Kara Raney

10+ years of Social Media Strategy & Communications experience

United States

I'm a digital content marketing professional with 10+ years of experience turning sports moments into stories that stick. At USA Swimming, U.S. Soccer, and U.S. Figure Skating, I've built social media strategies that connect emotionally and create community with fans using humor, visual storytelling, and a sharp instinct for what makes audiences stop scrolling. I use data to inform strategy and ensure every piece of content feels native to the culture it lives in.

I am committed to ideating unique concepts and turning them into captivating narratives. My ultimate goal is to create content that not only informs and entertains but also fosters genuine emotional connections and inspires meaningful action. If you're seeking a seasoned creative social media and content strategist to bring your vision to life, I'm here to make it happen.

Portfolio

Award Winning

Hashtagsports
06/24/2025
2025 Hashtag Sports Awards DEI Winner | Inside the Camp: Historic Day for the U.S. Women's Deaf...

U.S. Soccer was named the 2025 Hashtag Sports Awards DEI Winner for its Inside the Camp: Historic Day for the U.S. Women's Deaf National Team, where I served as the content strategy lead for the project. Inside The Camp was created to highlight Deaf Soccer and the differences, in addition to the differences within the Deaf community that players and coaches encounter while playing the sport. This series highlights a piece of soccer culture of an underrepresented group that isn't often...

Twitter
#SwimUnited Campaign | Ad Example

The campaign capitalized on the patriotism and country pride that any Olympics brings by creating taglines from the national anthem and other national U.S. symbols but with a swimming twist. The campaign also took home two nationally recognized awards: National Sports Forum SAMMY Award (2016) PR News Week’s Best in Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Media Campaign (2017) Caption: One nation under water, indivisible... #SwimUnited pic.twitter.com/bx7rCMWf3y

Twitter
#SwimUnited | Award Winning Social Campaign (2016)

The 2016 #SwimUnited campaign used ads and social images of when the athletes were young to entice people to try swimming. The campaign capitalized on the Olympic window to earn 54 million digital impressions, and led to a 98% increase in swim team searches on SwimToday.org. The campaign also took home two nationally recognized awards: National Sports Forum SAMMY Award (2016) PR News Week’s Best in Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Media Campaign (2017) Caption: Before they were...

USA Swimming
03/17/2017
USA Swimming Captures Pr News Week Award For #Swimunited Campaign

USA Swimming captured the 2017 PR News Week's Best in Arts, Entertainment, Sports and Media Campaign for its #SwimUnited campaign, where I served as Social Media Manager. Highlights of the campaign included: - 98% increase in swim team searches on SwimToday.org and more than double the Google searches for “Swimming + Team” than the past three Olympic Games. - Customized Team USA caps Dory cast and celebrities – over 60 celebrities posted to social media with #SwimUnited generating a...

Social Media Content

Instagram
01/17/2026
Beginner to Winner | Ellie Kim

Produced & edited Goal: To showcase an Olympian's journey to entice others to join the sport. Part of a larger social-first, community-forward content strategy from U.S. Championships.

Instagram
03/08/2024
USWNT | Simple concept, great results

Created as part of a larger content strategy to humanize athletes USWNT content for U.S. Soccer, and it was the third-best post of Q1 for USWNT.

Instagram
1/26/2024
Viral Reel | Edited POV

Shot, edited and posted this viral moment from 2024 U.S. Championships that received 1.1 million views.

Instagram
08/02/2021
Viral Content | Trending Audio

Simple audio turned a normal iPhone video into engaging content with over 2.4 million views on Instagram.

Instagram
Viral Reel | Capitalizing on Key Moments

Planning is the key to good content. In an attempt to capitalize on a key moment, I directed videographers to capture the skater's family as she made history to create this viral video with 2.6 million views.

TikTok
12/09/2023
TikTok Trends | We're skaters

Concepted and created this viral trend using Team USA skaters. The video is now the second most engaging on U.S. Figure Skating's TikTok channel.

Instagram
07/12/2021
Delayed Flight Meme | Proactive PR

When our plane broke down before heading to the Tokyo Olympics, we created a meme so rumors would not spread about potential COVID-19 positives ahead of arriving in Tokyo.

Twitter
Color Commentary

Listen, we've all been there. The haters are loud on social, but sometimes you have to (tastefully) clap back. This was posted during the Tokyo Olympics during the first few days, where we won more silver than gold in the first few days. We decided as an athlete's first organization that it was in our brand strategy to be able to sass back. It might be my favorite tweet I've posted to date. Caption: Let's play a game: Before posting your negative comments, post a video of yourself...

Instagram
07/27/2023
More Than Medals Digital Campaign | Nathan Chen Example

I spearheaded the social and PR strategy for U.S. Figure Skating’s "More Than Medals" digital campaign, which has garnered 1M impressions and over 70K engagements across our social platforms. As part of the More Than Medals digital campaign, we created videos for each of the nine Olympic athletes involved to share their what this Olympic medal means to them and to generate awareness about their situation. We wanted to give them a platform to express their frustrations and for us to be a...

Twitter
#SwimValentines Content

Fun yearly social content to relate with our swimming members and fans on Valentines Day. Short & sweet, but not as sweet as you. ❤️ #SwimValentine pic.twitter.com/2H8ptC2aSS

Twitter
Sunday Scaries | Community engagement

October is a slow month for swimming, so in 2019, I created a recurring weekly post for 'Sunday Scaries' to have swimmers pick between their worst fears. It turned out to be incredibly successful and they still continue the posts to this day.

Twitter
#SwimUnited Campaign

We played into people's dreams of becoming an Olympic swimmer by sharing some of our athletes meeting their heroes when they were young. We hoped this would ignite a drive to dive into the sport. Caption: MondayMotivation: From meeting an Olympic hero to being one. You could be next. https://t.co/7hMGqnZQeV #SwimUnited pic.twitter.com/qkhlzOBubB

Video Creative Direction Concepts

Instagram
01/11/2026
2026 U.S. Figure Skating Olympic Team Reveal

For the last 25+ years, figure skating's highest honor of making the Olympic team was delivered through impersonal text messages or emails, usually received alone with no one there to share. Athletes experienced their life-defining moments in isolation. For the first time in U.S. Figure Skating's history, we broke from tradition and surprised athletes, their coaches and families with their Olympic team notifications in person, filming their raw reactions to share with fans. Our fans have...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=andtYImVJQs
U.S. Figure Skating YouTube
12/21/2023
Storytelling to sell out U.S. Figure Skating National Championships in Columbus

Partnering with a local fashion designer and the Columbus College of Art & Design, we used the city's love for fashion to sell tickets by involving one of their own in creating a costume for an elite skater (Isabeau Levito). The campaign was part of a larger appeal to sell out the event that ended up with 60,000+ attendees, the most since 2018.

Instagram
Community Debates

Involving our engaged community into the conversation with sparking a debate in the swimming community

TikTok
10/21/2023
Capitalizing on key moments

Capitalizing on key historic moments by creating a social media plan to create this video for quick-turn content.

Instagram
POV Trending Content

Giving our audience an inside look into what it would be like if they were to swim in the Olympic Trials pool ahead of the 2020 Olympic Swimming Trials.