Jessica Phillips
Social media editor & strategist

Freelance                                              

Jan 2025 – Present                                                

Social Media Consultant

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•  Built the long-term social media strategy for Sophia Smith Galer’s social media consultancy, viralect. It
was my responsibility to stay abreast of evolving platform trends, tools & features & translate insights
into digestible & actionable feedback for content creators. I also created video scripts & carousels
• Consulted on social media strategy for Cancer Research UK, Calibre, Holler, The Rest is Politics & QVC
• Helped businesses including Hydro Industries & Operational Software elevate their social presence
• Oversaw social execution for podcasts including the Telegraph’s Rugby Podcast & the BBC’s Newscast
• Wrote travel & lifestyle articles for The Independent, loveEXPLORING, The Life of Luxury & Time Out

 

Netmums                                               

Oct 2024 – Dec 2024                                               

Social Media Lead

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•  Created a long-term social strategy & reported trends & social reports at senior leadership meetings

• Managed the social media team’s daily workflow & used insights to deepen engagement across platforms

• Launched a weekly explainer series from the news editor, chose topics & edited video scripts 

• Reacted to immediate news e.g. the budget & launched social-only franchises on TikTok & Instagram

• Lobbied for change for children by attending conferences in parliament & interviewing politicians

• Produced Unfiltered podcast episodes by choosing topics, finding experts & creating social clips

 

Time Out

 Jul 2021 – Sept 2024  &  Sept 2019 – March 2020

Senior Social Media Editor

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• Managed & motivated a small social team made up of a social media editor & freelance video editor

• Set daily agendas & deadlines, allocated workloads & managed schedules on Dash Hudson & Trello

• Translated news & features into social & video content & launched Threads & Whatsapp channels

• Shot & edited video content for Instagram & TikTok using Rode microphones & Motiv & CapCut apps

• Deepened engagement by launching audience reply carousels & asking for reader recommendations

• Doubled reach & increased video views by 85% on Instagram & doubled Gen Z audience in 2023

• Pitched 5/10 best performing Instagram videos of all time e.g. Poshco which earned 1.3 million views

• Created informative/witty TikTok videos surpassing 1 million views e.g. Jurassic World + Covent Garden

• Introduced voxpops, sourced UGC & wrote & edited greenscreen scripts in Time Out’s tone & style 

• Oversaw social coverage around the Queen’s death & secured three Twitter Moment features

• Rolled out covers, managed & delivered partnership agreements & wrote weekly performance reports

• Worked with commercial & affiliate teams to monetise editorial content e.g. theatre sales on TikTok

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The Telegraph

 Sept 2020 –June 2021

 Social Media Editor

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• Part of a record-breaking team which had its best monthly subscriptions of 3k during my tenure

• Used Twitter Moments to highlight paywall content to grow the brand’s paid subscription base 

• Grew Instagram followers by 55k & increased post engagement on Facebook by 59% in six months

• Pitched daily social-led stories, which I sourced, commissioned & packaged for print, digital & social media, to the editor-in-chief. Topic areas include ethnicity, culture, health, activism & pop culture

• Created comprehensive daily performance reports via Adobe Analytics, Google Analytics & Data Studio 

• Used Twitter, TikTok, Crowdtangle & Google Trends to source fresh, pre-trending stories & new writers, allocated comment pieces to regular columnists & used the main feed to maximise exposure

• Commissioned & designed daily graphics & video assets for stories expected to generate buzz e.g. President Biden & endometriosis & wrote about pandemic pregnancy & mental health

• Worked with Design & Picture teams to project manage Twitter Moments & ‘Mythbuster’ packages 

• Led large seminars on social media optimisation for fashion, luxury, beauty & magazine teams

• Utilised my commercial nous to pinpoint stories to make free to read in order to drive subscriptions

• Encouraged the brand’s 8 million social media followers to join the digital community by building Twitter Moments of reader reactions & instigating meaningful discussion within Telegraph Women

 

Metro.co.uk

April 2019 – August 2019

Social Producer

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 • Used my  judgement to tailor content to meet KPIs for a Gen Z/Millennial audience of 3 million

• Grew audiences on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram & Pinterest by 90,000 & launched a Tik Tok account

• Scheduled 140+ daily social posts & breaking news, spotted pre-viral trends & built reactive threads

• Deputised for the social editor at conferences & led a busy national desk when Theresa May resigned

• Project managed workflow & budgets, fact-checked/copy-edited articles & sourced images

• Ensured visual consistency across platforms, oversaw Instagram Story layouts & wrote video scripts

• Commissioned 150 original/women’s health stories e.g. vagina vacuuming, mandozing & fat phobia

• Recruited new writers e.g. social commentator Nels Abbey to write pieces to inspire positive change

• Found diverse interviewees from all walks of life for the regular ‘Mixed Up’ & ‘How I Save’ series

• Sourced, produced & edited over 50 original videos & helped stage short series ‘Dogs With Jobs’ 

• Created shareable Twitter Moments on talking points such as mental health & loneliness 

• Built editorial/brand guidelines handbook, oversaw freelance calendar & trained/mentored writers

 

British GQ

April 2018 – April 2019

Social Media Coordinator

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• Individually managed GQ’s social media accounts which have a combined following of  1 million. I grew Facebook traffic by 61% YoY & Instagram likes & comments by 38%. Twitter traffic was up 18% YoY & Instagram traffic increased by 152% & I posted on YouTube & LinkedIn. Total audience growth was 100K

• Used Echobox & Dash Hudson, wrote 80+ shareable daily social teasers for Twitter & Facebook, promoted long-reads on Instagram Stories & created viral social-led content via Twitter Moments

• Commissioned weekly experts e.g. The Guyliner, GQ Doctor & GQ Therapist to write topical content

• Launched a sensitive & empowering men’s mental health digital series ‘My lowest moment’ 

• Pitched & wrote topical news pieces about the Royal Wedding, as well as evergreen articles on Pierce Brosnan’s best looks, which performed 10x better than the average article on social media

• Wrote online news pieces & evergreen features on lifestyle, culture, travel, mental health & food & drink & delivered transparent press releases & media announcements in the GQ style & tone of voice

• Updated regular feature ’10 coolest’ by writing editorial copy for newly-launched luxe items 

• Populated the annual content calendar & pre-planned social content for the World Cup & MOTY

• Built an influencer database & ensured targets were met on-time & within budget at LFWM

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Square Mile Magazine

April - October 2017

Editorial intern

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• Grew Instagram community eightfold, scheduled Twitter & Facebook & filmed live social videos

• Wrote fashion, lifestyle, relationships & travel pieces & profiles on Benjamin Melzer & Rupert Evans

• Contributed to ‘Escape Artist’ & ‘Brand Watch’ segments & pitched the 'Ten Best Looks'  series