Content Marketing + Creation

STRATEGY, EXECUTION, ANALYSIS

• As the director of content marketing for Intersect Illinois, I oversee the strategy, execution, and analysis of our marketing collateral, from video campaigns to one-pagers (like this one, which pits Illinois versus Texas for doing business). In alignment with the State’s Five-Year Economic Growth Plan, Intersect Illinois targets six high-growth industries for expansion in Illinois. I oversee content marketing for all of them: quantum computing, AI, and microelectronics; clean energy production and manufacturing; transportation, distribution, and logistics; life sciences; advanced manufacturing; and next-generation agriculture, agtech, and food processing.

  • Notably, my marketing efforts have generated an 800% return on investment in clean energy production and manufacturing alone, with a proactive outreach campaign prompting recent locate Avina Clean Hydrogen to contact our business development team and eventually become a project win, investing $820 million in Illinois.

  • Check out my initial marketing strategy proposal for Intersect Illinois, shared with leadership within the first 30 days of my starting. Check out this quantum marketing strategy I developed more recently for the new fiscal year.

  • This spring, I directed a video campaign featuring pioneers in the quantum technologies space across Illinois, including Governor JB Pritzker (who offered high praise upon seeing its final cut). I wrote his script, developed talking points for each of our five interviewees, conducted interviews alongside our video production team, and directed the capture of footage and collation of b-roll across facilities such as Argonne National Laboratory and Fermilab, the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP), and research institutions and universities like the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering. Check out the video below.

• Additionally, I provided transcript selects and vendor direction for creating social media clips ahead of World Quantum Day on April 14, pulling from our raw footage the commentary that aligns with our goal of presenting Illinois as the best place for quantum computing and adjacent companies to live, work, and do business. Check out a few of them below.

• For more, check out this go-to-market strategy I pitched to another company, Smithbucklin, to roll out their new Association Promoter initiative. (Ultimately, I lost the job to another candidate with years of experience in association management, but I was very satisfied with my proposal and received great feedback from their team.)

• I’m also well-versed in programming for a variety of audiences and niches. This includes curriculum development for Miller Media Group’s multiple programs and clients, textbook development, and à la carte products such as ebooks, cheat sheets, and devotionals. Check out my content strategy framework here.

Paid Media

copywriting, Design, Campaign management

• In addition to copywriting and managing a consistent proactive outreach email campaign, I deploy a LinkedIn and display ad campaign, at least monthly, across our six key industries of focus. For those campaigns, I vet data points with our research team for the purpose of effective data storytelling, write the ads, create the assets, and deploy and manage them within each distribution platform (LinkedIn Campaign Manager and Feathr, our nonprofit partner akin to Google Ads).

  • Last fiscal year, our marketing team’s display advertising contributed to 50% of our total leads that turned into projects (as in, each lead had received at least one touchpoint from us via LinkedIn or display advertising before converting). These are ads that I managed from top to bottom — design to deployment.

Advertising

OUT-OF-HOME (BILLBOARDS)

• The Intersect Illinois marketing team and I launched an out-of-home campaign in August of 2024 titled Illinois Is Where the Heart Is — a play on Illinois’ advantageous location at the heart of the U.S. economy.

  • I oversaw ad copy (and was called “a copywriting beast!”) and supported creative direction, deploying fabric display and digital ads throughout Chicago O’Hare International Airport and Midway International Airport. We capitalized on the heavy foot traffic of DNC ‘24 travelers arriving to and departing from ORD and MDW in order to drive significant brand awareness and generate qualified leads (the executives of companies looking to grow or expand in Illinois). The campaign was praised on social media from our leadership team, board members, and even a few competitor economic development organizations (EDOs) countrywide.

Email Marketing

Proactive outreach + FUNNELS (Welcome, Nurture, sales, Transactional)

• Notably, my email copywriting at Intersect Illinois has driven almost-unheard-of performance metrics such as 96.9% open rates and 96.1% click-through rates in email marketing initiatives targeting the financial decision makers of companies outside the state of Illinois.

