I’m honored to share that I have been selected as one of three finalists for the American Marketing Association’s Emerging Marketer in Higher Education Award this year! It’s incredibly fulfilling to have the work I’ve been producing at Fordham University within the Fordham Career Center in audience targeting, project streamlining, and accessibility through content marketing be recognized at this level.
Despite being early in my career, I’ve taken on high-level strategy and mentorship roles, leading to a 72% increase in overall Career Center service utilization. My approach goes beyond traditional practices, as I continuously seek to adapt cutting-edge techniques from various industries to connect with students as sophisticated consumers of content across dozens of verticals. This has involved leveraging automation and CRM principles in our email marketing, overhauling our website for SEO, and developing a dedicated video content strategy. My work proves that visionary, impactful marketing can be achieved regardless of budget or team size.
When I joined the Career Center, I was faced with the challenge of overcoming outdated technology and siloed communications, which hindered our ability to effectively engage students and demonstrate our value. My response was a data-driven strategy centered on creative content and streamlined collaboration, which transformed our department’s capabilities and delivered tangible results. In the past year, especially, my work represents a new and highly impactful approach to higher education marketing that can serve as a scalable model for others in the field.
My strategic approach is built on three core pillars: a content-first methodology, building effective collaboration, and developing unique processes to overcome technological limitations.
A core tenet of my strategy has been a creative content marketing methodology that allows my team to maximize the value of every asset. Instead of producing one-off promotional materials, I designed a system to create evergreen tutorial videos on key career topics that simultaneously serve as promotional and educational resources for our office. These videos were produced with low-cost, beginner-friendly software, making the series scalable. This standardized how we communicate our services and provided a consistent stream of content for our blog, social media channels, and newsletters. This strategic shift directly led to a 370% increase in YouTube watch time and a 405% increase in overall content impressions. The videos are now also a key part of our onboarding for new hires and graduate interns, streamlining our internal training processes.
I also prioritized building effective internal collaboration, a critical need when I first joined the department. I developed a new internal communications process, which includes a semi-automated dashboard and well-structured team chats, to create a unified workflow for all events and initiatives. This ensures every team member is aligned on our external messaging and brand standards. Furthermore, I regularly provide mini-training sessions to non-marketing colleagues on topics like brand representation, copywriting, and design, empowering them to become more effective brand ambassadors for the department, which in turn amplified our messaging without needing to hire additional staff.
Finally, I have a proven ability to develop unique methodologies to work around technological constraints. I specifically used workarounds within platforms like Handshake, which lack native automation capabilities, by leveraging RSS feeds to create a more personalized student experience. This innovative approach allowed us to deliver highly relevant content to students without the need for manual data entry, which directly contributed to increased engagement and the ability of my colleagues to plan more tailored programs. This demonstrates my ability to find creative solutions and drive innovation, even with limited resources.
My strategic initiatives have produced significant, measurable results that directly contributed to the Fordham Career Center’s goals and demonstrate an innovative use of technology and emerging trends.
Historically, the department had faced challenges with student engagement. My strategies directly addressed this by focusing on meeting students where they are and tailoring our messaging to their individual needs based on interests and previous engagement. This new approach led to a 72% growth in overall Career Center service utilization. As a result, our department’s core concern is no longer student engagement, but rather aligning with the shifting University strategy. This significant growth not only demonstrates our effectiveness but also reinforces the university’s reputation for providing high-value career development support, perfectly coinciding with Fordham’s Internship Promise launch. This measurable impact on our core mission is the single most important result of my work.
Beyond this overall growth, I’ve achieved several key marketing-specific accomplishments through innovative use of social media and technology:
YouTube and Content Marketing: By developing a dedicated content strategy for YouTube, we achieved a 370% increase in watch time and grew our social media following by 60%, successfully reaching and engaging a new generation of students.
CRM and Email Optimization: I introduced automation and CRM principles into our email marketing strategy, which led to a dramatic increase in our average newsletter open rate from 58.95% to over 80% in the spring 2025 semester.
Web and SEO: I overhauled our web content strategy and authored SEO-optimized content, which resulted in a 49% increase in overall website visits. This was particularly challenging given the introduction of AI overviews in search engines, which caused a widespread drop in organic traffic. My proactive webpage restructuring mitigated this, demonstrating my ability to adapt and maintain strong performance in a volatile environment.
These outcomes were achieved without a major budget increase and were the direct result of my proactive, creative, and resourceful approach to problem-solving.
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