TARA DRAPER
Sarasota,FL
Summary
Strategic marketing professional with extensive experience in brand positioning and campaign management. Specializes in leveraging market research and analytics to drive targeted marketing strategies, enhance team productivity, and ensure effective budget allocation. Recognized for fostering collaborative environments that support organizational objectives and improve customer experiences.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
Work History
Regional Marketing Manager
Taylor Morrison
Sarasota, FL
06.2024 - Current
- Created and managed annual marketing budgets exceeding $8.8M, effectively allocating resources to maximize ROI for all campaign initiatives.
- Developed marketing strategies that increased brand awareness among target audiences both in-market and nationwide through traditional and digital media placements.
- Collaborated with division sales leadership to align marketing efforts with sales strategies for southwest Florida communities, including boutique developments under 100 homes and master-planned communities over 5,000 homes, such as the Esplanade resort-lifestyle brand.
- Develop go-to-market rollout strategy for coming soon communities to include market research and buyer profile analysis.
- Work with model merchandising and signage teams to plan sales gallery installation. Ensure community readiness and branding guidelines are followed.
- Managed public relations for six divisions across the state of Florida.
- Negotiate and place media buys for SW Florida home communities.
- Hire, train and manage junior team members responsible for events, print collateral, video and photography.
- Collaborate with internal architectural team and external rendering vendor to implement floorplan changes for digital and print collateral for all Florida divisions.
Area Marketing Manager
Ryan Homes, NVR Inc.
Tampa, FL
04.2023 - 05.2024
- Collaborated with division sales teams to align marketing efforts with overall business objectives for top five U.S. homebuilder.
- Increased brand awareness by developing and executing regional marketing strategies to reach target audiences.
- Implemented data-driven decision making, resulting in improved campaign performance and efficiency.
- Conducted market research to identify new opportunities and target markets for upcoming and existing communities, presenting actionable findings to sales leadership.
- Reviewed and analyzed campaign results regularly, modifying strategies to enhance effectiveness.
- Hired, trained, and managed junior marketing team members, enhancing productivity and collaboration across central and southwest Florida new home communities.
- Championed internal training initiatives to enhance employee knowledge of core concepts and skills essential for sales success.
- Allocated and managed budget resources to maximize return on investment for advertising initiatives.
Regional Marketing Specialist
Ryan Homes, NVR Inc.
Tampa, FL
03.2020 - 03.2023
- Increased regional brand awareness through development of targeted marketing strategies.
- Implemented digital marketing techniques to enhance customer experience and increase customer engagement.
- Leveraged analytics tools to measure campaign performance, making data-informed adjustments for continuous improvement for all new home communities in Tampa region.
- Conducted in-depth market research to identify innovative marketing opportunities for leadership team.
- Developed compelling content that resonated with target audiences while driving brand visibility and recognition.
- Developed performance reports for marketing campaigns and proposed actionable improvements to leadership.
- Coordinated with sales and operational teams to verify alignment of marketing initiatives with company goals.
- Mentored junior team members, fostering their professional growth and contributing to a high-performance work environment.
- Developed marketing materials to maintain consistent brand voice.
Media Director
Cotton & Company
Stuart, FL
06.2016 - 03.2020
- Developed and presented comprehensive marketing and advertising plans for homebuilder and developer clients in the luxury and master-planned community market, managing budgets from $100k to $5M+ per year.
- Leveraged in-depth knowledge of client businesses to generate innovative media campaign ideas and recommendations.
- Negotiated media placements with television, radio, digital and print media vendors.
- Collaborated with clients to define marketing goals and conveyed actionable details to team.
- Oversaw media buyer handling administrative tasks for media placements.
- Ensured accurate recording keeping and billing for all clients and vendors.
- Led training initiatives for junior team members, ensuring continued professional development.
- 4 yrs 7 mos
Creative Services Manager
Cotton & Company
Stuart, FL
08.2015 - 06.2016
- Managed internal creative department and external freelance partners for advertising agency specializing in developer and homebuilder marketing and branding.
- Oversaw workflow management and quality control of creative and copywriting projects, enhancing process efficiency for agency clients.
- Coordinated project timelines and collaborated with account services team to clarify deliverables in daily meetings.
- Implemented automated project management system to track creative projects.
Sales Administrator
Marco Ophthalmic
Jacksonville, FL
12.2013 - 06.2015
- Managed customer and prospect database to track opportunities, follow-ups, and account history for sales team of 20 across U.S.
- Coordinated logistics for over one hundred regional trade shows annually to support sales efforts.
- Collaborated with marketing on collateral needs to enhance field sales initiatives.
- 1 yr 6 mos
Production Manager
RWT Production, Inc.
Springfield, VA
10.2012 - 10.2013
- Managed procurement for fundraising campaigns for multiple non-profit clients, overseeing budgets exceeding $25M annually.
- Collaborated with clients, vendors, and colleagues to share insights on industry trends and implement process improvement initiatives.
- 1 yr 0 mos
Senior Account Manager
Production Solutions / PS Digital
Vienna, VA
05.2002 - 10.2012
- Managed acquisition fundraising campaigns for large non-profit clients with annual budgets exceeding $25M.
- Collaborated with clients, vendors, and colleagues on industry trends, process improvements, and evaluations of Standard Operating Procedures.
- 10 yrs 5 mos
Skills
- Digital marketing management
- Campaign analytics
- Market analysis
- Strategic planning
- Budget management
- Brand positioning
- Digital Content Strategy
- Visual Content Strategy
- Content writing
- Email strategy
- Project Management
- Client relations
- Customer engagement
- Training and Onboarding
- Team Leader and Mentor
- Agency management
Accomplishments
- Co-authored and rolled out a "FL Community Launch Playbook" which led to 100% success for all new community metrics (both sales and marketing) for 2022-2024 in southwest Florida.
- Implemented changes to marketing campaigns to drive high-quality leads to sales team, directly contributing to an increase in web lead conversion to appointment while realizing a reduction in spend of 18% in Tampa region.
- Streamlined subscribed prospect email scheduling, messaging and templates to see open rates of over 50% and click-through rates of more than 10% on a consistent basis.
- Bridged the gap between sales and marketing teams to foster a more collaborative environment, earning an invitation to executive leadership training with Division President.
Timeline
Regional Marketing Manager
Taylor Morrison
06.2024 - Current
Area Marketing Manager
Ryan Homes, NVR Inc.
04.2023 - 05.2024
Regional Marketing Specialist
Ryan Homes, NVR Inc.
03.2020 - 03.2023
Media Director
Cotton & Company
06.2016 - 03.2020
Creative Services Manager
Cotton & Company
08.2015 - 06.2016
Sales Administrator
Marco Ophthalmic
12.2013 - 06.2015
Production Manager
RWT Production, Inc.
10.2012 - 10.2013
Senior Account Manager
Production Solutions / PS Digital
05.2002 - 10.2012