Hi there! I'm Alana. I'm an Advertising Graduate from the University of Florida and Account Director at ELEVATE Agency, UF’s #1 student-run agency. But those close to me know me best as a horse-girl, Twitch enthusiast, content creator, gamer, cat-lover, foodie, and Etsy shop owner! Simply, I have a desire to learn, a passion to grow, & a relentless curiosity. There's nothing more fulfilling than my team and I being able to say, "We did that", at the end of a campaign. Since fifth grade, my planner has been my best friend and my goals keep me, as well as others, accountable. That's why account management has always been a natural passion and strength of mine. Another half of my excitement for this field is learning to be an expert in all the bolts and nuggets of a client's brand. I understand that every client is different, and for each client I work with, I love solving the best way to communicate with them and my team. While I continue to sponge as many experiences as I can, below is some of the agency work & group projects that I've fostered my skills from!

As a current part-time Etsy shop owner, small Twitch streamer, advertising graduate, account manager, and content creator, I've developed many creative habits to support different marketing initiatives and create social media content.

Having been a recent Marketing Assistant at CLC Enterprises, an Account Director at Elevate, while currently maintaining a "5-star" Etsy shop and small-Twitch community, I've developed strategic positioning for campaigns & social media content for a designated portfolio of clients including my own brand. In doing so, I've been responsible for over 2K IG impressions collectively by generating weekly content across multiple clients' social platforms. I particularly specialize in creating Instagram posts, Instagram reels, flyers, and Canva graphics. If you're interested in working with me and are looking for freelanced social media content, head to the Fiverr link below!

I use the displayed content below on a daily basis for my Etsy shop, "The Preset Cow" which specializes in predefined photography edits. This showcases my use of graphic design skills, Canva proficiency, and my understanding of the importance of congruency in brand materials. Since my shop launch, I've achieved 167K+ unique visits, $27K+ in revenue, and 13,000+ sales over a 1-year period, maintaining a 5.6% conversion rate. Additionally, I'm responsible for 85% of traffic & brand awareness by promoting the shop across Pinterest & Instagram socials. I also gained 370+ rave industry reviews in 1st year through a focus on follow-up culture & customer satisfaction.

Led a Director's team of 6 to create & execute a campaign in 1 month for the UF CJC Ad Advisory Council's Spring 2023 Panel. As the Account Management Director, my role was to heavily communicate all the steps of the way to forming this campaign with Ad Council, ensuring action items were consistently met within this short period, and implementing the client's needs at all times. Ad Council consists of a group of 15-20 advertising industry professionals who want to provide professional career guidance to UF Ad majors. Using social media, OOH ads, listservs, and our personal student resources, we grew event attendance by 30% and increased overall awareness about Ad Council's purpose among Ad majors by 40%. Emphasizing their expertise, communicating all of the event information cohesively, and reaching as many Ad majors and ad-curious students as possible, we cultivated over 3,500 cumulative impressions! What I learned the most from this campaign was the importance of having a playful, healthy, communicative bond with your team. Our relationship is what drove our passion for this project and helped us feed off of each other's creative energies throughout the campaign. To view more campaign results, deliverables, strategy findings, and content calendars, click above!

Led a team of 13 to create an advertising campaign for a Latin-based Peruvian restaurant in Gainesville, FL that accelerated awareness efforts with locals and increased sales with repeat customers through a stamp-voucher system, gift card promotions, and consistent social media engagement. I advocated for clients’ needs and satisfaction by communicating weekly meeting notes and action items with my team about plans, objectives, tactics, and expected results. Additionally. I art-directed the deliverables and final presentation, as well as delegated specific responsibilities based on team members' strengths and weaknesses. (Linked above is only including what's of my 100% contribution).

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Campaign Proposal: "Babybel is for Big Kids too!" for Babybel

Linked above is an advertising solution I developed for attracting Gen Z and younger Millennial audiences to the Babybel cheese brand. Acting as though I had successfully made it past the credentials presentation, this final creative pitch includes thorough client research, a creative recommendation, a production timeline, and a rough media plan all allocating a total budget of $1 million.

Orange Schools for Jamie

Stand Among Friends

David Baker Books

Safe Schools for Alex

CLC Enterprises

UF CJC Advertising Advisory Council

My Account Manager Meeting Report Template

Client Creative Brief

Alana Maklouf

CREATIVE BRIEF

CLIENT

CLIENT BUSINESS GOAL

Increase sales of Disney trading cards by 15% over the next year.

BRANDING GOAL

Convince fathers that collecting Disney trading cards can result in quality time with their sons ​just as much as Sports trading cards. (Increase believability).

SUBCULTURE

Sports card investors. Male and 30+ Years old. Sports fanatics who dabble in buying sports cards ​for investment opportunities. Deeply bonded by childhood nostalgia and shared experiences in ​the trading community.

PROBLEM

Disney trading cards are not important enough in the eyes of sports card investors because ​they're viewed as "cute" or "silly", and not an investment to be taken seriously. However, kids ​may love specific Disney characters just as much as their fathers loved their favorite sports ​players as kids. In other words, much like how this subculture started collecting at a young age ​for their love of the “Tampa Bay Lightning Hockey” team, children can have that same ​excitement for Disney's “Lion King” character trading cards because Lion King is their favorite ​movie. Sports card investors underestimate the emotional relationship being developed with ​Disney trading cards and the quality hobby time it encourages with their sons.

KEY INSIGHT

The best part of being a parent is experiencing the joy of your child and sharing their happiness.

BIG IDEA

Investment is in memories

ACTION

Encourage fathers of Disney-loving families to start their children’s sports/trading card hobby ​and journey with Disney hobby boxes.

Client Speaking Opportunity Pitch

Disney

Content Marketing Strategy Proposal