Seasoned Marketing Leader Will Elevate Brand and Drive Revenue for One of the Largest Independent Digital Performance Marketing Agencies

Award-winning digital marketing agency, Elite SEM, announced Dalton Dorné as the agency’s first Chief Marketing Officer. The move marks the agency’s second executive hire in recent months, as they continue to build out their executive leadership team. In the newly created position, Dorné will be tasked with elevating the Elite SEM brand and value proposition, and launching a customer-centric marketing program that drives new customer acquisition, demand generation, account-based marketing, and client growth.

The strategic hire follows a series of key acquisitions over the past year, including social-marketing agency OrionCKB, email marketing and creative agency Email Aptitude, and Amazon-focused ecommerce agency CPC Strategy. As CMO, Dorné will also be tasked with integrating more than 15 marketers to build out the newly-formed marketing department.

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“Our rapid organic growth – revenue is up 33% YTD – coupled with the three acquisitions means that our business is now at the scale where we need an accomplished CMO to take us to the next level, with our brand, our clients, and overall business performance,” said Zach Morrison, President, Elite SEM. “Dalton has a proven track record of building teams and brands, and developing robust B2B marketing programs that drive all phases of the funnel. We’re excited to have her join our executive team and lead our growth strategy.”

Dorné brings nearly 20 years of marketing experience to the role. Most recently, she was the Head of Marketing at Merkle in the Americas, where she oversaw a team of more than 30 marketers. In that role, she helped create and launch Merkle’s B2B marketing platform, which had significant impact on sales and revenue. Prior to this, she was the CMO of search and digital agency RKG, which was acquired by Merkle in 2014. Dorné has also held the title of CMO & Head of Social at Havas PR & Havas Health, and spent 12 years in Asia in various business development and marketing roles at Havas Worldwide and Ogilvy. Over the course of her career, Dorné has worked with brands including Johnson & Johnson, Coca-Cola, Unilever, and Lenovo. In 2018, she was named Marketing Executive of the Year at the American Business Awards and was named to the DMNews Hall of Femme: Women to Watch list in 2017.

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“It’s an exciting time to be joining Elite SEM. They’ve had consistent growth and made some really interesting acquisitions that make them a powerful partner for performance-minded clients. One thing I’ve learned is that you can’t fake culture – and in our business, good people mean good performance for clients. I’m ready to put Elite SEM on an even bigger stage and get the agency to the next level,” said Dorné.

With recent acquisitions, Elite SEM now has nearly 500 performance marketing specialists, integrated media strategists, and data scientists that offer services that span all stages of the customer journey, from discovery through acquisition, retention, reactivation, and loyalty. Elite SEM is known for its award-winning culture built on meritocracy and philanthropy which delivers high-impact results for clients. Recently, the agency was the recipient of Microsoft’s 2018 Bing Philanthropist of the Year award. Other recognition includes AdAge Small Agency of the Year, Mashable’s Top Tech Company, Entrepreneur’s #1 Top Company Culture, and many other performance and culture-based awards.

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