Helen Merrell Spalding

Helen merrell spalding

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location of Helen Merrell SpaldingMilan, Lombardy, Italy
Followers of Helen Merrell Spalding2000 followers
  • Timeline

  • About me

    SEO and Content expert committed to the creation of timeless content that will continue to grow with your brand.

  • Education

    • Cheltenham ladies college

      2012 - 2014
      High school international baccalaureate (ib) 44 out of 45 (7 in english literature hl, 7 in history hl, 7 in philosophy hl)

      Activities and Societies: Was head English Representative (prefect), rowed in first four, volunteered at a Dementia and Retirement home, Duke of Edinburgh, wrote for creative writing competitions (long listed in Christopher Tower Poetry competition, runner up in Wills Writing Awards), distinctions in my gold LAMDA and my LAMDA diploma. IB’s large and diverse workload helped me to develop an ability to manage my time, multitask, and work in an organised and efficient way.

    • Code first: girls

      2017 - 2017
      Level 1 coding course front-end coding passed

      Code First: Girls runs free part-time coding courses for young women/university students across the UK and Ireland. ​Completing level 1 beginners coding has introduced me to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Git, GitHub collaboration, and more (front-end programming). I worked within a team to create a website from scratch raising awareness about the best ways to both cope with homelessness if you have recently become homeless, or to help a homeless person if you are concerned. We were lucky… Show more Code First: Girls runs free part-time coding courses for young women/university students across the UK and Ireland. ​Completing level 1 beginners coding has introduced me to HTML, CSS, JavaScript, jQuery, Git, GitHub collaboration, and more (front-end programming). I worked within a team to create a website from scratch raising awareness about the best ways to both cope with homelessness if you have recently become homeless, or to help a homeless person if you are concerned. We were lucky enough to have our website place first in Code First: Girl's website competition. Show less

    • Durham university

      2014 - 2017
      Bachelor’s degree english literature high 2:1

      Activities and Societies: First eight in college women's squad for three years. Writer for the Palatinate and the Bubble student publications. An active member of university and college feminist society and creative writing society. A volunteer tutor for local students in need of extra coaching. I studied a broad range of literature, both UK and American, with a focus on 20th century literature and post-war fiction. Through seminars, written coursework, written exams, I became highly proficient in written and verbal communication, learning to communicate complex ideas concisely and clearly. My dissertation, 'That's right boys...I'm on the pill!': Birth control discourse and the sexual revolution in female-authored fiction, 1960-1980, examined the contraceptive revolution in… Show more I studied a broad range of literature, both UK and American, with a focus on 20th century literature and post-war fiction. Through seminars, written coursework, written exams, I became highly proficient in written and verbal communication, learning to communicate complex ideas concisely and clearly. My dissertation, 'That's right boys...I'm on the pill!': Birth control discourse and the sexual revolution in female-authored fiction, 1960-1980, examined the contraceptive revolution in female-authored fiction, a new area of study in many ways, and received a high 2:1. Show less

    • Squared online

      2017 - 2018
      Digital marketing

      I have passed Google's five-month digital marketing course, Squared Online. The course aims to practically introduce digital marketing, giving students a sense of the real world methodologies and applications of what they are learning. The syllabus covered:- The concept of digital disruption and how this revolution is changing the way that brands and consumers interact, and marketing approach.- Spotting the digital trends that have redefined consumer behaviour, specifically the… Show more I have passed Google's five-month digital marketing course, Squared Online. The course aims to practically introduce digital marketing, giving students a sense of the real world methodologies and applications of what they are learning. The syllabus covered:- The concept of digital disruption and how this revolution is changing the way that brands and consumers interact, and marketing approach.- Spotting the digital trends that have redefined consumer behaviour, specifically the rise of social and mobile, and learning how to perform in these areas.- To create multi-channel digital strategies to adapt to changes in consumer behaviour, covering: content marketing, paid and organic search, video and display marketing.- To analyse and act based on data-driven insights, learning various frameworks and methodologies of analytics.- How to spot future trends and implement a forward-thinking, future-focused strategy, and understand the structures and limitations in place. Show less

  • Experience

    • Ecole suisse de ski nendaz

      Dec 2014 - Apr 2016
      First level ski instructor

      Qualified first level ski instructor, trained and teaching in French. I had to develop my presentation and communication skills in order to hold the attention of large groups of children. I learnt to present strategically, being aware of my surroundings, engagingly, communicating important, technical information in a child-friendly format, and to work both with children and other ski instructors.

