A Driven Digital Marketer
Paperbacks fill the bookcase. The Heartbreakers’ Hard Promises LP serves as bookend. And ticket stubs for day baseball at Wrigley Field clutter the shelves.
So, while Michael Theodore’s apartment shows a digital native can still appreciate the analog and traditional, since earning his bachelor’s degree in print journalism – in 2008 – he’s embraced a digital career using his strengths as a communicator, problem solver and leader.
After leaving Champaign and graduating from the University of Illinois, Michael enrolled in editing courses at the University of Chicago and then brought his skill set to a start-up elearning team at Northwestern University. He established editorial standards, edited and proofread faculty-developed materials, learned to storyboard interactive digital content and wrote voiceover copy for professional narrators.
Outside the office, he learned HTML and CSS to code an ebook, publishing two titles on Amazon Kindle. He built companion marketing sites and launched a twitter campaign to market the books on social media.
After successfully establishing and succeeding in the content strategy role at Northwestern, he was promoted to development team lead and continued to expand his digital portfolio. He expanded his management knowledge by being certified an Agile Product Owner for Scrum. He used this new education to transform business processes in his leadership role at Northwestern.
He also established and launched the school’s video strategy, introducing branded video with a graphics package. Later, he transitioned legacy videos to a Web 2.0 delivery method and ensured all videos were captioned. Building on his accomplishments, he helped design a production studio for his team's newly constructed office space.
Before leaving Northwestern, Michael established the department's web identity by delivering a responsive website (the school's first such website) while working with a content strategist and front-end developer. Together they used wireframes to prototype the site and set editorial guidelines and calendars.
As digital project manager at Avenue, a B2B strategy and marketing firm, he worked closely with creative, strategy and development teams to deliver high-quality digital projects for six concurrent clients.
In his current role as Digital Marketing Manager for Digital Third Coast, Michael is responsible for leading strategy for the top three digital marketing goals of the agency – driving leads, increasing brand visibility, and recruiting of prospective talent. This includes working with sales and other marketers on our team to create and document strategic initiatives that will drive more leads and clients to our agency.
He also leads the charge on a handful of inbound marketing campaigns for our clients. This includes setting campaign strategy, managing client expectations, consulting clients through the inbound process, working with inbound tools to execute campaigns, and providing monthly reporting.
And today, you might even see Michael reading on his iPhone, listening to The Waiting on Spotify and enjoying night Cub baseball. But while the books and vinyl won't disappear completely, his digital career evolution continues.
Please explore this site to view Michael's career highlights and writing sample. He can be reached at miketheodore@gmail.com.