Case Study | Transforming Social Strategy Across iOne Digital Brands
Objective
As the media landscape continued to shift, I was tasked with leading a social-first strategy across iOne Digital brands that still supported editorial content and site traffic, but placed more emphasis on original social content and KPIs like engagement, impressions, video views, and audience growth.
The goal was to redefine how we measured social success, recognizing those metrics as key indicators of brand health and audience growth rather than relying on site conversions alone.
Challenge
Our social strategy had traditionally placed a strong emphasis on driving audiences back to the site. As more users consumed content directly within social platforms, we needed to rethink both the way we created content and how we measured success.
The challenge was to continue supporting editorial priorities while also giving audiences more reasons to engage with our brands directly on social.
Strategy
I led a shift toward a more social-first content mix, with a greater focus on original, platform-native content while still supporting priority editorial stories.
Instead of relying on link-outs alone, I expanded editorial articles into social-first formats including carousels, short-form video, graphics, and other platform-specific content designed to give audiences more of the story directly on social.
I also prioritized trending news, cultural topics, and major events that were relevant to each brand’s audience, using those moments as opportunities to create timely, high-interest content.
The strategy included developing repeatable social formats, increasing short-form video, producing original interview and talking-head content, and using audience behavior and performance data to guide what we created and how we distributed it.
Community engagement became a bigger part of the strategy as well. I spotlighted relevant creators, tagged featured talent and attendees, and engaged with active users to strengthen community interaction and deepen audience connection with the brands.
My Role
As Social Media Lead, I oversaw the day-to-day strategy and execution across key iOne Digital brands, including Bossip and HelloBeautiful.
My work included leading and refining the social-first strategy, using Sprout Social and native platform analytics to identify trends and content opportunities, monitoring engagement and audience growth, expanding editorial stories into platform-native content, developing original social concepts, guiding publishing decisions, and working across editorial, video, marketing, and other internal teams.
Key Results
Q3 2026 vs. Q2 2026
Across HelloBeautiful and Bossip’s social channels, the social-first strategy drove stronger engagement and audience growth.
HelloBeautiful social channels:
- Engagements more than doubled, increasing 120.9%
- Engagement rate increased 161%
- Instagram engagements increased 125.2%
- Instagram net follower growth increased 229.2%
Bossip social channels:
- Engagements increased 28%
- Engagement rate increased 34.4%
- Net audience growth increased 2,791.7%
- Instagram engagements increased 92%
Selected Examples of the Strategy in Action
Expanded editorial stories into platform-native carousels that gave audiences more of the story directly on social while still supporting site content. One HelloBeautiful carousel generated 37.7K views and 1.4K shares, while a Bossip carousel reached 111K views and 519 comments.
Original Social Content:
Co-led question development for the 'Why Did I Get Married Again?' press junket, helping shape interview moments into social-first video content designed to spark conversation and extend the life of the interview.
Result: 408K views, 34K likes, 2.3K shares, 3.2K saves, and 755 follows.
Repeatable Event Formats:
Developed repeatable carousel concepts around major cultural moments, including 'Curves Were Served' for NYFW and 'The Girls Are Serving' for the US Open. The format gave us a flexible way to cover live events while highlighting creators and encouraging organic engagement.
Result: The NYFW carousel generated 44K views, 3K likes, 187 comments, 102 profile visits, and 46 follows. The US Open carousel generated 24.7K views, 1.1K likes, 173 shares, and 92 profile visits.
Real-Time, Platform-Native Content:
Created timely content around major cultural moments and tailored both the creative and copy to each platform.
Result: A Threads post tied to Jay-Z’s Yankee Stadium shows generated 358K views, 16.7K likes, 1.1K reposts, and 365 comments.
Key Takeaway
The results confirmed that a social-first approach can strengthen engagement, accelerate audience growth, and improve platform performance while still supporting editorial and broader business priorities.