Robert Rizzo Email & Phone Number

Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

Helping churches expand their reach through digital media and outreach strategies

Houston, Texas, United States

-Provide full service marketing and copywriting services to clients.-Lead marketing and development of inspirational training and resources.-Clients include industry leaders like David C. Cook and Lifeway.

Sugar Land, Tx

-Developed and managed comprehensive annual marketing plans and budgets leveraging email, social media, direct mail, print, internal/external signage, video, web, and app for 4 locations and in two languages.-Led all marketing and communication efforts for the REACH capital campaign resulting in over $7.3 million in donations.-Led commercial print facility including annual budgeting, vendor relations, and equipment acquisition and disposal.-Oversaw the production of over 2,400 projects annually.-Directed all marketing, copywriting, and design in English and Spanish-Led development of brand standards and oversaw compliance efforts.-Restructured Marketing and Communications team around agency model to improve efficiency, on-time delivery, and customer service.Led four direct reports.

Cincinnati Area, Ky

-Led churches through process to create visual identity that clearly communicated the mission, vision and values of organization.-Directed all design efforts to ensure they clearly communicated the vision framework of the church, including logo, tagline, visual palette, verbal palette, and brand guidelines.-Consulted with church leadership regarding proposed solutions.-Provided marketing expertise and guidance to church leadership during brand rollout.

Cincinnati, Ohio Area

-Accountable for all decisions related to product lines, including sales, marketing, social media, web, research, product development, and inventory control.-Led multiple cross-departmental teams focused on new product planning and development.-Oversaw strategy, planning, budgeting, and ROI of all marketing efforts.-Led rebrand and launch of all Vacation Bible School and product lines.-Developed multiple retention efforts, including customer newsletters and independent contractor training program.

Cincinnati, Ohio Area

-Reported directly to CEO.-Provided marketing vision, leadership, and direction to strategic planning.-Led team of 3 marketing managers, including goal setting and performance evaluation.-Oversaw strategy, planning, and budgeting of all marketing efforts and performance.-Led multiple cross-departmental teams focused on process and performance improvement.-Accountable for profit and loss on all core products lines.-Developed revenue and inventory forecasting model for VBS and Curriculum.

Loveland, Co

-Responsible for planning and implementation of all marketing efforts associated with 3 major Sunday school curriculums and a leading children’s Bible.-Conceived, initiated, and led the development of a customer support website designed to increase post-purchase satisfaction and customer retention.-Developed an email campaign to increase customer retention across multiple curriculum lines.-Responsible for planning and implementation of marketing efforts for an industry-leading magazine, monthly special market newsletter, all youth ministry resources, and national youth event.-Developed and managed content of the 2009 National Youth Ministry Conference website.-Created and moderated social networks for National Youth Ministry Conference 2009 and Simply Youth Ministry Conference 2010. This resulted in increased attendee loyalty and pre-conference participation.-Spearheaded efforts to increase digital book sales by researching best practices and championing in the company.-Led implementation of Youth Ministry Conference event registration system.-Led efforts with the wholesale team to develop best practices for distributing and updating product metadata to improve reseller service and increase sales.-Mentored company marketing managers on digital book marketing practices.-Contributed to the development of a new project management system.

Loveland, Co

-Led online and events marketing strategy for over 200 active book titles.-Responsible for $1.2M in online sales from a $90K online marketing budget.-Developed and implemented pricing strategy resulting in an additional $400K in revenue.-Recognized need, researched solutions, and implemented a web-based title management system. -Eliminated redundant systems and improved ability to efficiently share and maintain the most up-to-date title information with multiple internal and external audiences, including the sales team, wholesale and online retailers.-Conceived and led initiatives with Google Books, Amazon, and an online music distributor to increase digital product sales and position the company for future online growth.-Produced and managed over 150 product promotions annually distributed on industry-leading websites and e-newsletters including Group.com, ChildrensMinistry.com, Children’s Ministry e-news, rev.org, REV e-news, Christianity Today, iTicket, Videorocket, Facebook, and ShoutLife. Consistently delivered promotions within strict deadlines and budgets.-Developed system for testing and optimizing online pay-per-click campaigns resulting in click-thru-rate (CTR) increases over 1000% and bounce rate decreases of up to 40%.-Led strategy and development of multiple microsites and an online social network to support various product releases.-Analyzed and reported performance of online marketing to support senior management.

Loveland, Co

Selected as member of special team charged with re-structuring and strengthening book division sales, marketing and development strategies, resulting in year-on-year bottom line revenue increase of 40%. Led marketing strategy and planning for women’s and children’s books. Responsible for $2.4 million revenue. Managed and reconciled $300K marketing budget. Year 2007 ended under budget. Led content and distribution strategy of 21 product catalogs to support consumer and trade sales through direct, online, trade and events channels. Increased online product reviews significantly by proposing and deploying incentive program for company evangelists. Conceived and launched tiered discount program to encourage company evangelists to sell product at localized events. Developed and conducted ongoing product training for inbound, outbound and reseller teams, including bi-annual summit presentations demonstrating features, benefits and value propositions of new releases.

Loveland, Co

Led marketing strategy and promotion of children’s curriculum launch.Managed and reconciled $500,000 marketing budget. Year 2006 ended under budget.Forecasted and managed sales and inventory.Directed all advertising efforts including consumer and trade catalogs, product brochures, direct mail, product samples, website, and multimedia.Conducted extensive market research including market sizing, market segmentation, price elasticity testing, lost purchase follow up, and field tests.Developed and oversaw lead generation, customer acquisition and retention programs.Organized and conducted on-going product training to direct, inbound and wholesale sales teams.Supervised staff of four.

-Provided leadership on all business decisions including legal, financial, marketing, production and administrative affairs.-Introduced database-driven sales and customer relationship management systems resulting in 180% increase in annual sales over two years.-Planned and coordinated an average of 125 marketing and advertising projects per year including building campaigns, newsletters, bulletins, direct mail campaigns, websites and logos.-Developed new business including client consultation, proposal development and up to 30 outbound sales calls daily.-Managed product development including research, production, pricing and branding to optimize ongoing sales.-Wrote informational marketing and advertising articles for company e-news targeted at clients and prospects.

-Directed product positioning and managed planning and execution of all division marketing programs, including: advertising, direct mail, Web marketing, promotions and customer research.-Redesigned and upgraded entire computer system, including network, resulting in 30% productivity increase and reduced maintenance costs.-Authored and implemented a marketing plan that increased customer base 300% and increased sales from a regional sales program to a national program.-Managed five-person account management staff.-Mentored account managers regarding targeting of markets, evaluating competition, elements of sales cycle, proposal development and customer relationship management.-Reviewed proposals to ensure accuracy, profitability and ability to deliver on time.

Bachelor Of Science - Bs, Journalism

Master Of Business Administration - Mba, International/Global Studies