    • Nestle purina

      Jun 2015 - Aug 2015
      Summer intern in central marketing intelligence

      Over the 2 month period that I worked for Nestle Purina, I created an online (TeamRoom) research data base, to be used by all global and local marketing departments and research teams in Nestle. I was able to classify and upload all the marketing projects and research reports conducted by Purina in Europe since 2005, and successfully launch the library in my final week of the assignment.

    • Ogilvyone uk

      Aug 2015 - Sept 2016
      Work experience

      I have had two separate two week work experiences in the summer of 2015 and 2016 with Ogilvy One, one in their creative department and one in their planning department.i) Creative: writing copy for client briefs in all areas of service that the agency provided -social content, direct mail, website banners. Evaluating writing and language, thinking creatively under time pressure, and working intimately with other creative minds to achieve results.ii) Planning: participated strategy and content meetings, learning how to use multiple platforms to ensure the reach of a message or campaign. Worked on producing an outreach document of social media influencers and influential publications, compiling research to be used in campaigns, as well as editing a short film for a presentation to a client. Show less

    • St cuthbert's boat club

      Jul 2016 - Jul 2017
      Sponsorship and media secretary

      As Sponsorship and Media Secretary (a voluntary position) for my college boat club, my responsibilities included ensuring a consistent and interesting online presence on all our social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter and Instagram), redesigning our website and sourcing sponsors. Social Media:I posted consistently and regularly on all three platforms during every event and race the boat club participated in, seeing a rise in followers across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter as a result. As a small college boat club, the online endorsement of official race accounts and rowing brands (Rowing In Motion and Stich Rowing) was a huge achievement and also saw an expansion in our following. Website:I rewrote the copy for the official boat club website with the help of a small team, redesigning the layout to be more user-friendly. The website functions both as an advertisement to potential sponsors and donors, as well as a means of relaying important information to new members and students. The ultimate aim was to create a professional and clean-cut website that communicates what we as a club offer appealingly. The feedback has been positive.Sponsorship:During my time in the position, we procured the first sponsor the boat club has had in several years - Rowing In Motion. I began work on redesigning the boat club sponsorship brochure which will be sent out by my successors. This new brochure enables the sponsorship of specific squads, boats, and races to better motivate investment. These more specific and targeted investment opportunities yield more immediate results and sponsors are able to witness the direct result of their involvements. Show less

    • Redwood publishing limited

      Sept 2016 - Oct 2016
      Summer intern

      Redwood Ltd is a leading content publisher for several big brands. I greatly enjoyed my experience over the weeks I was there, enjoying the journalistic quality and high standards of writing involved in quality content production.I worked on the Volvo, Mazda, Boots, and Virgin Media accounts with Redwood which was a true insight into the variety and diversity of content publishing. I was able to write copy, contribute during a strategic ideas meeting, come up with article features for the newsletter and to successfully research multiple local article ideas for Zoom-Zoom (Mazda’s magazine) to be presented to the client. Show less