• As the marketing and communications manager and sole copywriter for Miller Media Group, my copywriting generated up to $6 million per brand launch, a 400% increase compared to previous years’ launches. In sales, I’m of the mind that “facts tell and stories sell” — I lean heavily into storytelling to move the reader to action (which, in Miller Media Group’s case, was to buy memberships to access our online programs). I oversaw copy from start to finish — from Facebook ads to webinar invite emails to sales sequences (open cart, downsell, and upsell messaging), as well as landing pages, looking closely at performance metrics for continual conversion rate optimization (CRO).

  • I also created the landing pages for our client brands, including The One University, Leader School, and Everyday Seminary, online programs which provide resources for members to grow in particular areas of life such as relationships, leadership, business, and entrepreneurship.

• For more samples of work, check out a sales email here, written for Julep Beauty’s 2015 holiday campaign.

Editorial Marketing

Articles, Blogs, Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

• Today, you can read my content for Intersect Illinois on our website. Here’s a personal favorite: Innovation in Traditional and Emerging Sectors: One State’s 6-Point Plan to Drive Industry Growth and another: TechChicago Day 2024: Quantum Takes a Leap From Silicon Valley to Chicago.

• Previously, from early 2021 to late 2022, I spent my time blogging and writing feature articles for Web3 platform Async Art. Some content required technical writing, other formats required artist interviews and storytelling, others required project release details, and others still required a little bit of everything. Read all of my blog posts for Async here.

• At Miller Media Group, I acted as the editor-in-chief of our lead-generating digital publication. Overseeing 70+ remote writers from around the globe, I was the operating force and editorial eye behind the content machine driving traffic, increasing our following, generating leads, and creating brand awareness. I created the go-to-market strategy in order to take the project live, including options for subscriptions, gated content, and opportunities to repurpose long-form content for social media and paid products like detailed guides and mini-courses.

• As a beauty writer for Seattle-based Julep Beauty, I conceptualized, pitched, wrote, and published blog posts to increase brand awareness and improve our content marketing efforts. Topics ranged from artist collaboration sneak peeks for holiday-exclusive packaging, natural beauty how-tos, and Halloween makeup tutorials.

• Additionally, as the content coordinator for Best Version Media’s publication Queen Anne Neighbors, I wrote each month’s Letter From the Editor, cover story, and content calendar; in addition, I interviewed local residents and business owners for featured stories, and edited the full publication (including reader submissions and expert contributions) for print. Check out a publication here or here.

Social Media Marketing

Strategy, Management, Community building

• While on the content team at Async Art, I tripled our social followings over the course of a year. (I took our numbers from 22k to 62k on Twitter, and from 5k to 10k on Instagram.) I also helped manage a Discord community of over 8k members at any given time, often supporting our customer service team on a whim, and repurposed our consumer-facing content for potential investors and B2B opportunities on LinkedIn.

• At Miller Media Group, I successfully managed and grew over 10 social media channels across our multiple brands and clients, including Facebook Pages, public Facebook Groups (including one with over 100k members), private Facebook Groups, Instagram (video and textual content, including both brand accounts and individual executive accounts), and LinkedIn Company Pages. Although we were predominantly a direct-response marketing business, we leveraged social media to create brand awareness, nurture our audiences, and promote registration and open enrollment around launches.

  • As a result of my strategy and directive at Miller Media Group, organic social media generated over 30k leads for a program launch in August of 2020 (up 50% in comparison to 2019).

• Additionally, I provide personalized strategies based on client goals, such as increasing an account’s following, driving engagement, or generating sales. In the case of one artist client, an audit of her social media bio, media, and messaging led to a more than 100% increase in sales overnight — she received her first ever online art sale within 24 hours of our first consultation.

Podcasting

STRATEGY, CONTENT DEVELOPMENT, VENDOR MANAGEMENT

• One of the most exciting projects I’ve helped launch was Miller Media Group’s Becoming the One Podcast, a series to help modern-day singles find fulfillment, joy, and adventure in their single season, regardless of relationship status. I developed the pitch, coordinated production — from booking, on-set recording, and vendor communication — and stepped in as a frequent guest personality. Check out an episode in which I’m featured here or here.

