Claire Dougherty
Hi, I’m Claire.
I grow audiences by focusing on what people actually engage with, not what brands think they should.
I’m the Senior Manager of Audience Development at VinePair, where I lead growth across social, newsletter, and content distribution.
A few things I’ve done…
(click on each bullet to learn more)The Idea
VinePair’s Instagram had plateaued at 96K followers, growing less than 10% YoY for multiple years.
The account was being treated primarily as a site traffic driver— but what if we used it as a separate branch of the company and built loyalty there?
The Strategy
Shifted to a social-first approach, creating closed loop experiences on the platform rather than using click-bait to force traffic off-platform
Identified patterns in saveable, shareable content and built repeatable formats around them
Balanced growth content with editorial, brand-building content to reinforce brand authority
Optimized for engagement and distribution, not clicks
The Impact
Grew from 96K → 260K followers entirely organically in under two years
Increased growth rate from 10% to 83% YoY
Outpaced competitors like Eater, Bon Appetit, Wine Enthusiast, and Infatuation in growth and engagement rates
Scaled VinePair’s Instagram from 96K → 260K followers.
Content Examples
325K views driven by 5.2K shares. Used a playful format to extend reach.
Cultural, conversation-driving format drove 6.6K shares and 2.7K saves, extending reach beyond core audience.
Simplified reference guide drove 28K saves and 19K shares, resulting in 2M views and 7.3K new followers.
High-utility content drove 53K shares and 39K saves, resulting in 4.2M views and 11K new followers.
Quick-learning, one-page guide drove 79K saves and 60K shares, resulting in 3.4M views and 3.8K new followers.
Share-driven format generated 2.7M views, with 42K shares pushing distribution beyond existing audience.
Educational cocktail content drove 4.8K saves and reached a majority new audience (78% non-followers), converting into 450+ new followers.
Highly saveable content drove 11K saves and 1.5K followers from just under 500K views.
Conversation-driven content generated 4.1K shares, driving engagement and distribution.
(click on photo to see full content on Instagram)Launched a social-first series generating 15M+ views.
The Idea
Where do bartenders — people who know drinks better than anyone — actually go when they’re not working?
This question became the foundation of Bartender’s Guide, a Reels series that turned the company’s industry access into one of its biggest drivers of audience growth.
The Strategy
Each episode was designed to be:
Credible — real bartenders, filmed in front of their own bars to reinforce authenticity. The personality of the talent carries the content (bartenders are professionally charismatic)
Highly consumable + repeatable— a structured Q&A format built for engagement and scale across talent and locations
Network-driven — prioritized bartenders and bars/restaurants with strong followings, collaborating with them to leverage their audiences and extend reach
The Impact
80+ episodes across 9 cities
~150K average views per episode and several reaching 500K- 1M views
Became a core franchise across editorial and sales, and a key driver of audience growth
Expanded into new verticals including Hidden Gems (featuring sommeliers) and Places, Please (featuring Broadway stars)
Supported brand partnerships (Madison Square Park, Tequila Ocho) and talent integrations (Nicholas Braun, Glenn Howerton)
Content Examples
Launched and grew a meme account to 80k followers in under one year.
The Idea
I launched @affordablefoiegras in 2016, when meme culture was primarily made up of accounts by men and for men. The accounts for women were built on low-effort, stereotype-driven humor (think wine, puppies) and carefully curated by companies and teams. The content felt extremely polished.
I spotted a gap for women with a more irreverent, internet-native sense of humor.
At the time, I had never worked in social. This was my first experience building an audience from scratch, and learning that taste, speed, and cultural awareness > polish. Scaling this account has shaped how I approach growth ever since.
The Strategy
Took an off-the-cuff, high-frequency approach in direct contrast to the polished approach of other accounts— basically a low effort aesthetic that’s actually intentional
Built content around “in-group” humor— niche enough to feel like an inside joke but broad enough to travel
Curated it from across the internet (Twitter, Tumblr, niche communities) and was able to surface emerging humor quickly
The Impact
Grew to 80k followers in under one year
Built a highly engaged audience around a distinct voice and POV
Monetized through brand partnerships (Starface, Unbound Babes)
Among the early accounts pushing meme culture toward more irreverent, personality-driven content
(see a few more projects below!)