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Role Overview

Platinum Digital Account Manager

2013 – 2015​

Promoted: Digital Sales Specialist (CA) → Digital Account Manager (AZ)

Impact: Trained a 10-person print team to sell digital—and surpassed the annual revenue goal in under 90 days.

Before Your Digital Angel had wings, I launched my consulting business—Angel Soria Internet Marketing (yes, keyword-rich and straight out of the early SEO playbook)—teaching digital workshops and giving social media sermons to anyone who’d listen. That scrappy hustle caught Gannett’s attention, and I was recruited to train a 10-person print sales team to sell digital—against heavy resistance from a phone-book-and-yellow-pages crowd. We smashed the annual digital revenue goal in under 90 days.

Momentum turned mission. I launched the Your Digital Angel blog on VisaliaTimesDelta.com: tech insights, community focus, and a wink at my own name that stuck. It became more than a brand—it became my differentiator.

Promoted to Digital Account Manager in downtown Phoenix, I managed 90+ high-revenue campaigns and guest-blogged industry case studies featuring my own clients. Then the Phoenix Suns came calling, and Your Digital Angel took flight.

Case Study Snapshot

Challenge

  • A 10-person print team resistant to selling digital, still stuck in phone-book mode

  • Promoted into a new AZ Account Manager role, building a massive 90+ campaign portfolio

  • Client roster as random as it was wide — from florists to an adult retailer and everything in between

Strategy

  • Sat in on live sales calls, coaching hesitant reps into confident closers

  • Rebuilt the print team's playbook with hands-on training and internal workshops

  • Analyzed monthly performance data to keep 90+ accounts optimized

Results

  • Crushed the team annual revenue goal in record time < 90 days

  • Fast-tracked into a Platinum-level role — new state, new stakes, zero ramp-up

  • A client’s Facebook ad campaign turned into a $5,500 case study win

Impact & Achievements

The Scope Shift

  • Gannett first took notice at the November 2012 Grow Your Business Using Social Media seminar, where I facilitated the panel. Davis Taylor, Times-Delta Media Group’s Sales Director, was there as a guest speaker introducing Gannett’s digital products — and walked away impressed by how well I already knew a still-emerging industry.

  • Davis recruited me from my consulting business to TDMG in December ’12 as a Digital Sales Specialist, training a large team of print sales reps to sell digital, with completed deals routed to Gannett Local for fulfillment inside the Arizona Republic building — also home to 12 News (KPNX).

  • Gannett’s massive digital, mobile, publishing, and broadcasting network let me keep doing exactly what I loved — just at a scale my own business never could. Each rep on the team carried a money-themed nickname, just like at Gold’s, and the team dubbed me “Rev,” short for Reverend, for how hard I preached the digital gospel.

  • Within six months, I moved to GL as an Account Manager — building my book into a 90+ campaign portfolio, initially a mix of market accounts, local, national, and inside sales, while tracking all rep and client touchpoints in Salesforce — already hardwired to document accounts after running Gold’s.

  • Managed 90+ complex, multi-product campaigns from strategy through execution and ongoing optimization — across PPC, SEO, retargeting, web, social, and reputation management — tailoring each strategy to the client’s goals and budget.

  • Ran monthly client reporting, dubbed “reporting week” — DND mode for days of long, analytical hours — partnering with fulfillment specialists to analyze performance, deliver optimization recommendations, send reports to clients, and schedule reporting calls whenever a rep or client wanted one.

  • After earning the Platinum tier once the team rolled out its silver/gold/platinum structure, I transitioned to the direct-only team — working exclusively with inside sales reps in the same Arizona Republic building, us on the 6th floor and them on the 4th. We were then required to record every call and attach each recording in Salesforce.

  • Being the utility player I am — adapting through every team and process change — I earned G/O Digital’s Lever-Up Award for cutting go-live time by 20%, proving speed and quality weren’t mutually exclusive.

