Nicole Lightbourne Email & Phone Number

Dallas, Texas

I created proactive social media content for AT&T's new subsidiary Aio Wireless, helping to establish new communities on Twitter and Facebook. From there, I served as a community manager for established AT&T communities on Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, Google+ and Facebook. I maintained the community manager role while leading content strategy and member engagement for the social media employee advocacy program. Of note, I influenced internal groups to catapult #LifeAtATT from brand use to an employee storytelling tool, empowering employees to share personal experiences with the company on social media — an activation that lives on to this day. I also managed content strategy for incentivized advocacy programs. I then transitioned into another role focused on identifying, curating and engaging key social media influencers for larger, program-based activations. To top it off, the role strengthened my reporting chops through regular data digging and training agency partners on reporting best practices.

Under the direction of the CMO and VP of Marketing, I was the all around PR and social media practitioner for BenefitMall. Operating in a new, formal role for the company, I delved into managing the social presence which included writing and publishing content, and implementing measurement and monitoring tools such as Radian6 and Sprout Social. On the PR side I managed media relations, managed PR tools such as Vocus, wrote various internal and external communications materials to support company news and researched and applied for award opportunities to gain recognition in the areas of technology, leadership and service.

As my role expanded, I happily accepted a promotion to gain leadership skills. Once I learned the beautiful art of delegation I was able to take on increased responsibilities in the areas of public relations, internal communications and global brand management. Under the direction of the VP of Global Business Development, I was also responsible for the day-to-day operations of the corporate marketing department. This included hiring, ongoing development and annual reviews for direct reports, budget management, corporate messaging, coordinating press release activities with the outside investor relations agency and managing brand identity. One of the many highlights of this role included developing and executing an integrated marketing strategy to rebrand the corporate website and introduce a new service offering. Through research and collaboration with my talented colleagues I also learned a lot about website design best practices.

Accepting this role meant relocating to Dallas, and steering my career in the direction I was most interested in going. I reported to the Senior Marketing Manager and served as the lead project manager for all corporate marketing initiatives. I continued to hone my knack for corporate event planning, developed key messages for internal and external communication materials, and took on running the corporate eMail marketing program using ExactTarget. Due to changes in our department structure, I took on more of a leadership role after about 10 months and began reporting to the Director of Business Development. I had my hand in everything from strategic market research and branding global facility locations to mentoring and inspiring the continued success of interns and direct reports.

I was exposed to the many facets of a direct marketing company with this position. Under the supervision of the Director of Product Marketing/Catalog Channel Manager I managed the B2B marketing and communication program regularly communicating pricing, products and contract terms with key reseller accounts and maintaining those relationships. I developed initial draft copy for DTC marketing collateral, and coordinated design and production timeline with in-house and outside resources. I was responsible for coordinating national tradeshows including vendor management, budgets and promotion design. I also coordinated focus groups to test market interest in new products and services. I drafted and distributed a few press releases about new products and company initiatives and served as the media contact. Eventually we started a relationship with an outside PR firm and I was the liaison assisting with PR logistics and contract management.

I worked closely with the Display Advertising sales team to execute marketing proposals that increased brand awareness and sales. The department would circulate the responsibility of the "Celebrations" section among the MAs and at this time I was able to work with engaged couples and mothers of the bride to schedule their announcements. Once the deadline closed for Celebrations announcements, I completed page layouts for the section based on submissions, which was pretty cool to see once the newspaper was published! I also regularly assisted the weekly publication, 210SA, with community marketing events including event set up and break down.

Master Of Science, Integrated Marketing Communications

Activities and Societies: Public Relations Society of America (PRSA National)

Bachelor Of Arts, Mass Communications-Public Relations, Minor - Sociology

Activities and Societies: Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc."Eat em up 'cats!"