Chicago Music Exchange
As the Brand Manager at Chicago Music Exchange, I led a dynamic team of marketers, including copywriters and social media strategists, to develop and execute comprehensive marketing campaigns across channels. Our primary objectives were to sell, educate, and entertain, ensuring our messaging resonated with our diverse audience, from vintage collectors to people buying their first musical instrument.
In this role, I oversaw the development and implementation of marketing strategies that effectively communicated our brand's value proposition. This involved conducting market research to understand consumer behavior and preferences, allowing us to tailor our campaigns accordingly.
I also created engaging content across various channels, ensuring brand messaging and tone consistency. Collaborating closely with the sales and product teams aligned our marketing initiatives with business objectives, driving growth and enhancing brand awareness. Additionally, I utilized analytics tools to monitor campaign performance, providing insights that informed future strategies. This data-driven approach enabled us to optimize our marketing efforts, ensuring maximum return on investment and continuous improvement in our tactics.
Through these responsibilities, I strengthened Chicago Music Exchange's position as a leading destination for musicians and music enthusiasts alike.
eCommerce Re-platforming & Digital Transformation
One of my most significant projects at Chicago Music Exchange was re-platforming the website. I led the complete re-platforming of our eCommerce store, transitioning from a custom-built system to a highly customized Shopify environment later on. This overhaul improved site performance, scalability, and marketing efficiency while maintaining the unique needs of a high-volume, inventory-driven business.
As you may have seen in the news, this was also just in time as our demand ballooned in 2020, and it was just in time for our new platform to be able to handle the balloon in inventory, volumes, and need for online ease of purchase.
I integrated more advanced tools like ActiveCampaign, Klaviyo, and Attentive to enhance marketing capabilities, enabling precise customer segmentation, automated campaigns, and real-time engagement. Additionally, I directed the development of a robust API-driven connection to our Inventory Management System, ensuring near-instant updates on thousands of products with hundreds of dynamic fields. This seamless integration improved stock accuracy, pricing updates, and a more responsive customer experience. Despite the slightly different look these days, the bones of the website work off of the system I implemented.
This digital transformation streamlined operations, optimized marketing outreach, and positioned Chicago Music Exchange as a leader in online sales for vintage and musical instruments, punching far above its weight to compete with some of the largest vendors in the business, like Sweetwater.
(Custom Built above and Shopify below)
