The higher education marketing space is as crowded as Costco on Saturday, and most agencies sound the same. But who wants to sound like everyone else? Up&Up didn't, and that made all the difference. Nobody wants to hear the same lorem ipsum marketing drivel from another "vendor." Vendors sell funnel cakes.

Like this---instead of handing out t-shirts at conferences all by their lonesome, why not throw them in a t-shirt tube with copy like this on it?

They were a hit, because if you can’t laugh at yourself a little, what’s the point?

But projects like this aren’t just about making people laugh. It’s about building a brand that doesn’t try to be everyone else.

And it paid off.

• Up&Up led the list of "10 Higher Education Marketing Agencies That Get Content Marketing" from Outbrain.

• I spoke at conferences including Confab Higher Ed, CASE Social Media, UCDA Design Summit, and the EduWeb Digital Summit.

• I researched and wrote the Higher Ed Marketer's Guide to Reaching Generation Z, which directly led to a multi-year, $250K+ brand project engagement.

• I executed an integrated marketing strategy that generated a consistent stream of quality leads, including UC Berkeley, USC Annenberg School, Johns Hopkins Carey School of Business, Rice University, Texas A&M, UNC Chapel Hill, Texas Christian University, James Madison University, Duke University, Fordham University, Georgia Tech, LSU, and the University of Pennsylvania.

• I consistently exceeded site traffic & conversion goals by creating high-quality, helpful content. I exceeded social media follower goals by creating and publishing a steady mix of practical content and engaging with our followers with personality and humor.

• I created the first-ever annual Higher Education Social Media Engagement Report in partnership with Rival IQ and saw a massive increase in engagement and downloads year over year. This report led to a webinar engagement, which then led to a major conference speaking engagement.

• I built relationships with industry associations and conference organizers to establish ourselves as leaders in the industry and help secure a steady stream of speaking engagements.