Growth/Marketing Specialist to coordinate marketing, promotion and communication activities of MEREZHA platform (CCT position)

Contract

This is a Consultancy contract. More about Consultancy contracts.

BACKGROUND

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (“the EBRD”) supports the economic transition to an open market economy in its countries of operation, in particular, by fostering better access of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to knowledge and finance. The EBRD develops partnerships with commercial banks, business experts, governmental institutions and other stakeholders to coordinate efforts towards a sustainable infrastructure of professional and financial services for MSMEs. Accelerating digital transition is one of three main cross-cutting priorities in the EBRD’s Strategic and Capital Framework (SCF) 2021-25.

Since 2010, the EBRD has been implementing programs aimed at MSMEs support in Ukraine. Tens of thousands of Ukrainian MSMEs has benefited directly from awareness-raising activities, networking events, access to knowledge, advisory services and finance. The EBRD constantly monitors effectiveness and efficiency of its operations and seeks for better ways to deliver value for SMEs through innovations and digital solutions.

In December 2019, the EBRD launched MEREZHA (www.merezha.ua), the online platform for expert solutions, which aims to increase transparency, trust and effectiveness between reliable providers of professional services and MSMEs, seeking for business expertise.

Currently the platform architecture includes a number of features (MSME-to-expert matchmaking module, email notifications, configurable MSME account, configurable expert account, expert statistics, appoint-the-meeting functionality, integrations with Zoom and YouControl services, separate analytical module, business self-assessment module etc.) and various content types (expert profiles, expert video introductions, expert success stories, video recordings of online events, MSME requests to experts and others).

MEREZHA is entirely integrated with EBRD’s digitalisation priorities and is showing transformational impact potential for MSMEs in Ukraine, whilst establishing a transparent, effective market of advisory services for business. The Platform became an invaluable delivery mechanism for the ASB team in Ukraine and remains particularly important in the context of the ongoing Covid-19 crisis and a new era of digital services provision. In this regard, an experienced advisor (the “Consultant”) is required to share knowledge and best practices with regard to growth and marketing of MEREZHA platform.

These Terms of Reference describe the scope of work, reporting requirements, duration and estimated budget of the Assignment.

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the Assignment includes coordination of marketing, promotional and PR activities of MEREZHA platform. The Consultant will lead the efforts in order to maximize impact on the platform growth indicators, user engagement, number of transactions on the platform as well as number of MEREZHA-based partnerships with external institutions. The Consultant therefore shall engage in the following tasks:

1. To cooperate with external agency, which provides comprehensive services on the platform development, marketing and support, to achieve established objectives and KPIs from the marketing and communication perspectives;
2. To supervise all user and market research and feedback collection activities and develop respective insights;
3. To establish priorities in terms of marketing, PR and communications and develop respective roadmaps;
4. To supervise MEREZHA-related promotional campaigns;
5. To analyse the information submitted by the agency and advice on opportunities to increase traffic levels, improve engagement and enhance conversion rates/leads generation;
6. To provide recommendations on improvement of customer attraction and engagement strategies, developed by the agency, which drive users to the platform on a regular basis;
7. To provide recommendations and comments regarding improvement of design, UX and content of the platform;
8. To develop regular reports on user growth and user engagement KPIs, performance analysis of the whole platform in terms of marketing and promo campaign activities.
9. To work closely with the agency’s marketing team and EBRD communication team to ensure that:
   • The platform is aligned with the EBRD communication strategy and business objectives;
   • EBRD SME F&D and donors are adequately presented on MEREZHA in line with brand and communication guidelines (text, design, logo, user flow);
   • MEREZHA is well presented in various online channels, including the EBRD ones;
   • MEREZHA is well presented in all communication materials and channels of the EBRD and strong association between MEREZHA and the EBRD as digitally focused institution is achieved.

Knowledge, Skills, Experience & Qualifications:

• Minimum 5+ years in digital marketing, strategic marketing, online media (press), social media marketing, analytics and content creation and management experience;
• Strong analytical skills, ability to evaluate end-to-end customer experience across multiple channels and customer touch points;
• Experience in coordinating and guiding work of contractor’s marketing team;
• Practical skills of monitoring, analysis and communication of results of online marketing/promotional campaigns;
• Understanding of donor-funded environment, EBRD’s key activities in SME support area and digitalisation, as a key topic in a current daily agenda ;
• Ability to form and convey key messages to target audiences and stakeholders;
• Strong copywriting skills for digital resources;
• Excellent command of English, Ukrainian and Russian.

General:

• Ability to develop marketing strategies for digital solutions and translate general marketing goals into concrete practical actions;
• Strong team working skills and ability to work in multi-cultural environment;
• Multi-tasking, self-initiative, creativity;
• Ability to meet tight deadlines;
• Concern for accuracy and detail.

SCOPE OF WORK

The assignment will be performed in EBRD Resident Office in Kyiv in combination with remote working.

The Consultant will have a direct reporting line to the Associate Director, ASB Regional Head, SME F&D. The Consultant shall agree with the ASB Regional Head the work plan before commencing work on the Assignment.

Therefore, exact deliverables shall be pursued in the course of the Assignment and will be shaped in due course. Nonetheless, activities interalia will include the following:

• Advising on opportunities to increase traffic levels, improve engagement and enhance conversion rates/leads generation in line with the best practices;
• Reviewing and recommending on improvement of customer attraction and engagement strategies in line with the best practices;

• Developing recommendations on improvement of design, UX and content of the platform. which will result into the following deliverables (but not limited):

  • List of recommendations improvement of customer attraction and engagement strategies, improvement of copyright, design, UX and content of the platform in order to achieve objectives and KPIs, related to the platform marketing and promotion.
  • Written summary on all the activities on increasing of platform traffic levels, improving user engagement and enhancing conversion rates/leads generation

Interested candidates should send a CV and cover letter to [email protected] by 21 January 2022.