SARA HOFFMAN

Communications Professional

SARA HOFFMAN

 

ABOUT ME

I am an experienced and highly adaptable publicist and communications & marketing professional with a decade of experience in the digital world across multiple disciplines. Having entered the workforce in 2015, I had the privilege of getting to learn to new forms of digital communication as they were being rolled out. I was at the forefront of paid social marketing, worked in media when Instagram Stories launched for the first time, got to be a news editor during COVID, and have worked between entertainment and higher ed in an ever changing societal and digital landscape. All of these experiences have landed me with a wide breadth of knowledge that I hope to only continue to strengthen as the we continue to evolve in a media landscape like today’s. I’ve helped organizations through crucial moments of necessary crisis communications, and I’ve helped produce full-scale concerts. My ability to think quick on my feet, adapt to changing workforce pressures, and my hunger to learn has made my career so far feel more of a privilege than work.

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

SENIOR COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST, OFFICE OF THE PROVOST, UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
NOVEMBER 2023-Present

-Director of all internal communications and strategy for USC’s Office of the Provost
-Assist with strategic planning all projects with a communications component alongside the Office of the President and Central Communications on high stakes initiatives using social media, web UX, presentations, internal memos, and more
-Work cross-functionally with other administrative teams and schools on critical crisis communications, data management, and dissemination of information as they pertain to academic facets of the university and its faculty, staff, and students
-Write longform and short form content for the Provost including remarks, leadership memorandums, blogs, and essential university updates for key stakeholders such as the Board of Trustees, faculty, and the university at large

COMMUNICATIONS SPECIALIST, UNIVERSITY HUMAN RESOURCES, UNIVERSITY OF IOWA
May 2021-November 2022

-Led executive communications and marketing for University Human Resources, managing internal and external outreach and media relations
-Oversaw communications strategy for Future of Work initiatives impacting 20,000+ employees, collaborating with leadership and project teams
-Directed organizational stakeholders and university leadership in high-level decision making and strategy using a variety of media types such as newsletters, press releases, SEO, presentations, and social media efforts (TikTok, Twitter, Instagram)
-Managed HR website as primary web administrator and UX designer, overseeing content, design, data analysis, SEO, and accessibility compliance

NEWSLETTER EDITOR, SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA NEWS GROUP
MAY 2019-MAY 2022

-Led editorial and product strategy for 40+ newsletters across 15 publications, overseeing operations and growth initiatives
-Managed cross-functional teams in content creation, design, and workflow optimization to drive audience acquisition, retention, and engagement
-Launched and curated daily COVID-19 newsletter, reaching 50,000+ subscribers within three months across all 11 SCNG properties
-Served as interim Social Media Director (50% role), managing six-figure marketing budgets, audience engagement, and content strategy for Instagram and Twitter

SOCIAL MEDIA ASSOCIATE, THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
MaRCH 2017-DECEMBER 2018

-Founding member of in-house global media team for all WSJ brands; managing social media planning, performance marketing, retention, engagement, and content creation with seven-figure budgets across the US, EMEA, and APAC
-Worked cross-functionally with external vendors such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Snapchat to launch social campaigns for critical KPIs such as subscriber acquisition and direct response, engagement, and more
-Oversaw strategy for event marketing on revenue-generating live events from inception to implementation including D-Live, and particularly on the “Future of Everything Festival”, in which social media accounted for over 30% of all tickets sold
-Collaborated with newsroom and editorial on publicizing important global coverage for all channels under WSJ enterprise, including supervising all performance lifecycle campaigns for WSJ Magazine & video content

OTHER EXPERIENCE

PUBLICITY ASSISTANT, FULL COVERAGE COMMUNICATIONS
April 2023-November 2023

Copywriter and Digital Freelancer, Self-Employed
January 2016-Present

Marketing & Production Consultant, Kennett Productions
October 2020-May 2022

Head of Digital Creative Strategy, The Colors You Like LLC
December 2018-March 2019

PR & Digital Media Manager, Artists Den Entertainment
June 2015-March 2017

Skills

Professional Skills
 

PERSONAL InterestS

Music
Fitness
Cooking
Baking
Reading
Hiking
Traveling
Writing

Education

RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEW BRUNSWICK

B.A. Journalism, 2015
Digital Media & Communication Information

Contact

Email: sehoffman93@gmail.com