  • In overseeing the creation and distribution of the podcast, I developed each season’s worth of topics and recruited influencers and guest speakers, wrote each title and description, and analyzed our ROI each episode. With the help of our hosts, a virtual podcast editor, and our graphic designer, I grew our audience to 80k listeners over the course of two seasons by way of consistent social media distribution, effective keyword-focused titling, emphasis on great SEO, and weekly newsletter promotion. Interested in the process? Check out the original pitch here.

• Although the Intersect Illinois Podcast has yet to launch, check out the strategy I developed here.

Creative Consulting

Digital Marketing + STRATEGY

• I first minted an NFT (non-fungible token) — or what we still called, at the time, “crypto art” — in January of 2021, a few months prior to Ethereum’s incredible bull run of 2021 and 2022. As a traditional artist interested in navigating the new digital landscape, I was curious about how to use the blockchain for provenance and digital distribution. Plus, the prospect of artist royalties in perpetuity was incredible; I needed to see it to believe it.

  • But, without any resources for traditional artists onboarding themselves onto the blockchain, I realized I’d have to create them myself — firstly, for my own documentation, and secondly, to help others in my same position. So, I began writing about my experiences from the very beginning, sharing my thoughts on Medium and in threads on Twitter, starting in January of 2021. Some of those articles have 21k views, and many have been ranked on Google’s first page for those searching digital art and NFTs. A few months into that same year, one of the co-founders of Async Art, Lisa Liang, discovered me on Twitter, and recruited me for their content team. I spent the following two years supporting the marketing department, interviewing fellow artists, highlighting new product releases, and managing social media channels including Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Discord. (Check out this video to see me in action!)

• One artist I consulted (George Mead Moore) said of my 1:1 support: “Sophie was invaluable in helping me negotiate the new world of NFTs for visual artists, what to focus on and how to frame my goals with specific and well-written comments delivered in a personal, friendly manner.” See Kudos for more.

• In 2023, I worked with a client, Hummingbird Momma, in support of the planet’s ‘super pollinators’: hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies. Take a look at this press release highlighting my work for their team, in which I created the 2500-part artwork collection, as well as oversaw copywriting, design, coordination, influencer marketing, and paid and organic social media. Check out some of my favorite tokens from the collection, created in collaboration with Midjourney, below. (There were four categories by rarity, each entitling their collectors to discounts on hummingbird food for the main brand and physical product, USDA organic hummingbird food.)

Thought Leadership

• I’ve had the honor of participating in panels as a guest for the Design Museum of Chicago, speaking on creativity; Soho House’s Breaking Into Chicago Tech (listen to the podcast recording here!); and Art Basel 2021’s At the Intersection of Art and Tech.

• With my hands in two seemingly opposed worlds of art and marketing, I especially enjoy working with artists and creators — regardless of craft — to help define their story and message it strategically to reach the right audiences.

  • In this Sturdevant Creative house, there’s no such thing as a “starving artist.” If a Jackson Pollock painting can sell for $140 million, we know that people buy art — and they’ll spend good money on it, too. The problem for most artists, however, is that we don’t know how to position ourselves, or our work, in a way that resonates with our ideal audiences. (And our egos don’t want to try, anyway.) We believe that our work will sell itself, just because we’re talented or passionate or we just plain want it bad enough. But sometimes, especially today, where everyone and their mother (including my own) is an artist, being good might not actually be good enough. This isn’t to say anything about changing your craft…instead, it’s to say: Let’s change the way you market it.

  • If you’re an artist struggling to define your story, identify your ideal audience, and message yourself in a way that actually increases awareness (which leads to acquiring new clients), connect with me. For tips on addressing imposter syndrome, navigating an oversaturated art space, and developing a healthy relationship with your craft, click here to subscribe to my list and check out my work on Medium — I write with you in mind.