Debbie Avens Email & Phone Number

Worcestershire, England, United Kingdom

Helping funeral directors, celebrants and other funeral businesses to use local marketing strategies and techniques togenerate sales and increase customer value. - Increasing visibility online- Engage and connect with local familes - Attract new clients- Improve client experience- Increase referrals

Increasing the visibility of the vital work of Project EIleen - to provide free resources to UK seconadary schools to help teenagers to better cope with death, bereavement and grief.

United Kingdom

Key achievements- Helped to take the business through the final preparation stages as the funeral plan industry became FCA regulated on 29th July. - Managed an extensive test and learn programme across digital acquisition and conversion channels to establish compliant marketing methodologies, (where previous routes to market are now non-FCA compliant) including media buying, creative messaging and multi-stage prospect journeys - Maintained award winning status of “Best Funeral Plan Provider” in the Personal Finance Awards for the fourth yearKey responsibilities- Managed the creation and implementation of compliant products and terms and conditions plus website content, sales collateral, customer communications and internal working processes to ensure all are FCA compliant. - Launched own-branded digital marketing activity across multiple channels to generate leads (vs previous strategy of buying third-party telephony leads, which is now non-FCA compliant). Managed paid social, native, programmatic, you-tube advertising and PPC channels.- Creation of new prospect marketing funnels and journey’s to increase brand awareness, inform and educate prospects about the product and Avalon as the provider. Planned new longer journeys to create a pipeline of prospects for nurturing by the sales team. - Lead a team of three marketing specialists to achieve business targets

Sutton Coldfield, England, United Kingdom

Key achivements:- Grew Simplicity Cremations to become one of the most recognised funeral plans in the UK. Launched new product offering in 2017. Managed creation and production of the TVC and media planning and worked in close collaboration with BTL teams to convert via SEO, PPC, inserts and telephony. Grew the business to over £20m annual revenue in 4 years, with a YOY growth rate in excess of 100%. Won Best Advertising Campaign and Best Brand Building at the 2020 CIM Awards- Managed the initial launch phase of Dignity’s 800 retail branches onto the yext platform in 2017 to maximise SERPS ranking for all locations; wireframe and page design; integration of reviews to serve on both 1st party and 3rd party sites. This work won CIM Best Use Digital Marketing - Large Company 2019. - Set-up of the centralised brand marketing function to provide marketing expertise and resource to Dignity’s UK-wide network of retail brands. Developed bespoke marketing plans meet to local business needs.- Increased market share for local retail braches from avg. 7 to 11% over 2 years with a transformational strategy of testing price, product and promotion.- Introduced online & offline strategies to increase brand awareness and community engagement; local organic & paid social media; annual content and campaign calendar; video content marketing supporting SERPS and business wide objectives.- Led on business wide change projects - e.g. CMA mandatory product & price changes, local brand strategy change. - Led on the nationwide rebrand of Dignity Funerals. Creation of brand identity and implementation across 150/800 branches. Halted due to change of CEO. - Reporting to Marketing Director, promoted to Head of Brand in July 2021.

Sutton Coldfield

Track record of achieving annual sales and budget targets by managing a team of 6 to deliver high performing direct response lead generation and and conversion marketing activity for funeral plans sales via affinity partners, Dignity's UK-wide retail branch network and D2C activity. Reporting to the Head of Marketing.Key achievements:- Contributed to the growth of funeral plans for the business to be the largest in the UK, helping over 1 million customers plan in advance. - Managing the delivery of the multi-channel marketing campaign calendar via multiple corporate partnerships (e.g. Telegraph, Daily Mail, LV=, Post Office, Skipton Building Society, Age UK), through Dignity's network of funeral homes and D2C via DM, inserts and online marketing.- Developing and delivering bespoke marketing plans for each corporate partner.- Owning an extensive test and learn data driven approach to improve performance across lead generation and conversion activity.- Launched new e-commerce websites with umbraco CMS systems for Dignity and Age UK; managed SEO, PPC and the implementation of Feefo online reviews for Funeral Plan products- Manage a programme of customer insight research to understand target customers, to grow channel opportunities and aid new business opportunities. Undertake and commission data analysis to drive customer insight.

Cheltenham

o Held full budget and profit/loss responsibility for an account worth £2.5m annually, plus several smaller accountso Accurately forecasting and managing the delivery of income targets for the cliento Developing annual acquisition and retention direct response programmes, such as conventional cash appeals, prize draws, raffles, conversion and upgrade appeals, newsletters across a number of channels including mail, inserts, door drops, e-campaigns, online, and ambient mediao Analysing results and recommending how these can be used to impact future campaigns: main aim to maximise net income and response levelso Working with planners to understand market and competitive environments for my clients and develop a strategic response with this insight in mindo Managing quarterly and annual client planning meetings, reporting on results, audiences, products and marketplace o Creative brief development and briefing creative teams, including creative critiquing of concepts and copy and visualso Ensuring high quality control throughout creative, artwork and production processes with outstanding attention to detailo Briefing media team on planning and buying for acquisition campaignso Understanding of databases, data selections and response handling processeso Knowing all relevant codes of conduct o Spotting opportunities for organic growth, helping to make these a reality, for example launch of alternative gift programmes to generate additional incremental income for the cliento Managing finances of the accounts for the financial director, from accurate monthly forecasts, maintaining forecasts and ensure billing is timelyo Managing a team of two, coaching and development, undertaking appraisals, troubleshootingo Fostering a team spirit with clients and other internal departments

DMS specialise in charity fundraising I am responsible for the following clients; Oxfam, IFAW, Woodland Trust and previously YMCA, Leonard Cheshire, BTCV and CAFOD.As SAM I am responsible for proactively leading the direct marketing campaign planning, implementation and analysis. I participate in the preparation of the annual direct marketing plans, managing ongoing campaign forecasts and budgets to ensure delivery of campaigns. I work closely with the AD and planner, and manage an account manager to ensure the smooth running of the accounts.

Cheltenham, England, United Kingdom

Birmingham, United Kingdom

In my role at Birmingham Chamber of Commerce gained skills in a broad range of marketing disciplines including DM, (mail, e-shots, fax-shots and telesales), web development, POS and event management. I developed key skills in campaign management, scheduling, budgeting, delegation as well as creativity.

Coventry, United Kingdom

In this role I was responsible for the production of marketing collateral and events organisation. I was responsible for writing and the managing the production of numerous export guides and fact sheets targeted at new exporters looking to grow their business into new international markets. I also helped develop a website aimed at UK exporters. I also managed the UK delegations for International Partenariat (international business partner finding) events that included sourcing travel and accommodation, event promotion, handling bookings and manning the UK exhibition stand at the EU events.

Education record

Covers all the existing & emerging ways brands can work with TV to deliver business success, focusing on the key skills and know-how.

Diploma In Strategic Social Media Marketing, Accreditation

Social media management, strategy, content, influencer engagement, brand awareness, customer engagement, driving web traffic

Cim Postgraduate Diploma In Marketing, Marketing/Marketing Management, General

CIM Postgraduate Diploma

Ba Hons, Advertising And Marketing Communications, 2.1

Advertising & Marketing Communications

Education record

GCSE & A-Levels