Tamara Franklin
Verified Expert in Marketing
Marketing Expert
Wilmington, NC, United States
Toptal member since January 4, 2024
Tamara is an AI marketing consultant with 15+ years of experience at companies like Shopify, VMware, and Salesforce. She specializes in helping lean B2B content teams build AI-powered workflows that reduce manual tasks and increase productivity. A LinkedIn Learning instructor on AI and automation with 35,000+ students, Tamara brings deep marketing expertise and hands-on implementation skills to every engagement.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Automation
- B2B Partnerships
- Content Marketing Strategy
- Content Operations
- Content Strategy
- Content Writing
- Digital Marketing
Work Experience
AI Program Manager
Salesforce
- Created an AI strategy for the apps marketing org of nearly 200 people to move from AI experimentation to AI process standardization and institutionalization.
- Served as AI lead representing apps marketing org while collaborating with marketers across the company to share ideas and align on AI implementation strategies and enablement.
- Led team AI building initiatives to solve the biggest problems across the org using tools like Slack Skills and Claude Code.
Content Strategist & Content Engineer
Self-employed
- Served as a content strategy consultant for early-stage tech startups.
- Provided freelance content research and writing services for SaaS and eCommerce platforms like HubSpot, Shopify Plus (enterprise audience), and BetterUp.
- Contributed articles to various publications, including The Washington Post, EContent Magazine, CMSWire, IoT Agenda, and others.
- Collaborated with SaaS companies on strategy development and execution plans, including content audits, style guide creation, podcast marketing, editorial calendar development, and content measurement.
- Created content for brands like Oracle, Apple, Cisco, NCR, Fiserv, Equifax, Arctic Wolf, Deloitte, Cigna, and others.
Content Operations Lead
Salesforce
- Implemented generative AI and LLM-powered workflows that eliminated manual maintenance work, automated performance tracking, and created 20%+ operational efficiency gains.
- Built two custom AI tools that generate newsletter drafts for 50,000+ combined subscribers, coordinating with editor, email, and social teams for monthly publication across email and LinkedIn.
- Designed a Slack-based request intake system using Workflow Plus that auto-routes by request type, scope, and deadlines, replacing scattered DMs with centralized tracking and processing around 20 requests monthly.
- Created a single-source-of-truth reporting system consolidating 10+ dashboards across content, web, digital, SEO, social, and community metrics with automated YoY, MoM, and QTD calculations, reducing reporting time from three days to one.
Senior Marketing Content Manager
VMware
- Spearheaded collaborative event planning strategies and content creation initiatives with global enterprise partners like Dell, Intel, Nvidia, HPE, and Lenovo, aligning joint efforts with VMware's strategic campaigns and messaging.
- Led the adoption and scaling of the Airtable platform across the global partner ecosystem while maintaining it as a single source of truth to house jointly developed content.
- Executed asset management by overseeing over 1,800 assets, utilizing Airtable as the centralized repository to ensure accurate tagging and categorization of company content.
- Facilitated the integration of VMware's campaigns and messaging into partner marketing channels, strengthening partner engagement and co-marketing efforts.
- Oversaw external content developers, ensuring compliance and alignment with VMware's brand and messaging standards.
Senior Content Marketing Manager
Shopify
- Developed and executed a strategic content plan tailored to Shopify's agency partner ecosystem, incorporating cross-functional collaboration and technology integration.
- Implemented automated content workflows within Asana, streamlining content production and distribution.
- Managed and guided a diverse team of freelance writers and content agencies, maintaining editorial quality and brand consistency.
- Engaged proactively with Shopify partners and partner managers, driving full-funnel content, including SEO, website, campaigns, blogs, ebooks, guides, and video content that resonated with the B2B partner audience.
- Delivered consistent YoY growth in partner engagement metrics with a 10% increase in blog sessions and improved email CTR/CTOR and content download performance.