    • Taskeater

      Oct 2017 - Aug 2018
      Marketing manager

      As Marketing Manager of Taskeater, I operated as a one-woman marketing department. This fast-growing start-up had previously sold services exclusively through traditional, outbound techniques, so I spearheaded their inbound, content marketing strategy and relationship building from scratch over my time in this role. This included:- Planning and developing a new website design and migration in partnership with a digital agency.- Auditing and optimising website pages to optimise for search and user experience. - Audience mapping and market research: developing personas based on current and target clients.- Writing sales copy and email marketing campaigns for Taskeater's clients.- Writing search-optimised website pages and posts.- Producing and promoting lead magnet content (white papers, reports, webinars and brochures) - Automating the marketing process with workflows using Hubspot and Mailchimp.- Building and maintaining a social presence across Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn.- Writing and sending company-wide communications- Reporting to leadership: presenting strategic plans and data-based updates directly to the board. - Managing projects with external developers, photographers and designers to produce content.- Planning, managing and evaluating paid campaigns across social and search channels.- Researching, developing and managing a Search Engine Optimisation strategy using SEMRush. - Conducting PR, influencer and backlink outreach to increase brand awareness and authority. Show less

    • Nspcc

      Aug 2018 - May 2022

      My role was to create compelling authentic content that inspires positive action from our website audiences on both the NSPCC and Childline websites.This involves both the creation of new website content and campaign landing pages to educate and convince our website visitors to donate, sign up or engage with our cause, as well as editing existing content to ensure it meets the needs of our audiences and rank highly on search engines.As part of a wider website transformation and digital upskilling project across the organisation, I also ran training sessions with non-digital teams to empower them to create and test their own content on our websites, helping to build a decentralised skill-set of self-sufficiency throughout the charity to help realise our full digital potential and strategic goals. Show less I worked as part of an award-winning Communications team at NSPCC, recognised its talent, expertise and creativity in inspiring and challenging people to act on child abuse. Our team was responsible for leading the delivery of NSPCC corporate communications to our 2,000 colleagues and 10,000 volunteers. Through sharing stories about how we’re impacting children and families, our aim was that our people know what we’re achieving across the NSPCC and feel inspired and motivated to spread the word to each other and the outside world - encouraging our staff and volunteers to behave as ambassadors.In this role I:1. Planned, delivered and evaluated internal communications programmes to engage staff and volunteers2. Helped to develop and deliver the agreed team strategy, plans, and standards across the organisation3. Worked effectively with teams across the NSPCC to achieve their communications goals4. Spearheaded internal communications analytics tools and reporting to evaluate progressThe NSPCC is the leading charity focused on preventing cruelty in the UK. In order to carry out charitable work, maximise impact and achieve our strategic aims, internally communicating actions and progress efficiently and effectively with our stakeholders and audiences was key to success. Show less

      • Senior Digital Content Officer

        Jul 2019 - May 2022
      • Communications Officer

        Aug 2018 - Jul 2019
    • Salt

      May 2022 - Aug 2024
      Content manager

      In the time I managed content for Salt, an international digital recruitment agency, traffic to our blog more than doubled, and the brand benefited from international content partnerships through the Creating Futures podcast and video series growing Salt's audience worldwide and online. I worked to create a powerful content marketing strategy to strengthen Salt's online presence, build a wider global audience, and empower their internal community to build their business relationshops with content touchpoints.Achievements in this role include:- Developing a brand tone of voice and style guide to reflect Salt's personality and values- Researching and managing a search-first content strategy: prioritising evergreen content- Writing, editing, and producing content for candidates and business owners - Promoting content on social media, in newsletters, and as part of email campaigns- Sourcing and sharing diverse stories of success in the digital world for online interviews- Developing case studies with key clients to showcase service excellence- Working with recruitment consultants worldwide to generate their own content- Diversifying content streams and promotion, pivoting to a video-first approach to reach further- Managing and editing freelance writers to create search-optimised content to build website authority- Working closely with developers to increase domain authority, visibility, and rank in SERPs - Redesigning and reordering the website for better user-experience and readability- Managing content marketing campaigns, working closely with design, social media and marketing- Supporting EDI and corporate responsibility initiatives worldwide through content- Sourcing, hosting, producing, and editing 3 seasons of a podcast, doubling the number of listeners- Working with podcast studios internationally to create video podcasts, shorts and reels Show less

  • Licenses & Certifications