Social media that moves the metrics. Receipts on every page.

Social media manager and digital marketing strategist with 10+ years driving measurable growth across multi-channel campaigns, organic content strategy, and audience development. Early adopter of AI-powered marketing tools — and I build my own when off-the-shelf doesn't cut it.

218% Instagram Reach Growth
131K+ Content Views
300% Over-Goal Recruitment
Let's Talk See the Work
Sarah Sahl

About

Creative instincts. Analytical rigor. AI fluency.

I pair creative content instincts with analytical rigor — the rare combination that builds social channels people actually engage with and produces the attribution data leadership actually trusts.

Across 10+ years in digital marketing, I've delivered 15–22% year-over-year enrollment growth for 11 consecutive years, driven 218% Instagram reach growth in a single year, and managed fluctuating six-figure budgets across Google Ads, Meta Ads, and LinkedIn Ads. I've built UGC pipelines with 180+ student creators, produced viral short-form video, and architected the analytics infrastructure (GA4, Tag Manager, CRM) that turns content into measurable outcomes.

I'm also an early and active adopter of AI marketing tools — ChatGPT, Claude, Midjourney, FLUX, and custom API integrations — applying them to content creation, audience research, and campaign planning ahead of mainstream adoption. When the available tools haven't been good enough, I've built my own (see the AI Tools section below). For a hiring team, this means you're getting a social media manager who's already operating at the cutting edge of what's possible in 2026, without needing a SaaS subscription to do it.

I'm a systems thinker who loves the daily creative work. I want to be on a team where social is taken seriously as a growth channel, where short-form video is treated as a craft, and where the numbers matter.

Case Studies

Proven impact across industries

Aveda Institute Des Moines

Content Manager & Educator | Jan 2024 – Nov 2024

The Challenge

Grow Instagram performance and engagement in a saturated beauty-education category while training 180+ student creators on brand voice and short-form content production.

The Solution

Built a strategic content calendar, a sustainable UGC pipeline through daily creator huddles, and a Google Drive content-collection infrastructure. Identified trend-responsive formats early — including the ASMR wax-prep video that broke 22K views with an 80% non-follower discovery rate. Introduced AI-powered content planning tools to reduce prep time while increasing learner engagement scores by 36%.

The Results

218% Instagram Reach Increase
22K Top Video Views
80% Non-Follower Discovery

PCI Academy

Director of Marketing & Social Media Specialist | Oct 2010 – Jun 2021

The Challenge

Drive consistent enrollment growth across three multi-state campuses while managing a fluctuating six-figure advertising budget and maintaining consistent brand voice across three local markets.

The Solution

Directed integrated omni-channel campaigns spanning SEO, PPC (Google Ads, Meta Ads), email marketing, and social media across all three campuses. Optimized spend allocation based on attribution data and cost-per-lead. Built and managed the CRM and marketing automation infrastructure that tied social engagement to enrollment outcomes.

The Results

15-22% YoY Enrollment Growth
11 Yrs Consecutive Growth
3 Campuses Directed

HealthTech Associates

Project Manager (Contract) | May 2024 – Jul 2024

The Challenge

Build a B2B educational content engine and recruitment campaign for a senior-care audience, with full conversion attribution and measurable pipeline impact.

The Solution

Drove organic Instagram growth through an educational short-form video strategy. Implemented GA4 and Google Tag Manager event tracking across five simultaneous campaigns, creating the conversion-rate optimization framework that connected social engagement to recruitment outcomes. Executed integrated email, social, and direct outreach with full attribution.

The Results

241% Instagram Growth
300% Over-Goal Recruitment
47% Non-Follower Discovery

Content Portfolio

131K+ views, 2.4K+ likes across 28 videos

Top Performers

ASMR Wax Prep

ASMR Wax Prep

Viral short-form content — trend identified early, 80% non-follower discovery

👁 22.5K views ❤️ 123 likes
Ready, Set, Graduate

Ready, Set, Graduate!

Celebrating student achievements with native-feeling community content

👁 14.9K views ❤️ 233 likes
Culture in Chalk

Culture in Chalk

Brand-voice expression and student affirmations

👁 1.4K views ❤️ 43 likes

Full Portfolio

AI Marketing Tools I've Built

When the off-the-shelf tools don't cut it, I build my own

Most marketers in 2026 are users of AI tools. I'm a power user who builds her own when the workflow demands it. These are working applications I designed, built, and shipped to solve problems I hit in my own marketing work — proof that I operate at the leading edge of what AI makes possible for content, campaigns, and creative production.

mythos

mythos

AI-Native Social Marketing Platform

Campaign planning, content generation, social publishing, and analytics — unified in one workspace. The AI Architect plans multi-phase campaigns from a single goal. A Brand Knowledge engine learns your voice and injects it into every draft. Publishes to Instagram, LinkedIn, and X. I built this because I was tired of stitching together five different tools to run a single campaign.

AI Campaign Planning Social Publishing Brand Voice RAG Content Safety
codra

codra

AI Workflow Studio for Creative Teams

Run AI-powered creative and content workflows across 7+ models from a single visual workspace. Write, design, analyze, and generate — with an embedded AI assistant guiding every step. Built for marketers and operators who shouldn't need an engineering degree to work with AI.

Multi-Model AI Visual Workflow Canvas Asset Library Marketing-First UX
founder

founder

Marketing Command Center

One dashboard for domains, outbound campaigns, inbox triage, CRM, and AI-powered copywriting — built to replace the fragmented marketing SaaS stack costing teams $200–$600/month. Includes an AI Campaign Strategist, Brand Voice builder, email intelligence engine, and contact scoring.

CRM + Email AI Copywriting Campaign Automation Attribution-Ready

Tools & Platforms

Fluent across the modern marketing stack

Social & Content

Instagram TikTok Facebook / Meta LinkedIn Threads Pinterest YouTube

Creative & Production

Canva CapCut Adobe Illustrator Adobe InDesign Premiere Pro Photoshop

Paid Media & Analytics

Meta Ads Manager Google Ads LinkedIn Campaign Manager Google Analytics 4 Tag Manager Search Console SEMrush

CRM, Scheduling & Workflow

Monday.com HubSpot Mailchimp Hootsuite Sprout Social Planoly Meta Business Suite

AI Tools

ChatGPT Claude Midjourney FLUX Synthesia CinemaFlow

Custom Infrastructure

React TypeScript Supabase Netlify API Integrations

Let's talk. I'm actively looking for the right team.

Open to social media manager, content manager, and digital marketing roles — remote or hybrid. If you're building a brand that takes social seriously as a growth channel and you want someone who pairs creative output with measurable results, let's talk.

Ankeny, IA — Open to Remote
sarah@thepennylaneproject.org
Download Resume