Greater Fayetteville, AR Area
It was dumb luck honestly... I was unqualified to even read the job description. But they rolled the dice and took a chance on me and just like that I was running social media at YouVersion (the Bible app with 1 BILLION downloads). At YouVersion I saw how legitimately caring about your audience results in insane follower growth and engagement. We increased the following of our Instagram account from 500,000 to 2.6 million followers in two years. We launched multiple accounts that grew from zero to over 100,000. Our TikTok went from zero to over 300,000 in under six months. I'm currently the Head of Social at Benzinga where I lead the best social media team in the world. So far we've grown our social presence by over 600K followers (50%) and drove 877.74M impressions and 25.97M engagements with a post volume of over 21.7K posts. And we're just getting started. I started writing on LinkedIn on January 1, 2022 and have written (almost) everyday for 4 years. The account has grown from 0 to 45,000+ followers. 15,000 of those followers have been kind enough to subscribe to my newsletter, Social Studies. Social Studies is trusted by social media pros at Walmart, Amazon, Beehiiv, TikTok, Nike, Google, Tesla, Microsoft, DoorDash, Shopify, Adobe, Apple, PayPal, Uber, Salesforce, Target, Disney, Nvidia, Canva, John Deere, Accenture, T-Mobile, Marriott, Dell, and Forbes. Kind words from Ish Verduzco (Founder of Internet Empires, previously at a16z, Snap, and LinkedIn): “There are only a handful of other creators in the social media space who are as sharp and consistent as Jacob has been in recent years. Social Studies is a great addition to your inbox if you work in the social media industry and want to learn from a pro.” In short... I help brands build audiences, engaged communities, and raving fans.
I'm currently the Head of Social at Benzinga where I lead the best social media team in the world. So far we've grown our social presence by over 600K followers (50%) and drove 877.74M impressions and 25.97M engagements with a post volume of over 21.7K posts. And we're just getting started.
At Social Studies, we do 2 things: 1. Help brands turn organic social media into a marketing channel they can't live without. Clients include: Sony Music Entertainment, Provident Films, Skit Guys, Glorify, Apollos, Radiant, Beliefnet 3. Write for 15,000+ social media wizards/ninjas/gurus/rockstars. We compile databases, case studies, and deep dives that help you do your job better. Trusted by social media pros at Walmart, Amazon, Beehiiv, TikTok, Nike, Google, Tesla, Microsoft, DoorDash, Shopify, Adobe, Apple, PayPal, Uber, Salesforce, Target, Disney, Nvidia, Canva, John Deere, Accenture, T-Mobile, Marriott, Dell, and Forbes. Kind words from Ish Verduzco (Founder of Internet Empires, previously at a16z, Snap, and LinkedIn): “There are only a handful of other creators in the social media space who are as sharp and consistent as Jacob has been in recent years. Social Studies is a great addition to your inbox if you work in the social media industry and want to learn from a pro.”
-Launched an organic social media strategy for Tyson Foodservice, increasing collective following by 99%. -Owned all facets of our social media management platform (Sprinklr) including publishing, engagement, social listening, advertising, and employee advocacy. -Manage all paid social initiatives. Directed creative, audience strategy and budget to reduce cost per lead by 75%. -Own first-party data collection tool (Jebbit) to create customer journeys across social, email, and web to capture data that informed future marketing. -Partnered to manage creative and agency relationships.
As a member of the YouVersion team, I was an employee at Life.Church, an innovative multi-site church based in Edmond, Oklahoma. Life.Church has over 40 physical locations across the country and reaches millions of people every week online. Life.Church also developed the YouVersion Bible App (over 1 billion downloads), the Bible App for Kids and the Church Online Platform.
Managed organic social media strategy and content creation for all of YouVersion’s brands. (Global account, niche accounts, and international foreign language accounts across Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, YouTube and TikTok.) Increased the following of our global Instagram account from 500,000 to 2.6 million followers in two years. Launched multiple niche accounts and grew them from zero to over 100,000. Grew our TikTok from zero to over 300,000 in under six months. Led a team of volunteer community managers and designers to execute overall brand vision as well as respond to the needs of a community of over 7.5 million followers. Developed a comprehensive YouTube strategy to provide relevant content to the target audience. During COVID, led production and creative on a series of felt-need videos that have now amassed over 21 million views.