Serving craveable, late-night content to match the brand’s after-hours energy
When I joined Insomnia Cookies, the social media strategy was largely transactional—focused on weekly promotions and product launches, but missing a consistent brand voice or deeper cultural resonance. My first priority was to shift the foundation from ad hoc posts to a holistic, insight-driven content strategy.
To do this, I led a comprehensive audience research initiative, collecting over 16,000 survey responses to better understand our customers’ demographics, habits, and motivations. From that data, I developed a set of unique audience personas that became central to every brief and content decision moving forward.
The resulting strategy positioned Insomnia as the unapologetically late-night brand—leaning into our identity as the indulgent, mischievous alternative to our more wholesome, daytime dessert competitors. While others posted cookie stacks in natural light, we embraced the neon glow of dorm rooms, chaotic cravings, and 2 a.m. swipe-ups. Our tone became playful, occasionally chaotic, and always rooted in the emotional triggers of our audience.
I led a team of four social strategists and creators, and formalized a workflow that brought together our internal creative department and two external vendor partners to concept, produce, and deploy both organic and paid content across platforms.
The Results:
+208% growth in total social following (Instagram and TikTok)
+512% increase in engagement rate
Multiple campaigns contributed directly to record-breaking sales weeks
This work not only redefined Insomnia’s presence online but helped position the brand as a culturally relevant, late-night staple—one scroll-worthy cookie at a time.