Marius Smit, General Manager: Marketing

Marius Smit

General Manager: Marketing

Reed Exhibitions

Location
South Africa
Education
Bachelor's degree, Business and Marketing
Experience
23 years, 5 Months

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Work Experience

Total years of experience :23 years, 5 Months

General Manager: Marketing at Reed Exhibitions
  • South Africa
  • My current job since June 2018

Developed and implemented campaign plans and optimising to achieve key performance metrics
Consistently and successfully developed and executed PPC campaigns that matched ROI targets and covered running costs of the campaign (Facebook Advertising, LinkedIn, AdWords)
Introduced scheduled targeted email marketing programs resulting in increased open rates of 11%
Developed and executed a fully integrated digital marketing strategy, maintaining its market leadership position and delivering on key business objectives across customer satisfaction, lead generation and reduced cost to serve.
Performed analysis on websites utilizing Google Analytics to improve traffic and developed, tracked, and improved landing pages for better UI and overall UX
Provide accurate campaign performance reports and analysis on a weekly & monthly basis
Ongoing audits of all social media channels for each brand and provided insights and recommendations on how social media messaging and content plans can be improved
Developed and implemented marketing strategies and conduct marketing research to optimize marketing activities

Achievements

Overall Social Media campaign led to a 50% increase in engagement and 21% increase in follower count
(168k Facebook followers, 5k Twitter followers, 4k Instagram followers) - valued over $1.6 million across Africa
Combined entrepreneurial drive with business-management skills to drive gains in revenue up 13% and sponsorship revenue up 34%, market share and profit performance through value propositions and value-added services
Recognized by the MD with the MD’s Award - Best Financial Result 2019, for achieving extraordinary financial results
In addition, I won the most promising employee 2019 - runner up

Project Director at Messe München South Africa
  • South Africa
  • August 2016 to June 2018

Planned and implemented two successful re-branding campaigns, including coordination of legal name change and new logo with all suppliers and clients, new website and marketing materials, internal and external messaging, and internal communications coaching
Maximised performance across paid media channels through effective optimisation strategies
Conducted regular keyword analysis and identified trends, data, and patterns & opportunities
Grew Marketing & PR value by 12% keeping costs down - 30+ local & international partnerships (PR and content) development
Created competitive positioning strategy, segmentation, and communications plan, directly resulting in increased sales at expense of competitors
Created content for brand websites, international sales presentations, email campaigns, social media and marketing materials
Coordinated the marketing team on specific creative campaigns to support digital cross-promotion efforts, including email campaigns, social media promotions and marketing initiatives for an improved end-user experience
Gathered metrics on campaign and collateral material for search optimization

Achievements

Overhauled 2 websites that increased overall time spent on site by 25% and generated over 150 customer leads resulting in over 5% increase in bottom line profitability
Developed a value proposition campaign resulting in 7 identified opportunities within the first month
Grew customer base over 25% and increased revenue by 36%
Developed and implemented loyalty programs which resulted in a customer retention rate of over 52%

Sales & Marketing Manager at Messe München South Africa (Pty) Ltd
  • South Africa
  • July 2012 to July 2016

Marketing and Sales Management

• Successfully planned and executed the launch of 2 international (German) brands into the African Market which is still running today - Positioned company's construction brand to complement and leverage renowned reputation in the industry through strategic messaging to stakeholders, media, investors and clients
• Implemented a fully Integrated Marketing Communications plan to support the launch which led to developing the second biggest trade fair in Africa
• Work with the internal teams/suppliers to build the prospect lists and with the sales development team to qualify senior level VIP and buyers from marketing campaigns
• Developed promotion-based opportunities with even greater incentives that increased margins by reducing the company's overhead
• Acted as a brand ambassador of the firm at client events, trade shows, conferences and award presentations locally and internationally
• Established and built successful partnerships with suppliers, hotels, production companies which led to favorable contract negotiations
• Created direct mail campaign for event launch that resulted in $300k revenue stream locally and $200k internationally
• Designed and maintained 3 company websites. Developed direct mail piece that was successful in driving potential clients to the site

Achievements
• Promoted to Project Director in 2016

Key Account Manager at Robor Tube
  • South Africa
  • March 2008 to June 2012

• Develop trust relationships with a portfolio of key clients to ensure they do not turn to competition
• Acquire a thorough understanding of key client needs and requirements
• Expand the relationships with existing clients by continuously proposing solutions that meet their objectives (cross selling)
• Managed $1 million in annual sales with complete P&L accountability
• Propelled sales revenue by 20% in less than two years by launching and cultivating relationships with major end users
• Recovered $100K in inactive accounts by initiating customer meetings, reevaluating product mix and upselling solutions
• Conducted analysis and developed presentations that increase product activity, expanded distribution and value-added services that increased sales volume and market share
• Promoted to Key Accounts Manager in 2008
• Most profitable account manager (revenue vs cost)

Engineering Planner at Barloworld Robor Tube
  • South Africa
  • June 2002 to March 2008

• Created daily work order schedule for craftsmen to perform scheduled work orders and scheduled all maintenance scheduled and unscheduled activities to prevent minimum production down time
• Analyze and evaluate key performance indicators (KPIs) (Maintenance plan, Staff and Mill Utilization, Department Expenditure and Budgets, Costs) to measure areas of positive performance and to identify areas where improvement is required, implementing action where necessary
• Improved artisan utilization by 10% through data analysis and planning
• Developed the Service and Planned Service Module on company ERP, from inception to commissioning the system - Improved PMs and reduced percentage of unscheduled downtime
• Developed and implemented strategic projects to continually improve the overall quality of the maintenance program
• Reduced annual maintenance expenses by 15%
• Developed the planned job card that was in use November 2019
• Promoted to New Business Development Manager in 2008 due to my product knowledge and desire to move into a career of sales and marketing

Baggage Controller at Optima Business Services
  • South Africa
  • December 2000 to June 2002

Passenger services-Assisting with the checking in of passengers, wheelchair assistance and porter services.
Baggage & Security control to and from the plane, ensuring that all the checked in bags get to the plane safely.

Education

Bachelor's degree, Business and Marketing
  • at IMM Graduate School of Marketing
  • November 2020

Applied Brand Management and Communications Applied Global Marketing Dynamics Applied Marketing Metrics Applied Marketing Project Applied Marketing Leadership

Diploma, Marketing Managament
  • at IMM Graduate School of Marketing
  • August 2011

Modules Year 1 Principles of Marketing (20 credits) Academic Literacy (AL – non-credit bearing) Principles of Business Communication (20 credits) Principles of Business Management (20 credits) Principles of Digital Marketing (20 credits) Principles of Financial Management (20 credits) Principles of Project Management (20 credits) Modules Year 2 Application of Marketing (20 credits) Application of Business Management (20 credits) Application of Digital & Mobile Marketing (20 credits) Application of Financial Management (20 credits) Business Law (20 credits) Marketing Communications (20 credits) Marketing Research (20 credits) Modules Year 3 Strategic Marketing (20 credits) Entrepreneurship (20 credits) Human Resource Management (20 credits) Work Integrated Learning (20 credits)

Diploma, Project Management
  • at UNISA SBL
  • November 2007

Distinction in Cost Management

Specialties & Skills

Marketing Communications
Event Management
Marketing Strategy
Marketing Research
Digital Marketing
Marketing Strategy
Project Management
Marketing Research
Management
Communications
Marketing Management
Digital Marketing

Social Profiles

Personal Website
Personal Website

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Languages

Afrikaans
Expert
English
Expert

Training and Certifications

Diploma in Marketing (Certificate)
Date Attended:
October 2011

Hobbies

  • Running