Strategy · Content · Community

Shelley
VanWitzenburg

Social media strategist and content producer with 15+ years building audiences from scratch, producing live content at scale, and turning brand stories into communities people actually want to be part of.

Strategy Live Production Content Chicago 15+ Years
Content Strategy

My Approach
to Social Strategy

Brands that win on social aren't the loudest ones. They're the ones that show up where their audience already is: in the planning, the dreaming, and the day-to-day, being genuinely useful and genuinely interesting in all three places.

That means content that travels with your customer, not content that waits for them to come back. It means showing up where culture is happening, not just where the brand wants to be.

Aspiration drives discovery. The customer who's still dreaming is your most valuable future customer. Social is where you earn that relationship early, before they're ready to buy.
Community creates retention. Products are transactional. The identity, the lifestyle, the culture around them: that's what keeps someone loyal to a brand for decades.
Platform-native or don't bother. Repurposed content is invisible content. Every platform gets a brief built for how people actually use it.
Three frameworks I build first
01

The Field Report

A recurring content series starring real customers living the brand, not polished campaign content. Documented reality. The customer shares their story, experience, and honest take. We produce a short-form vertical cut for TikTok and Reels plus a longer story for YouTube. The brand becomes the through line, not the focus. Run it with a dedicated hashtag, build a UGC flywheel, and use it to source credible creator partnerships over time.

UGC + Organic Reach
02

Live Programming

A recurring live format built like a real show, not just "going live." Part product drop, part Q&A, part cultural moment. Hosted with a consistent personality and structured with segments, guests, and recurring bits. I've produced 1,000+ live events; I know what makes live feel like an event versus an afterthought. Live is where brands can own a moment no competitor is claiming.

Live Content
03

The New Audience Playbook

A dedicated content track for the customer just entering the category, still in discovery mode, researching heavily on TikTok and YouTube, and making their first major purchase based on trust, not price. Own that moment with a serialized content arc: what to know first, what to buy, what to do next. This isn't SEO content. It's a relationship that converts and retains for the long run.

Growth Funnel
Platform roles
TikTok
Discovery

Hook-first, trend-aware, customer-starring. 2-second hook rule. Duets and stitches with real users. Honest review formats that rank organically and build trust before the sale.

Instagram
Community Hub

Reels for reach, carousels for saves. Stories as the daily feed. Broadcast channel for deal drops and launch alerts. DMs as a real customer touchpoint.

YouTube
Authority

Long-form brand storytelling, product deep-dives, and evergreen how-tos that rank in search. The destination for customers who want to go deep before they spend big.

Pinterest
Consideration

Evergreen visual content, seasonal guides, and product inspiration that ranks in search and shows up at the moment someone is actively deciding what to buy.

Facebook
Core Community

Groups strategy for the loyal, engaged core customer base. This audience is vocal, knowledgeable, and brand-influential. Activate them, don't just broadcast at them.

Experience

What I've Built.

15+ years of real output: live shows, virtual events, 100k+ monthly readers, brand campaigns, and creative teams. Here's the record.

Shelley hosting BEANS
Live Show · Creator · Host · Producer

BEANS

BEANS was a multi-platform live show I created, hosted, and produced end-to-end, covering emerging technology culture and the communities building it. I handled everything from concept and production to talent booking, platform strategy, and the moment-to-moment hosting that made it feel live, not scripted. The show gained real traction along the way, including a standout broadcast during a token launch that drew 10,000+ concurrent viewers and sparked organic UGC across platforms.

10K+
Concurrent Viewers
Multi-Plat
Distribution
0to1
Self-Built
Global Events · Production
1K+

Songbird

Produced over 1,000 live virtual events for 150+ artists, coordinating experiences that were accessible to anyone with an internet connection. Platform management, scheduling, and artist relationships at scale, across time zones and under pressure.

Editorial · Audience Growth
100K+

A Magical Mess

Built a travel and lifestyle blog to 100,000+ monthly readers, organic, zero paid acquisition. Editorial strategy, consistent voice, and SEO discipline. Proof that audiences are earned, not bought.

Brand Partnerships · Creator
IRL

@travelingteenybug

Ran a personal travel and lifestyle Instagram, grew an engaged outdoor adventure community, and worked with dozens of brands on paid partnerships, including Kia and Eagle Creek. Real deliverables, real relationships, real results.

A few frames from the field
View this post on Instagram
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Team Leadership

Managed W2 direct reports and a contractor network, from hiring and onboarding to creative direction, feedback, and performance. I know the difference between managing output and developing people.

8+
Direct & Contract Team
15
Yrs Experience
20+
Countries

A consistent thread through my content work is translation: taking complex, technical, or niche subjects and making them genuinely accessible to the audiences who need them most. Whether explaining blockchain in real time, covering emerging technology culture on BEANS, or building editorial content for readers with no prior context, the core challenge is always the same. Earn trust, meet the audience where they are, and make hard things feel approachable without dumbing them down. That's the lens I bring to every brand I work with.

Chicago, IL

Let's Talk.

Shelley VanWitzenburg

vanwitzenburgshelley@gmail.com linkedin.com/in/shelleyvan