Simply Books is an award-winning independent bookshop based just South of Manchester, which is about to open its second location in central Stockport, named Prologue.
As a business, however, we are much more than that. We have a strong events programme that sees us hold over 100 events a year, ranging from 40 people in an intimate setting to 1,000+ theatre shows. We hold over 35 book clubs a month. Run back-to-back language classes three nights a week. We also have a strong hospitality side, featuring cafes and wine bars built into our stores. And that’s just the beginning.
We’re looking for a Marketing Manager to join the team and help drive forward our growth. Initially, this person would report to our Marketing and Events Lead and support them in continuing to define and expand our Marketing motion. In the future, we can see this person stepping up and taking full responsibility for Marketing across the business.
The Role
The core of this role is simple: your job is to increase footfall to the stores, sell more tickets for our events, and fill our various groups and classes- while continuing to help our Marketing processes mature.
Your key tasks would include:
- Contribute to defining and driving overall marketing strategy, ensuring activity aligns with business goals and growth plans
- Own and manage social media channels, collaborating with the in-house freelancer on content creation, scheduling, and performance
- Work closely with the Events team to ensure all events are effectively marketed and reach capacity
- Write and send email campaigns (newsletters, event announcements, launches), including planning, segmentation, and performance tracking
- Take ownership of the website, keeping content up to date, improving user journey, and supporting conversion
- Build and maintain the marketing calendar, aligning campaigns with events, launches, and seasonal moments
- Manage paid advertising activity, including PPC (Google, Meta), budgets, and optimisation
- Design marketing assets such as posters, flyers, digital graphics, and in-store materials
Additional responsibilities
- Track and report on marketing performance (email, social, paid), using insights to improve future campaigns
- Maintain strong organisation across all marketing activity, ensuring campaigns, assets, listings, and timelines are well-structured, easy to access, and delivered on schedule
- Support and contribute to content creation across channels, ensuring consistency in tone and quality
- Brief and manage freelancers (photographers, videographers, designers), ensuring output meets brand standards
- Create and publish event listings across all platforms (website, ticketing platforms, third-party listings)
- Manage and grow presence in local community channels (e.g. Facebook groups), with thoughtful and consistent engagement
- Plan and execute out-of-home (OOH) advertising, including print distribution and local placements
- Develop and implement in-store promotions, ensuring strong alignment between physical retail and marketing campaigns
- Identify and execute local marketing opportunities and partnerships to drive awareness and footfall
- Support PR activity, including outreach to local press, listings, and relevant publications
- Manage basic CRM activity, ensuring customer data is captured and used effectively for marketing
- Support, manage, and help lead events as part of the wider events team, particularly from a marketing and audience perspective
The Person
This role would suit a marketing professional who is ready to step up and take on real ownership and breadth, or someone with experience within the publishing industry looking for a change of direction. Experience in live events or the cultural sector would also translate well.
You won't be a specialist here; you'll be expected to move across channels, formats, and campaigns with confidence. It's a good fit for someone who thrives in a busy, creative environment, gets things done without needing to be chased, and wants to grow with a business that has genuine ambition.
Our ideal candidate is likely to have:
- At least two years of broad marketing experience in a consumer-facing business, ideally where footfall, ticket sales, or event attendance were meaningful success metrics
- A background in retail, hospitality, culture, events, or publishing would be particularly relevant
- A strong writer who can adapt to our brand tone, warm, intelligent, and characterful, and apply it consistently across every channel
- Comfortable owning the full marketing mix without a large team behind them: social, email, paid, print, web, and everything in between
- Well-organised and able to manage a busy marketing calendar across two sites and a packed events programme, holding multiple campaigns at different stages without things slipping
- Confident working with data, able to read campaign performance, draw sensible conclusions, and adjust activity accordingly
- Proficient with the core tools: Canva or equivalent, an email platform (Mailchimp or similar), Meta and Google ads, and basic CMS management
- Comfortable briefing and managing freelancers and external suppliers, with a clear sense of what good looks like
- Genuinely invested in what we do; independent bookselling, community, culture, and hospitality are central to this business, and the right person will find that motivating rather than incidental
If you don't meet every point above but feel this role is a strong fit for you, we'd still encourage you to apply. The right attitude, genuine enthusiasm for what we do, and a track record of getting things done will matter as much as ticking every box.
We're open to full or part-time arrangements and happy to discuss what works for the right person.
Benefits
- 28 days annual leave (pro-rated for part-time team members), including flexible bank holidays meaning you can use those days elsewhere if you would prefer
- 40% off everything in the shop- including books!
- Free hot and soft drinks from our café
- 24/7 employee wellbeing helpline, including counselling and financial advice
- Company pension contributions (for eligible team members)
- Access to early proof copies, exclusive content, and more!
- Opportunity to attend industry events
- Team socials
