Sales Development Representative

About Adweek: Adweek is the leading source of news and insight serving the brand marketing ecosystem. First published in 1979, Adweek's award-winning coverage reaches an engaged audience of professionals across platforms including print, digital, events, podcasts, newsletters, social media and mobile apps. As a touchstone of the advertising and marketing community, Adweek is an unparalleled resource for leaders across multiple industries who rely on its content to help them do their job better.

Position Overview: The SDR will be the first point of contact for prospective clients, generating and qualifying new business opportunities across all Adweek products, including events, branded content, media, and subscriptions. This role is hands-on, requiring close collaboration with Sales and Client Partnership teams to build a healthy, consistent pipeline of qualified leads.

Key Responsibilities:

• Prospecting: Research and identify target accounts and key decision-makers across brand, agency, and marketing organizations that align with Adweek's ideal customer profile.
• Outbound Outreach: Execute multi-channel outbound campaigns (email, phone, LinkedIn, and other channels) to engage prospective clients and generate qualified sales opportunities across Adweek’s full product portfolio – events, branded content, media, and subscriptions.
• Lead Qualification: Qualify inbound leads generated through marketing campaigns, events, and website activity, ensuring alignment with sales criteria before handoff.
• Pipeline Generation: Partner with Account Executives to build and maintain a consistent pipeline of qualified meetings and opportunities to support revenue targets.
• CRM Management: Accurately log all prospecting activity, contacts, and opportunity data in Salesforce to ensure clean, actionable pipeline reporting.
• Messaging & Collateral: Collaborate with Marketing to refine outbound messaging, sequences, and sales collateral based on market feedback and performance data.
• Market Insights: Stay current on industry trends, competitive dynamics, and Adweek's editorial and event calendar to inform relevant, timely outreach.
• Sales Enablement: Work closely with Account Executives to ensure smooth handoff of qualified opportunities, including thorough briefing on prospect needs and context.
• AI-Enabled Selling: Use AI platforms (e.g., Claude, Gong) to sharpen prospect research, personalize outbound messaging, and improve the efficiency and quality of external communications on the path to lead generation.
• Performance Tracking: Meet or exceed monthly and quarterly targets for outreach volume, qualified meetings booked, and pipeline generated.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent professional experience.
• 1-2+ years in a sales development, business development, or related outbound sales role, ideally in media, advertising, or B2B SaaS.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to engage senior marketing and advertising professionals.
• Comfortable adopting and applying AI tools (e.g., Claude, Gong, Agentforce) to improve prospecting research, messaging, and productivity.
• Comfortable with high-volume outbound prospecting.
• Proficiency with CRM and sales engagement tools (e.g., Salesforce, LinkedIn Sales Navigator).
• Highly organized, self-motivated, and able to manage a high-activity pipeline with attention to detail.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Prior experience selling into brand marketing, advertising, or media organizations.
• Familiarity with Adweek's content, events, or the broader marketing/advertising trade media landscape.
• Experience contributing to or refining outbound sales playbooks and messaging.
• Track record of consistently meeting or exceeding pipeline generation targets.

Adweek is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity and are committed to creating an inclusive environment for all employees.