My Story

Kim Shepherrd

I’m Kim Shepherd 👋

I’m a marketer, creative, and all-around geek.

I like to think I made my first forays into user research when as a small child I’d pull my orange and black pillow over to sit on in front of my grandma and ask her to tell me stories from her life. I didn’t want entertainment, but just to learn what made her, and by extension me and my family.

That’s always what storytelling has been about for me: learning and understanding other people’s experiences. It’s what brought me to studying theatre at Barnard College. There I learned the importance of the art of experience. If you did your job well, the experience you created for an audience could be carried with them beyond the walls of the theater, impact their behavior, and maybe even the world.

 
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Currently, I’m focused on a different type of experience – that of the student journey at a small university – through the use of social media communications and listening. But no matter the industry, I’ve seen through all my roles that experience matters. It really does. Investing in the experience – user, customer or otherwise – is an act of strategy and of care. It’s the secret social-emotional sauce and the competitive edge.

 

If you’re interested in design for good, like improving systems, or think a great journey map or user flow is a beautiful thing, then reach out. I love to chat and collaborate! I’m also commonly found asking advice from my cat, seeking European train route dominance in Ticket to Ride, and eating too many Oreos. So, if you relate to any of those, feel free to send me a note too – especially if it includes cat pics!

 
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Experience

Social Media Manager

Quinnipiac University • 2018 - Present

  • Guide data-driven, iterative content development for University's flagship social media accounts

  • Conduct brand analysis, social listening, and audience research using Meltwater data to inform Marketing and University Board of Trustees decision-making

  • Strategize, build, and report on targeted social media advertising campaigns in support of admissions and brand KPIs

  • Oversee content strategy and creation for digital signage network with focus on accessibility compliance and design

  • Created customized widgets and tagging system in user-generated content (UGC) platform Stackla to support content strategy for redesigned, replatformed qu.edu and manage ongoing UGC approval process

Digital Content Manager

Long Wharf Theatre • 2015 - 2018

  • Oversaw content strategy, creation, and management for social media and longwharf.org

  • Directed email marketing, including strategy, design, segmentation, targeting, and analysis

  • Collaborated with Database Administrator on behavior-based customer segmentation

  • Planned and executed social ad campaigns including use of remarketing and lookalike custom audiences

  • Provided customer analysis and actionable audience insights to leadership based on social, email and survey data

  • Created audience surveys and provided analysis and audience insights to leadership

  • Designed custom-coded templates for ticket vouchers and gift certificates for online sales

  • Designed custom, behavior-triggered emails from e-commerce system, including customer reminders and surveys

  • Designed and launched first digital ordering process for ticket subscriptions

  • Redesigned information architecture and partnered with web development agency to launch replatformed website

  • Created strategy and content for email and social campaign that raised a record $60,000 in donations in a month, received company-wide service award in recognition

Marketing Apprentice

Hartford Stage • 2014 - 2015

  • Completed data entry and analysis of audience surveys

  • Supported marketing operations, including email marketing and special events

  • Created video, photo, and blog content for social channels

  • Designed print and digital advertising assets

 

Education

M.S. | Interactive Media and Communications

Quinnipiac University

B.A. Cum Laude | Theatre

Barnard College, Columbia University

Skills

  • SEO

  • SurveyMonkey

  • Formstack

  • Marvel POP

  • Optimal Workshop

  • Meltwater

  • Google Analytics

  • Social Media Analytics

  • Meltwater Analytics

  • A/B Testing

  • Email QA

  • Mailchimp

  • Patronmail

  • Customer Segmentation

  • Customer Targeting

  • Adobe XD

  • Photoshop

  • InDesign

  • Illustrator

  • Premiere Pro

  • After Effects

  • HTML5 & CSS

  • Wordpress

  • Drupal

  • Squarespace

  • Data Reporting

  • Data Analysis

  • Storytelling with Data

  • Lifecycle Marketing

Research & Design Skills

  • Wireframing

  • Interactive Prototyping

  • Content Strategy

  • Competitive Analysis

  • Web Design

  • Web Accessibility

  • Motion Design

  • IA Design

  • Storytelling

  • User Research

  • Personas

  • Journey Mapping

  • Surveys

  • Interviews

  • Card Sorting

  • Heuristic Evaluation

  • Usability Testing

  • Ideation