Kimia Kalbasi
Verified Expert in Marketing
Marketing Expert
New York, NY, United States
Toptal member since July 23, 2024
Kimia is a highly acclaimed marketing professional with nearly a decade of experience in social media strategy, influencer marketing, brand partnerships, copywriting, content creation, and community management. She has grown cross-channel socials, scaled highly engaged audiences, and launched successful influencer campaigns for many companies in the B2C and B2B space, including Calendly, The Pill Club, Mount Sinai, Hint Water, Rula Health, Amazon, and AdRoll.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Brand Marketing
- Brand Strategy
- Community Management
- Content Marketing
- Copywriting
- Influencer Marketing
- Influencers
- Social Media
Work Experience
Head of Strategic Partnerships
Dola AI
- Led the development and execution of high-impact-driven influencer marketing strategies.
- Increased brand engagement by 45%, driving a 30% growth in new customer acquisition.
- Cultivated and managed relationships with 200+ influencers, increasing ROI by 25%.
Marketing Consultant, Social & Influencer (Freelance)
Calendly
- Built out the first official influencer marketing program and organic cross-channel social playbook.
- Launched the Calendly Champions employee advocacy program to increase brand awareness and grow engagement through thought leadership, industry-specific insights, and compelling content.
- Collaborated cross-functionally with project managers, marketing, and product marketing teams on multichannel campaigns.
Senior Manager, Influencer Marketing (Freelance)
Edelman
- Spearheaded campaigns for brands such as AstraZeneca, Advil, Centrum, FluMist, and TUMS.
- Collaborated with internal teams to provide clients with a white glove experience, including paid amplification solutions, and led influencer outreach, including casting, negotiating, and briefing.
- Monitored influencer program performance and reported on post-campaign data and insights.
Senior Copywriter (Freelance)
Sharma Brands
- Drafted copy that effectively communicated the client's message and aligned with brand voice and tone.
- Created compelling landing page copy for various brands, including Lomi, Pet Honesty, Ombre, Tanaor Jewelry, Healthy Directions, and Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery.
- Crafted compelling copy for many more brands, such as Legacybox, True Classic, GLOW by Skalla, Hedley & Bennett, Atlas Bar, Catbird NYC, Happy Healthy Hippie, Sunday Citizen, Healthy Cell, True Places, and BodyBio.
Director, Influencer Marketing (Freelance)
Within
- Aligned influencer campaigns with the overall brand strategy, improving campaign performance by 30% for multiple brands such as Noggin, Innovo, Pet Honesty, Vans, Rag & Bone, and Jarrow.
- Increased brand visibility by 20% by fostering relationships with a diverse network of influencers and managing ongoing partnerships.
- Grew overall sales by over 50% across the entire client portfolio.
Social Media Manager
The Pill Club
- Increased the company's cross-channel social mentions by 200%, growing patient acquisition by 40%.
- Achieved an average conversion rate of 30% by organically growing the company's social presence, boosting traffic by 20% MoM.
- Directed user-generated content, driving conversion rates across the website, email, and social by over 30%.
Social Media Strategist (Freelance)
Mount Sinai Health System
- Increased website traffic by 40% after managing organic social content.
- Boosted click-through rates by 20% and overall shares by 300% by crafting highly engaging content.
- Improved overall engagement by 200% by developing and implementing social media strategies.
Content Marketing Manager
Hint
- Managed cross-channel social presence and content creation, worked with a freelance team to write content pillar-aligned articles for the Hint blog, and owned relationships with vendors and agencies.
- Monitored social media trends and competitor activities to inform strategy adjustments.
- Increased post engagement by over 25% by creating and scheduling daily content.
Project History
World Contraception Day
https://bit.ly/3suOwfhAchieved 100 million combined followers among celebrities, influencers, and brands who shared our infographics on Instagram. Earned 9.9 million impressions, 5.2 million accounts reached, 4,000 followers, 119,000 engagements, and 32,000 shares.
From a storytelling perspective, linked here is an example of a campaign I ran in honor of World Contraception Day. I identified this “seemingly random” national holiday that no one had heard of before and discovered it as a way to strategically take advantage of this opportunity for The Pill Club to hone in on, celebrate, and truly own.
Since Instagram was our strongest channel from an overall growth standpoint, I aimed to increase brand awareness through engagements, reach, and shareability and ultimately drive user acquisition.
These posts were later picked up and posted by many celebrities, including Jennifer Aniston, Debra Messing, and Margaret Cho. Given the timing of the announcement of Trump’s nomination for RBG’s replacement, we managed to ride off of the collective anger regarding this, generating even more virality.
The Pill Club Social Strategy
Built a cross-channel presence of over 300,000 audience members organically across major platforms.
The Pill Club’s social channels became the go-to hub for female Gen-Z and millennials to learn about birth control, sexual health, empowerment, and beyond through a compelling content strategy that implemented kitschy memes, tongue-in-cheek pop culture references, and beyond.
Calendly Content Guide
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1pf9JYh_yRXMpvEaxd0tYAOtRawPCnfmF_jUw9RLosS0/edit?usp=sharingBuilt out the first official influencer playbook at Calendly.
The Calendly Influencer Marketing Content Guide covers everything you need to know about the Calendly influencer partnerships program and how it works from A to Z, including the do’s and don’ts, talking points, and guidelines to ensure a successful collaboration.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Communications
University of California, Santa Barbara - Santa Barbara, CA, USA
Skills
Core
Content Creation, Influencer Marketing, Content Marketing, Social Media, Community Management, Copywriting, Brand Marketing, Brand Strategy, Organic Social Media, Landing Pages, Content Marketing Strategy
Other
Slack, Influencers, Sprout Social, Copy Editing, Advertising Copy, Content Management, AI Social Media Influencer
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