Dena Hope Rand
Social Media & Digital Marketing Director | Brand Strategy
(414) 333-9466  ·  dena.hope.rand@gmail.com  ·  Austin, TX  ·  linkedin.com/in/denahope  ·  denahope.com  ·  Open to remote & hybrid

Social media and digital marketing director with over a decade across hospitality, CPG, retail, and lifestyle, agency and in-house. I lead social strategy, paid media, creative direction, and team operations for brands that need sharper positioning and campaigns tied to real business outcomes. Spent that decade doing the work before directing it.

Skills

Content Strategy · Paid Social (Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads, LinkedIn Ads) · Digital Advertising (Google Ads, Programmatic, CTV, Pre-roll, Contextual Targeting) · Creative Direction · Campaign Management · Performance Marketing · Reporting & Analytics (Google Analytics 4, Sprout Social) · Team Leadership · Influencer Strategy · Cross-Functional Collaboration · Brand Strategy · Go-to-Market Planning · Shopify / E-commerce · OpenTable · Eventbrite · Canva · CapCut · AI-assisted workflows

Experience
Social Media Director Jan 2025–Jun 2026
Resplendent Agency, Austin, TX
  • Built scalable social media systems improving efficiency across social, PR, and creative teams; manage and mentor a 3-person team.
  • Lead full-funnel paid social on Meta: campaign setup, optimization, A/B experimentation, and reporting.
  • Guide content strategy and art direction ensuring visuals and messaging align with campaign goals, brand identity, and platform best practices.
  • Refined agency scopes and resourcing models to support long-term digital growth.
  • Translate platform analytics and behavioral trends into actionable strategy tied to business outcomes.
  • Drove 2.79M+ views (+170%) and 43.5K engagements (+84%) for Merit Coffee; account crossed 60K followers.
  • Achieved 15.73x blended ROAS on KESSHŌ paid campaigns against a lean test budget; 127.2% increase in online store sales.
  • Delivered 108K+ views and +69.9% organic engagement growth supporting Pecana Nutmilk's national Walmart launch.
  • Generated 869K+ impressions (+679%) for Banger's with zero paid spend over three months.
  • Drove 703K+ organic Instagram views and 2,710 net new followers for Maaribu Cafe; 11.76x Meta ROAS for Maaribu Home.
Digital Marketing Manager 2022–2025
lookthinkmake, Austin, TX
  • Earned three annual promotions: Coordinator → Specialist → Manager through campaign performance and executional quality.
  • Led cross-functional project workflows; integrated AI tools that reduced project timelines by ~30%.
  • Executed campaigns generating 7.5M+ impressions and 49.1% YoY engagement growth.
  • Optimized multi-channel campaigns producing 369,000+ website sessions and a 43.4% engagement rate.
  • Delivered paid media analytics supporting a 3.79% CTR and 680+ consultation requests.
Social Media & Digital Marketing Manager 2021
Nova Hospitality, Austin, TX
  • Managed social content and strategy across multiple venue brands under Nova Hospitality group.
  • Built and maintained monthly content calendars and developed materials in collaboration with PR and creative teams.
  • Identified trend-based opportunities to drive brand visibility and follower growth across platforms.
Freelance Digital Marketing & Brand Launch 2014–2022
Austin, TX
  • Launched Merry Market's brand and Instagram from scratch: 350+ event attendees, 827 content interactions, 578% follower increase (96% of reach from non-followers).
  • Organized and promoted a large-scale charity livestream with 20+ participants, securing $3,500+ in donations.
  • Secured press coverage in Austin Chronicle, Do512, and KUTX.
Online Marketing Manager 2012–2014
Traffic PR, Chicago, IL  ·  Social content, media placements, and campaign analytics for lifestyle and entertainment clients.
Education
Digital Marketing Certification, 2021
University of Texas at Austin
Marketing Communications, 2010
Columbia College Chicago