Company Overview
LUS Brands (Love Ur Self) is a Toronto-based DTC hair care brand thats backed by Y Combinator (W18). We create and market innovative products for people with curly hair.
Since launching in 2017, we have shipped over 3 million bottles of our innovative products worldwide and earned thousands of 5-star reviews from customers. Our mission is as simple as the products we create: to encourage people to genuinely love and accept themselves so that their unique beauty can shine through. Backed by Y-Combinator, Sound Ventures, Comcast (and other notable VCs and Angels), in 2020 we were recognized as one of the fastest-growing startups in Canada(Macleans and Canadian Business Magazines) and have been featured in Elle Canada, TechCrunch, Cosmopolitan, and more.
While we have remained almost exclusively Shopify DTC for the first several years of operations, this year were looking to expand to new sales and distribution channels online and in B&M (Brick and Mortar).
To learn more, visit www.lusbrands.com
Job Summary
LUS is looking for a Senior Manager to lead strategy, create partnerships and grow our affiliate, PR and influencer programs. All 3 areas remain huge greenspace for us despite our massive growth. In this role, you will develop a comprehensive strategy (paid and unpaid) that helps fuel our content, build brand awareness, and drive profitable growth and scale. Working closely with our Social and Paid media teams, this role will be a key part of taking our brand and its storytelling, through community, to the next level.
What you’ll do
INFLUENCER
Build a growth strategy for influencers that balances size (nano to macro (and possibly celebrity)) and influence angle (eg KOL vs Lifestyle)
Expand our influencer efforts from mostly Instagram to TikTok, YouTube and other proven channels, along with emerging ones (eg Twitch)
Negotiate paid and organic partnerships with influencers at every level in terms of following and celebrity, using cold outreach, agencies and / or your own personal network
Build a core team of brand ambassadors
Take our gifting program from basic to best in class, buzz building and truly brand building
PR
Audit our current PR agency and develop plan to take significant step forward in terms of quality / quantity of placements, listicles, news outside of significant brand events, leverage of affiliate, etc. PR has been an afterthought to date, with the limited coverage weve had coming organically. US, Canada and global are all opportunities given our brands awareness, fan following and potential for curl content
AFFILIATE / REFERRAL
Build an awareness and growth strategy that turns our just launched affiliate and referral programs from basic to best in class (commissions, performance, advocacy, etc). Stylists and other KOLs will be a priority.
Test, learn and scale both programs to a point where contribution to total brand sales is significantly better than current state.
INFLUENCER, PR AND AFFILIATE
Work with the marketing teams to build content strategies that are 360, tie to a calendar and build our brand
End to end influencer, affiliate and PR project management – strategy, briefing, content creation, tracking, results reporting, and ongoing optimization towards ROI and other core KPIs
Develop data reporting system that facilitates quick decision making around test, learn and growth tactics for Influencer, PR and Affiliate
Experience
6+ years experience in managing successful affiliate, referral, influencer and PR marketing programs, ideally in beauty
Ability to innovate in the world of influence, finding ways to drive efficiency through first mover tactics, hacks and out of the box thinking. Test and learn is key for success in this role
Deep understanding of the brand building and ROI impact of working with varying types of influencers (size, celeb, fan quality, etc). Experience working with KOLs (eg Stylists) will be key
Experience working with (and assessing the need for) agencies and the various tools needed to operate influencer and affiliate programs.
Proven ability to scale (contributions to brand building, sales and overall financial ROI)
Ability to use data and analytics to drive decisions
Ability to wear multiple hats on a small team with big goals
Vast knowledge of social media and influencers on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and more
A strong understanding of the digital media landscape with expertise in building and launching multi-channel campaigns that include a display, video, sponsored content, native, email newsletters, blogs, or social media.
Proven ability to work with many different types of creators, facilitating successful sponsored content that is on-brand and drives results.
Excellent communication skills and exceptional ability to build strong relationships with both internal and external partners.
Ability to measure the success of the program and work closely with the internal analytics team to establish the right program benchmarks and success metrics.
Ability to work under tight deadlines.
Existing relationships with influencers and beauty editors a plus
Photo/video shoot experience is a plus
Global experience a plus