Amanda Gibbins
Copywriter and Rewilding Campaigner
Campaigning Experience
My most recent campaigning experience is with the Blue Campaign. I started as a social media volunteer in 2020, writing seasonal posts which got great engagement! In 2023, reorganisation saw me running the Blue Campaign. I am still a volunteer but have been responsible for successes including:
Bringing new county councils on board
Creating a series of new posters, in response to supporter demand
Improved outreach to our council contacts
Developing new relationships with housing associations, councils, and local groups
Interest in nature conservation
I’ve been passionate about nature conservation and the importance of engaging people and inspiring action for years. I’ve been working on inspiring people to use their garden to create space for nature since 2020, through the Blue Campaign. As a result I have a good knowledge of British wildlife and habitat, enjoy identifying plants when I’m out, and teach my children all about nature connection. Earlier this year I was invited to Knepp by Isabella Tree and Charlie Burrell because of my work on the Blue Campaign. We had a good evening talking about nature conservation and how to engage people.
Photo from a LACS lunchtime talk I arranged with the local wildlife rescue organisation. The aim of the talk was to help office-based staff feel more directly involved in the work we were all doing to help animals. I got to hold a fox cub! Important lesson - don’t let a barn owl sit on your boardroom TV.
Inspiring action on complex policy issues
I’ve worked in a number of sectors where I’ve needed to turn complex information into actionable, engaging copy.
mWater, a SaaS company in the water and sanitation sector. With a brief to increase their visibility and sector reputation, I quickly learnt the acronyms, and complex sector concepts until I could explain them simply. I then created created blog posts, case studies and social posts the company used to inspire action in funders, government leaders, and sector experts.
I studied how to make complex information understandable at university, studying dietetics. We put this into practice by running patient workshops, and public education stands.
Blue Campaign needs me to turn complex information on habitat, species, and their interactions into social posts that inspire people to act. We’ve seen great success, and my work has created interest and action from councils across the UK, a housing association, garden centres, and many individuals.
A screen grab of a complex blog I wrote and published for mWater, whilst working as their staff writer.
One of many examples of individuals being inspired to action by my work on the Blue Campaign
Writing copy for a range of audiences
As a freelancer, I’ve written copy targeted to a range of audiences, B2C and B2B.
During my time as staff writer for mWater, I wrote a range of copy with a target audience ranging across government staff, funders, and sector experts.
At League Against Cruel Sports, I was involved in writing fundraising copy targeting wealthy donors. I also had the opportunity to work at a Parliamentary event with League Against Cruel Sports, interacting with a range of politicians and major donors.
At Blue Campaign, my work on socials is designed to appeal to existing supporters but to also bring in new ones. My posts increased the Campaign’s reach and engagement, both in supporters and councils.
See the difference in tone between the social post on the left (target audience: general public, supporters), and the email newsletter on the right (target audience: council communications staff). They both have different creative briefs and use a different tone of voice.
Able to react to emerging situation and adjust comms
During my time as a marketing executive at Box Hill School, I did need to react quickly to situations. For example using socials to notify parents of difficult weather conditions affecting pick up. I was also on call to support staff with last minute marketing needs such as photography.
A separate example is from my time working on daily B2C emails, where part of the brief required me to respond to daily news and integrate it where relevant into the emails. See left for a sample.
Confidence and a decisive approach
A review from one of my UpWork clients - a B2C consumer
At Box Hill School, I led on bringing the school into modern digital marketing - convincing the Bursar to give me control of the Twitter account he’d been using personally, increasing staff engagement with the marketing dept, and getting approval for social media training of academic staff. These changes led to significantly increased media coverage for the school, and earned me a promotion.
I’m confident and innovative in my approach to my work, practiced in understanding different needs/wants, and experienced in explaining the rationale for my decisions to different stakeholders.
Presenting creative rationale to get buy-in
I’ve included a number of samples in my portfolio that explain my creative rationale in the copywriting process.
I regularly do this as a freelancer, when first presenting my work to the client. If possible I present it on a call, rather than just emailing it over. This makes it easier to show the connections between the brief and the end result, and the reasons for the word choices and style used.
Experience in a range of communications channels
I’ve written copy across print, emails, websites, and social media. I’ve also been involved in the strategy and technical side of email marketing - putting together content calendars, segmenting and cleaning email lists, and analysing open and click through data.
Writing the brief for this print poster, then writing the copy and working with a designer to create this eye-catching end result
Part of a series of emails for a B2B digital marketing agency.
A Facebook post for Blue Campaign, using humour to grab attention, and short simple bullet points to make the actions simple and achievable.
Experience in the non-profit sector
I worked at League Against Cruel Sports from 2015-8, in the major donor team. I was involved in creating fundraising communications, liaising with different teams to support information sharing, and took part in organising and attending campaign and fundraising events including one at Parliament. I gained lots of experience in engaging with a non profit audience, as well as general understanding of working in a non-profit.
I’ve also interned at WWF-UK, working in the food team. My work on the internal team newsletter was so well received that it was promoted to circulation in the European offices as well.