SHAINA WATSON
Summary
Social media leader with 5-plus years of experience driving brand growth across agency, consumer, and mission-driven organizations. Known for owning social and digital strategy end-to-end, launching new brand initiatives, and leading integrated campaigns that drive measurable audience growth, engagement, and demand. Combines creative direction with analytics, leadership, and execution to build brands that scale.
Overview
4
4
years of professional experience
3
3
Certifications
Work History
Communications Specialist
Federation of Northern New Jersey
Paramus
06.2023 - Current
- Led social and digital strategy across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and X, establishing a cohesive brand presence and consistent publishing cadence.
- Drove 276% growth in followers and engagement within the first 6 months by restructuring content strategy, improving platform specific execution, and elevating brand voice.
- Owned the launch of a new brand initiative, leading overall brand, social, and campaign strategy from concept through execution.
- Directed content shoots and video production for social and podcast promotion, including shoot planning, creative direction, on site coordination, and distribution strategy.
- Leveraged AI tools to accelerate content ideation, caption drafting, audience research, and performance analysis, improving publishing efficiency and enabling faster iteration without sacrificing brand voice or quality.
- Led podcast strategy and production oversight, including show positioning, guest outreach, content planning, coordination with editors, and promotional execution across social and email.
- Owned email marketing strategy and execution, increasing newsletter signups and engagement through improved messaging, campaign concepts, and audience targeting.
Social Media Manager and Creative Strategist
Freelance Consulting
New York Metropolitan Area
11.2021 - 06.2023
- Led social media strategy and creative direction for clients across beauty, health, wellness, tech, and service-based industries, owning brand presence and growth across key platforms.
- Developed and executed platform specific social strategies that drove measurable follower growth, with client accounts seeing increases ranging from 30% to 120% within the first 3 to 6 months.
- Created visually compelling, on brand social content that increased profile visits and website traffic, with social driven traffic accounting for 35% to 55% of total site visits during active campaigns.
- Drove foot traffic and inbound inquiries for local and service-based clients, contributing to 20% to 40% increases in contact form submissions, DMs, and call inquiries tied directly to social content activity.
- Led creative concepting and execution for campaigns and launches, producing content that consistently exceeded platform benchmarks for saves, shares, and engagement.
- Integrated AI tools into social workflows to streamline content planning, creative testing, and performance analysis, allowing clients to scale output, improve consistency, and respond more quickly to audience trends.
- Acted as the primary social lead for clients, advising on content direction, posting cadence, platform priorities, and creative optimization based on performance trends.
Digital Marketing Associate
RLA Collective, a Ruder Finn Company
New York
04.2022 - 03.2023
- Led social content creation for national consumer and health focused brands, producing original photo and video content including in store shoots, product demonstrations, and lifestyle assets.
- Drove 131% Instagram follower growth for a key client through consistent publishing, trend informed creative, and performance driven content iteration.
- Owned influencer strategy for select accounts, leading creator research, outreach, content review, scheduling, and communication with influencers and their teams, contributing to a 15% to 25% sales lift for a key consumer brand over a 2 month campaign.
- Planned, organized, and managed monthly social content calendars, translating campaign strategy into structured publishing plans and coordinating client review and approvals.
- Led paid social campaign execution by amplifying high performing creative, increasing social driven website traffic by 25% to 40% within a 60 day campaign window.
- Collaborated cross functionally with account, creative, and strategy teams to ensure social execution aligned with brand voice, timelines, and client expectations.
Education
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) - Human Biology
University At Albany, State University of New York
Albany, NYSkills
- Social strategy
- Audience growth
- Community management
- Cross function
- Brand positioning
- Campaign launches
- Email marketing
- Paid social
- Content leadership
- Influencer strategy
- Performance analytics
- Creative direction
Portfolio Link
https://shainawatson.my.canva.site/
Platforms And Tools
- Meta Ads Manager
- Sprout Social
- Hootsuite
- Canva
- Tagger -Influencer Platform
- Mailchimp
- Klaviyo
- Squarespace
- Square Online
- ChatGPT
- Notebook LM
- Meta AI
Certification
UX/UI, Product Design
Timeline
Communications Specialist
Federation of Northern New Jersey
06.2023 - Current
Digital Marketing Associate
RLA Collective, a Ruder Finn Company
04.2022 - 03.2023
Social Media Manager and Creative Strategist
Freelance Consulting
11.2021 - 06.2023
Bachelor of Science (B.S.) - Human Biology
University At Albany, State University of New York