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Stories by Sarah
@SarahCavender
Building social strategies that connect communities with the news that matters.
Sarah Cavender Portfolio
About me:
Hi, I’m Sarah, a social media and digital strategy professional focused on helping newsrooms connect with audiences in meaningful, measurable ways.
I specialize in transforming journalism into engaging, platform-native content across social media.
From breaking news to longform storytelling, I use video, graphics, and data-driven insights to meet audiences where they are and how they consume content today.
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In my current role, I lead social media strategy for more than 100 brand and reporter accounts, reaching over 800,000 followers across multiple markets. My work sits at the intersection of editorial, product, and audience development partnering closely with reporters, editors, marketing teams, and digital stakeholders to elevate storytelling and expand reach.
My approach blends creativity with performance. Whether it’s launching new workflows, testing content formats, or scaling platform strategies, I focus on delivering results that support both audience growth and newsroom goals.
Social Media Manager | Digital Product Manager
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Grew and managed 100+ social accounts across multiple brands and reporters
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Oversaw strategy reaching 800K+ followers across three Ohio markets
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Increased annual video views from 4.7M to 12.1M from 2024 to 2025
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Drove consistent follower growth across Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube
Facebook Growth & Content Testing
Implemented a high-impact testing strategy focused on graphics and posting cadence:
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Introduced daily graphic content to increase non-follower engagement
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Grew audience from 210K to 223K followers within months
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Achieved 21M+ views in a 90-day period, with continued growth
Product & Workflow Innovation
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Launched automated posting strategy on Nextdoor, generating hundreds of thousands of impressions monthly
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Built and launched a dedicated high school sports social presence
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Developed repeatable workflows for breaking news and large-scale editorial initiatives
Newsroom Experience
Audience Engagement
@ Cox First Media
February 2021 - Present
Digital Audience Specialist
@ Cox First Media
January 2019 - February 2021
Create and maintain messaging at the point of contact to promote subscriptions, engagement, and audience growth.
Build partnerships with content producers, marketing, consumer revenue, technical support, and customer service to drive critical improvements in customer experience, digital distribution, and digital presentation.
Provide insight based on experience and analytics to advance evergreen and planned content strategy, including creation, curation, search optimization and distribution.
Advance digital distribution and presentation of key content initiatives, breaking news and other audience events
Responsibilities include monitoring web traffic, news, and information on Cox First Media
brands.
Develop social media strategies to increase engagement.
Using websites, applications, push alerts, breaking news, emails, and red bars to drive traffic. Increase viewership with push notifications.
Engage readers, listeners, and viewers with company core brands throughout each day.
Creating content and reporting for Dayton Daily News.
Create engaging content for digital publications by writing stories on trends or local news.
Editor in Chief
@ Wright State Guardian Media Group, Wright State University
April 2018 - May 2020
Responsible for growing and creating the online digital format for the newspaper. Hiring and training of staff.
Coordinated work and coverage of Wright State main campus and satellite campus in Celina, Ohio.
Day to day operations of social media and digital content.
Develop content and production strategy to drive readers to website, increase readership by over 250% percent within one year.
Collaborating and creating relationships with student organizations and departments on campus.
Integrating more media channels into product.
Organization won several state and regional awards during the two years of leadership, including Best Daily College Newspaper by Society of Professional Journalists Ohio competition.
Life at the Lake: Lake Campus students dive into water studies
Wright State–Lake Campus offers STEM students a unique hands-on research opportunity to learn more about water quality. The program is a four-year Bachelor of Science in Integrated Science Studies with three tracks: pre-health, agriculture, and environmental.
‘We’re ready for a fresh start’: The aftermath of a faculty union strike
Faculty at Wright State University walked out to the picket lines for three weeks in the winter of 2019. Leaving a campus divided politically. Nearly six months later the question remains, how does a campus community rebuild and foster trust?
Local filmmaker releases documentary on exotic animal industry
A local documentary filmmaker has released a second film about animal rights, this time investigating celebrity conservationists and the big cat industry.
Amtrak proposal could expand passenger routes through southwest Ohio
Amtrak has proposed five new routes that include several Ohio cities.
The expanded passenger train service would include Dayton, Cincinnati and as far north as Cleveland. However, the new routes are dependent on support from Ohio and the federal government.