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Simon Owens

Social Media Marketing Expert

Simon Owens

Journalist, content marketer, PR & social media marketing consultant.

Simon Owens is a seasoned journalist, PR professional, and marketer specializing in content and social media marketing. He has conducted PR, content marketing, and social media strategy for multiple companies, organizations, and individuals, including Google, Comcast, Forbes, ESPN, C-SPAN, and Nike. For two years, he was an assistant managing editor at US News & World Report where he built out the company’s social media presence. His writing has appeared in The Atlantic, New York Magazine, Scientific American, Forbes, Harvard’s Nieman Lab, The Next Web, Daily Dot, PBS.org, and US News & World Report.

Social Media Marketing
Social Media Strategy
Digital Marketing
Public Relations
Journalism
Technology Content
Content Marketing
Content Writing
Content Editing
Market Research
Blog Creation
Social Media Audits
Content Strategy
Social Media Content Creation
Digital Media
Web Content Creation
Communications
Social Media Management
Simon Owens

Simon Owens

Journalist, content marketer, PR & social media marketing consultant.

Social Media Marketing Expert

Simon is Available for Projects

Work with Simon

Employment Highlights

Tech Reporter

Independent

July 2010 - Present (13 years 10 months)

Content & Social Media Marketing Consultant

Independent

August 2014 - Present (9 years 9 months)

Director of Content

LEVICK

September 2013 - August 2014 (1 year)

Assistant Managing Editor

US News & World Report

April 2012 - August 2013 (1 year 5 months)

Education Highlights

Bachelor of Arts, English Writing

Shippensburg University

September 2002 - May 2006 (3 years 9 months)

Resume

Tech Reporter

Independent

July 2010 - Present (13 years 10 months)

  • Contributed articles on technology and media to The Atlantic, Politico, Scientific American, New York Magazine, US News & World Report, Forbes, Harvard's Nieman Lab, PBS's MediaShift, The Next Web, and The Daily Dot.
  • Interviewed key persons to obtain more information and conducted research to uncover interesting and significant news.

Content & Social Media Marketing Consultant

Independent

August 2014 - Present (9 years 9 months)

  • Conducted market research and developed engaging blog content to reach clients’ target demographics and consumers. This sometimes includes recruiting and managing already-established niche bloggers and journalists.
  • Ghostwrote thought leadership articles on behalf of executives. These pieces are published in professional media outlets, company blogs, and other platforms.
  • Performed detailed social media audits, examining a company's marketing goals and determining which communities it should focus on and the best methods for engaging its users. This involves identifying the key influencers within an industry and leveraging search tools to analyze their followers and topic focus. Created a detailed plan for how to reach these users.
  • Managed client social media accounts and incorporated these accounts into their larger content strategy.
  • Enhanced clients’ organic content and social media strategy with targeted social ads to widen their reach and influence.
  • Conducted public speaking/in-person staff training on social media management and best practices. Spoked at events on marketing, content, and digital media.
  • Developed a media relations strategy and created content that journalists will want to cover. Performed advanced targeting to identify the journalists most likely to be interested in a client’s story and crafted personalized pitches for those journalists.

Director of Content

LEVICK

September 2013 - August 2014 (1 year)

LEVICK provides strategic communications counsel on the highest-profile public affairs and business matters globally.

  • Developed all web content for LEVICK clients. This included hiring and managing freelance writers, working with designers on infographics, and collaborating with videographers on video projects.
  • Conducted public relations outreach to journalists and bloggers for LEVICK clients. Secured placements on both niche and mainstream news publications.
  • Ran social media marketing for LEVICK clients. This included organizing a global awareness day for a major healthcare client and securing dozens of high profile nonprofits to participate in Twitter chats and Google Hangouts.
  • Worked on multiple crisis communications projects, everything from major recalls to corporate data breaches. 

Assistant Managing Editor

US News & World Report

April 2012 - August 2013 (1 year 5 months)

  • Ran all the main social media accounts for the news division and advised on social media in the other divisions in the company. Increased social media following by 1,372%. This included a 146% increase in Twitter followers and 590% increase in Facebook fans; increased Tumblr followership by 53,000 followers and grew Google+ following by nearly 300,000.
  • Advised on a number of page design changes to better optimize the site for social. Facebook traffic for the news division increased by 286% and Twitter traffic increased by 326%.
  • Regularly worked on special projects; helped organize live fact-checking blogs for the presidential debates, recorded video (both in the studio and in Google Hangouts), and wrote longform feature articles.

Director of Editorial & Outreach

JESS3

March 2011 - April 2012 (1 year 2 months)

JESS3 is an advertising agency specializing in data visualization, UI/UX, social media strategy, infographics, web design, illustration, branding, product design, and animation.

  • Directed a team of four employees that specialized in PR and editorial content production for JESS3. Secured over a thousand media placements and social media shares of JESS3 content, including placements in major newspaper and television outlets.
  • Advised and created content for Google’s politics and elections division.
  • Mined Google’s search data, identified newsworthy trends, and then published this data in graphic form. The graphics and content have been covered by thousands of media outlets, including the New York Times, Washington Post, Huffington Post, Fox News, and MSNBC.
  • Developed an editorial content strategy for NIKEiD’s Tumblr account. The content created for this client was shared on social media outlets thousands of times.
  • Executed PR strategies for JESS3 clients, including Google, GE, Samsung, C-SPAN, The Economist, Forbes, Intel, and Salesforce. Generated millions of pageviews for these clients' online assets.

Education

Bachelor of Arts, English Writing

Shippensburg University

September 2002 - May 2006 (3 years 9 months)