The Blog Before the Brand

  • Co-launched the original Your Digital Angel blog on VisaliaTimesDelta.com — the site’s first blog by a sales rep, not a reporter — to demystify a still-new industry for small businesses, working with the website team on the banner and building an approachable, educational voice around Gannett’s digital offerings.

  • Used the blog to build trust and visibility in the community — cross-promoting Gannett Local’s digital products, including online reputation management, digital ad spend tracking, and social media services, through educational content, public-facing workshops, and practical insights that helped local businesses grow with digital marketing.

  • The blog also gave the community a spotlight — featuring Emerge, a local Visalia DJ and producer making a huge debut at EDC Chicago, and the Rompin’ Lady Rangers softball team’s mobile app among the local stories that got the blog treatment.

  • What started as guest posts on VTD.com became an early thought-leadership platform — keynoting Times-Delta Media Group’s “Using Social Media for Professional Development” session at Brandman University’s Visalia campus

  • Instructed a full-day, $75 “How to Use Social Media to Rock Your Business” workshop for College of the Sequoias’ Community Education program at Brandman University’s Visalia campus

  • Led a free, half-day, hands-on “16 Ways to Create a Compelling & Optimized LinkedIn Profile” workshop at Brandman University’s Visalia campus, presented by TDMG

  • The recognition followed — profiled by the Visalia Chamber of Commerce as “Times-Delta Media Group’s Digital Angel,” named Ambassador of the Month by the Tulare Kings Hispanic Chamber of Commerce representing TDMG, and honored with a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly’s 26th District — marking the birth of a brand that’s outlasted a decade in this industry.

The Wildcard Portfolio

  • Managed a book of business as wild as it was wide — from florists and Montessori academies to interior designers — helping each one leave stone-age Yellow Pages behind when digital marketing was still brand-new.

  • Delivered measurable results across a wide book of business — including Hesselson’s, an all-utility outdoor gear company in New York, who I hooked up with free Facebook ads back when FB advertising was brand-new. The client sold $5,500 worth of hiking boots as a result.

  • The results were strong enough that G/O Digital asked me to guest blog about it — the opportunity I’d been waiting for — resulting in the case study “How Hesselson’s Earned $5,500 Using Facebook Advertising.”

  • Managed strategy and search for Red Room Toys, an online adult retailer whose PPC exclusion list was longer than a CVS receipt — even in corporate, I still landed and delivered on the wildest accounts. Turns out the adult expo days with Welk prepared me well.

From Proposal to Proxy

  • As a Digital Sales Specialist, reps could request a proposal from Gannett Local’s inside sales team at the Arizona Republic office — using the client’s needs analysis and digital presence, if they had one, to run a health report and build a custom proposal.

  • Upon selling a digital product, the order was entered into the system and assigned to an AZ-based AM — my soon-to-be role — before moving to fulfillment for execution

  • GL’s inside sales team could also jump in on an assist — joining client calls when a rep wasn’t comfortable presenting or covering while I was in the field on sales calls. Kathy in CA used this to close a handful of sizable PPC campaigns

  • As an AM, reps across the country would open up on strategy calls about how hard it was in the field — then be surprised and relieved to learn I’d just come from the same role in a CA market, dropping their defense once they realized I was there to help them go on offense. From there, they’d ask how I handled certain situations, I’d share what worked for me, and we’d schedule an intro call with the client.

  • Proxy sites were part of our service offering, available based on a client’s spend level and what was sold. Working with the graphic design team, we built mock sites with pixel tracking that let us launch campaigns without touching the client’s live site — spawning an inside joke with the designers about whether a site was “proxy eligible” that still lands.

  • Ran reputation management audits for clients — checking which directories they appeared on and flagging gaps to fill, with Google Business listings topping the list, followed by others like Yelp. Most clients were stunned the audit even existed, let alone that their digital presence stretched beyond Google — so the work was as much about education as filling the gaps.