- Played a key role in launching Shopify Editions, a digital showcase of product updates, generating 1.2 million sessions in one month and significant engagement within the partner, developer, merchant, and enterprise communities.
Content Marketing Manager
AYTM
- Developed an audience-centric content strategy as AYTM's very first content marketing hire, ensuring alignment with AYTM's business goals and audience engagement objectives.
- Cultivated strong relationships with internal subject matter experts and produced authentic and impactful thought leadership content for market researchers and the company's partner ecosystem.
- Managed the entire content lifecycle across various channels, including content research and creation, social media, PR, and sales enablement, and maintained high standards of quality and consistency.
- Collaborated with external agencies and freelancers, upholding stringent editorial and brand guidelines.
- Developed the company's first voice and style guide for brand and editorial consistency.
- Achieved sustained growth in blog traffic with a 2% MoM increase by enhancing overall audience engagement.
Project History
Shopify Editions
https://www.shopify.com/editions/summer2022Headed the content strategy for a large digital marketing campaign resulting in 1.2 million sessions to the website in 30 days.
Shopify is an eCommerce leader with a focus on innovation. In 2022, the CEO assembled a dedicated task force comprising 100 top-tier talents within the organization. The mission was to craft a compelling digital experience highlighting all product and feature updates made in the preceding six months. The task force was also charged with formulating a campaign to boost website traffic.
Within this initiative, I played a pivotal role in the growth marketing team. My specific assignment involved the development of a comprehensive content strategy aimed at drawing visitors to the digital experience. Leveraging a mix of owned, paid, and earned media alongside influencer and partner marketing channels, I successfully executed a campaign that enhanced awareness, increased sessions, and generated valuable leads.
Future of Commerce Report
https://www.shopify.com/plus/commerce-trendsSpearheaded the development of partner content for Shopify's annual Future of Commerce report, which led to increased marketing-qualified leads.
Shopify publishes its Future of Commerce report annually, a comprehensive overview of pivotal trends in the commerce industry. A 3rd-party analyst firm was hired to handle the quantitative data capture and analysis, while my team was tasked with capturing qualitative data. I conducted numerous interviews with Shopify partners, merchants, and influencers, analyzing the conversations and identifying common themes and trends to watch for.
Beyond data collection, my role extended to the promotion of the report. This involved securing advertising space and creating derivative content from the final piece, demonstrating a holistic involvement in the project’s lifecycle.
Dell Technologies World
Played a key role in the joint content development for the event sessions from Dell and VMware, resulting in the generation of hundreds of qualified leads.
Dell Technologies World, an annual gathering attracting thousands of tech enthusiasts, is a substantial trade show and conference. Given the close partnership between Dell and VMware, company executives actively participate in the events each year and host numerous sessions.
I played a pivotal role in assisting these executives by contributing to the development of content for over 20 sessions in which VMware was involved.
Education
Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
Chatham University - Pittsburgh, PA, United States
Bachelor's Degree in Marketing
Robert Morris University - Moon Township, PA, United States
Skills
Core
Marketing, Content Creation, Content Operations, Content Marketing Strategy, Content Strategy, Content, Content Marketing, Writing & Editing, Digital Marketing, Campaign Strategy, Branding, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Copywriting, Email Marketing, Brand Strategy, SEO Tools, Product Marketing, Brand Marketing, Link Building
Platforms & Tools
Asana, Content Management Systems (CMS), HubSpot, Contentful, Claude
Technical
HTML
Other
Automation, Content Writing, Content Management, Blogs, Thought Leadership, WordPress, Airtable, Google Docs, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Business, B2B Partnerships, Messaging, Research, Customer Acquisition, Shopify, Budgeting, Event Planning, Partnership Marketing, Qualitative Research, Data Analysis, Event Marketing, Podcast Marketing, Strategy Development, Asset Management, Content Research, Content Audits, ChatGPT, Perplexity, Gemini, Slack, Claude Code, Program Management
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