Marketing Content Specialist

About Garden Crossings: Garden Crossings is a family-owned garden center and plant nursery in Zeeland, Michigan, that ships high-quality plants we grow in our own greenhouses to gardeners nationwide through our online store. What started as a family passion for gardening has grown into one of the larger direct-to-consumer plant retailers in the country. We're looking for someone who shares that passion and wants to help us tell our story.

The Role: As our Marketing Content Specialist, you will plan, create, publish, and measure marketing content that showcases our plants, promotions, and brand story across our website, email, and SMS. You will own our email and SMS marketing channels and be a key member of the team strengthening our brand authority in organic search and large language model results, using SEO and GEO tactics. Your work will bring gardeners to our online store and keep them coming back.

We are looking for a content marketer with a strong understanding of eCommerce, including email and SMS campaigns and automations. You must write well and be able to turn data into actionable plans. As a member of our marketing team, you will partner with our Marketing Strategist on strategy, then plan, build, and run the campaigns and content, and use performance data to decide what to do next. You will also draw on the expertise of our growers and other on-staff experts to make our content clear, helpful, and trustworthy.

Key Responsibilities

Execution is your job, and you will partner with the Marketing Strategist on key strategic decisions, such as the content calendar and campaign design.

Grow Our Email & SMS Channels

• Own our ESP day to day, building, sending, and reporting on our weekly newsletter, sales emails, and SMS campaigns.
• Create and maintain automated workflows and look for new automation opportunities.
• Write email and SMS copy, subject lines, and calls to action in our brand voice.

Grow Our Brand Visibility in Search & AI

• Write original blog articles and product descriptions in our brand voice, optimized with strategic keyword use and strong E-E-A-T signals, and publish them in Shopify.
• Edit and enhance existing content and technical SEO elements, such as meta titles and descriptions, to improve performance.
• Develop SEO and GEO ideas, including pillar pages and keyword opportunities, to improve our visibility in organic search engines and AI-generated answers.

Plan, Produce, and Measure

• Help build and maintain our content calendar, and keep our brand voice, messaging, and visual standards consistent.
• Design or source graphics for email, blog, website, and product content.
• Pull analytics reports across content, search, email, and SMS, and turn the data into recommendations tied to online store results.
• Research gardening topics, industry trends, and competitors, drawing on our growers and other on-staff experts as needed.
• Work with our sales and social media teams so that promotions, content, and messaging stay aligned.

Qualifications

Required

• Strong writing, editing, and proofreading skills, including web content, product descriptions, blog posts, and email copy in an established brand voice.
• Working knowledge of SEO fundamentals, including keyword research, on-page optimization, and meta titles and descriptions.
• Familiarity with how to read analytics reports and turning the data into clear recommendations.
• Ability to learn new software quickly, such as an email platform or a CMS.
• Familiarity with Canva or similar tools to create or source on-brand graphics.
• Organizational skills to manage a content calendar and multiple deadlines in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to research gardening topics, customer needs, and market trends.
• Strong communication skills and the ability to collaborate with marketing, sales, and social media teams and on-staff experts.
• Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, journalism, English, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Preferred

• Experience with Klaviyo or another email service provider, including automated workflows and SMS marketing, and awareness of SMS compliance requirements.
• Experience with Shopify or another CMS, and with tools such as Google Analytics, Google Search Console, and Semrush.
• Familiarity with E-E-A-T, pillar pages, topic clusters, and GEO.
• Understanding of graphic design principles, including layout, typography, imagery, and visual hierarchy.
• Experience in eCommerce marketing.
• Interest in gardening, plants, or horticulture.

What We Offer

• Location: Hybrid with a mix of in-office at our headquarters in Zeeland, Michigan, and work-from-home days.
• Schedule: Full time, Monday thru Friday, with flexible start and end times.
• Pay: $45,000 - $50,000 per year, depending on experience.
• Benefits: Health Insurance, 401(k) plan with employer match, paid time off, employee discount, and opportunities for professional development. Some benefits are subject to a new-hire waiting period.