any new direct reports who join the team.

Erin Toland, Special Projects Copywriter

Erin joined Nexus Marketing as a copywriter in 2019. After working diligently on client accounts and helping to amplify their web content on search engines, she was promoted to a senior copywriter in 2021.

Beyond being staffed on some of our valuable client accounts, she took on elevated internal leadership responsibilities for the copywriting team. Among those elevated duties, she did the following:

• Spearheaded and continues to manage a mentorship program for new hires today
• Served as the internal documentation coordinator, a role in which she kept existing documents up-to-date and regularly developed new valuable resources for the team
• Led key projects such as the development of our partner content type guidelines and accessibility guidelines

Within a few months, there came a need for increased focus on the strategy and development of our company-owned websites. In 2022, Erin was offered a new role to manage the company’s keyword strategy, copywriting, and other special projects.

As part of this new role, she’s now also in charge of the internship program, where she manages the intern team and helps plan activities that contribute to the advancement of the business. Today, she continues to work on optimizing our company-owned sites and enhancing their keyword rankings.

Hannah Thompson, Content Publishing Coordinator Manager

Hannah has made a real impact on our content publishing coordinator team in her time at Nexus Marketing. After joining us in January 2021, she quickly got acclimated to managing relationships with our external publishing partners and was ready to take on increased responsibilities.

After expressing her interest in making a bigger impact on the company, she got the opportunity to create our digital PR program. Thanks to her hard work, the program has evolved into a robust free service where our team makes valuable connections between clients, partners, and friends in the industry for cross-marketing and educational opportunities like webinars, podcasts, and conferences.

Not only did she help create one of our most successful services, but she also got to learn what goes into launching a big initiative by working alongside the president of Nexus Marketing.

As the content publishing coordinator team started scaling up in late 2021, Hannah took on more responsibility for the team by leading meetings and serving in a support role for new employees. Outside of her day-to-day responsibilities, she also volunteered to serve as a new hire mentor, where she helped a group of new employees get acclimated to post-college work life.

Today, she’s on deck for becoming a content publishing coordinator manager and plays a vital role in leading the team toward success!

Kendall Lake, Account Manager

Kendall joined our team as a copywriter in July 2020. After becoming well-versed in our different clients and gaining some SEO experience, leadership quickly recognized her as being a great fit for the account management role.

After about half a year at the company, she became an account manager, a role she still holds today. She regularly:

• Meets with our wonderful clients to discuss SEO strategy and performance
• Creates the strategy for enhancing clients’ search presence
• Works directly with the copywriting and content publishing coordinator teams to build authority back to clients’ sites
• Develops and presents opportunities to accelerate clients’ SEO strategies and expand engagements

On the account management team, Kendall has led initiatives such as creating a brand new reporting process for our clients, and she has represented Nexus in SEO webinars within our partner network.

In addition to taking on the responsibilities of her new role, she also volunteered to be a new hire mentor, a role in which she made a real impact. She met regularly with her mentee, helping to guide the new hire through her transition into her first full-time role post-graduation.

Today, she continues to serve as a successful account manager for several of our clients!

Ready to join the team?

If life at Nexus sounds like a great fit for you, we’d love to have you join us.