SmartBug Media® Promotes Jen Spencer to President

Spencer to Lead All Operations as Fast-Growing Digital Marketing Agency Continues Expansion

IRVINE, Calif., October 20, 2021 — SmartBug Media^® — a leading Intelligent Inbound^® marketing agency that assists businesses in generating leads, increasing awareness and building brand loyalty through inbound marketing, digital strategy, design, marketing automation, revenue operations and public relations — today announced that it has promoted Jen Spencer to its newly created role of President. Reporting to the CEO and overseeing all operations, Spencer will execute on SmartBug^®‘s growth and market expansion strategy, which is focused on delivering superior, cutting-edge service to the company’s customers and partners, while continuing to invest in the people and culture that make SmartBug a great place for employees to work and develop their careers. 

A pioneer and role model in the shift to remote work since its inception, SmartBug has realized accelerated growth since its founding. SmartBug has been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing companies for the last five consecutive years as well as the AdWeek Fast 75 for the last three consecutive years. The company is the highest rated agency partner in HubSpot’s global partner ecosystem. SmartBug has also become a top partner to Klaviyo and a leader in email and SMS marketing for eCommerce companies as a result of its acquisition of Worth eCommerce earlier this year.  Furthermore, the company is well-regarded in the industry as an attractive destination for marketing professionals seeking long-term career growth and a positive company culture.

“Jen has been a high-performing leader since her arrival at SmartBug and has changed the trajectory of our growth. Given our explosive growth and plans for the future, appointing Jen to the newly-created role of President is a natural step in the evolution of our business,“ said SmartBug Founder and CEO Ryan Malone. “It’s also an especially proud moment for me to have a female President leading our company, because as a father of two daughters, Jen serves as an exceptional role model to them, as well as the many other talented women and all young professionals at SmartBug, who can envision their own career paths reaching to the highest executive-level positions.”

SmartBug was founded in 2008 as one of the country’s few fully remote marketing agencies, with an ongoing commitment to providing employees with challenging careers along with the flexibility to spend more quality time with their families and make lifelong memories. Moreover, SmartBug has always been an attractive employment choice for women who want to strike a healthy balance between their career aspirations and their personal lives. Currently, more than half of SmartBug’s leadership roles are held by women. Consequently, Malone has been named on Comparably’s “Best CEOs for Women” lists for the last three years in a row.

Spencer’s demand generation and sales enablement expertise enabled her to build and execute a direct go-to-market strategy at nettime solutions that resulted in a successful exit in 2014 to Paychex. She then joined Allbound as a founding team member and was responsible for generating the company's first $2 million in ARR by implementing an inbound sales and marketing program that disrupted the partner relationship management (PRM) space. 

In her first full year as SmartBug's VP of Sales and Marketing in 2018, Spencer implemented a sales and marketing program that resulted in 70 percent year-over-year revenue growth, earning SmartBug the title of HubSpot's Global Partner of the Year. She then served as the company’s Chief Revenue Officer, uniting its sales, marketing, and client services teams to build high-growth solutions for SmartBug’s deep roster of clients. 

Jen is also an influential thought leader in the sales, marketing, and revenue operations space, regularly speaking at B2B conferences as well as serving as a mentor for revenue leaders through Pavilion’s Rising Executives Program. She also started and hosted a weekly podcast called SmartBug on Tap for several years before launching the new Intelligent Inbound Podcast—aimed at challenging the status quo for inbound marketing with inspiring stories from some of marketing’s most innovative and successful players.

"It's important to me that we continue to deliver exceptional intelligent inbound marketing services and partner in our clients’ success," said Spencer. "As a former two-time client of SmartBug, and then as an executive-level leader within the organization, I understand the intricacies and challenges that we face day-to-day as a very successful, high-growth agency. My goal is for SmartBug to continue to innovate and lead by example so that we remain attractive to top talent and continue to exceed expectations as an industry trailblazer."

ABOUT SMARTBUG MEDIA

SmartBug Media is a globally recognized Intelligent Inbound marketing agency assisting businesses in growing revenue by generating leads, increasing brand awareness and building customer loyalty through content marketing, sales enablement, revenue operations, web development, marketing automation and public relations.

As HubSpot’s 2018 Global Partner of the Year, SmartBug is the highest-rated HubSpot partner in the world today. The company has not only been named to the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies five years in a row, but it has also been named to the Adweek Fastest Growing Agencies list three times and won a number of Great Place to Work^® and Comparably awards. With hundreds of awards for client work — and a team holding a combined 1,000-plus marketing certifications — SmartBug is fully dedicated to delivering client success and an unparalleled agency experience. For more information about SmartBug Media, visit smartbugmedia.com.

For SmartBug Media Inquiries, Contact: 

Jennifer Tolkachev
Director, PR
SmartBug Media 

949-236-6448 x865
jtolkachev@smartbugmedia.com