Amanda (Mandi) Hudson was the Director of Online Marketing for Western Governors University (WGU), a nationally recognized, nonprofit online university, named one of Fast Company’s 50 Most Innovative Companies for 2013. As an online university, WGU relies heavily on online marketing to achieve its enrollment goals, and since Mandi joined WGU in 2006, the university’s enrollment has grown from 6,000 students to more than 50,000 students today. Mandi developed the online marketing strategy for the university, which included a strategic shift from using external lead generation providers to using internal resources for online student recruitment efforts. She implemented the initial use of web analytics along with multivariate testing to improve website conversion rates. She effectively tripled online lead generation within her first few months of employment, and her team has sustained consistent growth ever since. Her early achievements earned her WGU’s Rookie of the Year Award in 2007. She has built an online marketing team that manages website design, web development, paid search, search engine optimization, affiliate marketing, multivariate testing, and online advertising. Mandi constantly tests new ideas and approaches for improving conversion rates and new ways to identify and target niche markets that bring successful WGU students who will succeed and graduate.

Mandi earned a B.S. in Marketing from the University of Utah and completed her MBA in Information Technology Management at WGU in 2009.

Mandi serves on the advisory board of the Women Tech Council. Living with metastatic breast cancer, Mandi writes an award-winning blog that addresses the human side of cancer treatment and survival. She volunteers her time providing support and practical advice to patients undergoing treatment for breast cancer. She advocates for breast cancer patients, public awareness of metastatic disease and improving metastatic research. You can connect with her on LinkedIn here or interact with her on twitter @AdvertisingGeek.