  • Found my sweet spot in social media — a space with the power to transform modern marketing, shape culture and public opinion, and drive movements on a global scale — while many of my clients were still running Yellow Pages campaigns. Retargeting came in a close second — still new enough that watching it follow someone around the web felt equal parts creepy and cool.

  • Website builds and SEO were my least favorite — website builds meant chasing overwhelmed owners for basic information just to get their sites launched, while SEO required an existing site to publish blogs for backlinking.

The Culture Player

  • Recognized 14 times in my first year with peer-nominated Flair Awards — for hitting numbers, training new hires, and staying active on social media years before the industry caught up (RIP Klout, Vine, Google+, and Foursquare) — along with three team scavenger hunts across social channels

  • The G/O Digital direct team hosted the national RAEs in DTPHX — adding soirée planning to my résumé by renting the Diamondbacks’ #WorldSeriesSuite. The RAEs were impressed with the hospitality, and my team loved it. Obvi.

  • Recruited to Arizona by Todd, I worked alongside him and Ray (aka Raymundo) — great leaders who built a fun, rewarding culture before the brand went super corporate. They saw my digital chops early, gave me room to rise, and that’s exactly what I did.

  • Rocked an “inside sales bro” Halloween tee — “$ellblock 4” — gifted by Justin and Dave, managers on the direct inside sales team, as a nod to my Digital Sales Specialist days and the relentless hustle that followed me to AZ.

  • Gave back off the clock — filling angel tags for Salvation Army and volunteering at the AZ Special Olympics — while spring training offered a welcome break from the office. It was the embodiment of work/life balance.

Built Believers, Not Just Sellers

  • Trained 10 print reps to sell digital products — helping old-school sellers shift their mindset, build confidence, and drive adoption across a changing media landscape.

  • Joined live sales calls to coach, close, and convert in real time — sharpening reps’ pitches and helping turn digital hesitation into revenue.

  • Led digital sales training for print teams — developing workshops and enablement tools that helped reps evolve into hybrid sellers across strategy, sales execution, and client conversations

  • Hit the team’s annual digital revenue goal in less than 90 days — a result that helped fast-track my promotion after six months, proving the training approach delivered, not just taught it.

Premier From Day One

  • Two weeks into my new role at GL, the team earned Google AdWords Premier SMB Partner status — one of only a handful of agencies selected for the distinction.

  • Celebrated Google’s SMB Partner win with a haul of swag — a location-pin tee, a light-up YouTube leash for my pup, D, and a Google chevron bag — some of the best swag from the milestone.

  • Watched the division transform alongside my career — from Gannett Local to G/O Digital — as the brand grew into its next chapter.

Awards

Lever-up Award

  • Beat the team's 21-day average by 20%, consistently launching accounts faster — without sacrificing quality (2014).

  • Recognized as part of a social media scavenger hunt for having a Pinterest account and actively pinning (September 2013)

  • Recognized as part of a social media scavenger hunt for having a Google+ account (RIP G+) and actively posting (September 2013)

  • Recognized as part of a social media scavenger hunt for having a Foursquare account and actively checking in (October 2013)

  • Recognized as part of a social media scavenger hunt for having a Twitter account and actively tweeting (October 2013)

  • Recognized as part of a social media scavenger hunt for having an Instagram account and actively posting (October 2013)

  • Recognized for being the team captain for the Lethal Lilacs (October 2013)

  • Recognized for being Like a Boss for stepping up to train the newbs and for being a straight up boss (October 2013)

  • Recognized for More Cowbell and owning cardio like a boss (November 2013)

  • Recognized for being a Precious Angel to work with (November 2013)

  • Recognized for Ain't Nobody Got Time for Slackin' and for never slackin' (November 2013)

  • Recognized as part of a social media scavenger hunt for having a LinkedIn account and actively posting (November 2013)

  • Recognized as part of a social media scavenger hunt for having a YouTube account (November 2013)

  • Recognized for being 2 Legit 2 Quit and celebrating 1 year with Gannett (December 2013)

  • Recognized for being a Teacher and helping train the newbs (January 2014)

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