Ken Hitchner NJ

Senior Communications, Social Media, and PR Professional

Ken Hitchner, NJ Career Overview

Ken Hitchner, NJ native, is a Content Strategy Director for the Creative Marketing Alliance (CMA). Ken began working in this role in 2018. From 2016 to 2018, he worked with CMA as Public Relations and Social Media Director. From 2014 to 2016, his title was Public Relations and Social Media Manager. 

In all of these roles, Ken has overseen the development of PR, digital marketing, media relations, and social media marketing. He also supervises a team of PR and social media account executives. In addition, Ken manages publications for clients. Ken Hitchner has been incredibly successful in these roles and has been recognized as a leader in the public relations industry in NJ. He led the PR and Social Media unit of his company to 15 industry awards from 2017 to 2018, including Best Social Media for Associations in the U.S. (International Card Manufacturers Association), PRSA Pyramid Award (NJ State Nurses Association), NJ Ad Club Silver Award-Blogs (Amerlux), Silver Award-Social Media (NJSNA), Silver Award-Public Affairs (NJSNA), NJ Ad Club Gold Award-Media Relations (NJSNA), NJ Ad Club Gold Award-Facebook Marketing (NJSNA).

These awards have come as a result of Ken’s exceptional record of achievement in the management of corporate public relations, content marketing, social media, and communications operations within the non-profit and for-profit sectors. For example, Ken Hitchner created a highly effective scorecard program that increased media placements by 400 percent in just two years. Ken also focused on hiring top-tier talent and creating a system of personal accountability within his team. As a result of these efforts, media placements improved from 100 in 2013 to 1,208 in 2017.

Before his work at CMA, Ken Hitchner worked as a Senior Public Information Officer for the NJ Transit. Ken’s role involved arranging critical regional and national media coverage, including the NY Times, The Daily News, Fox News, ABC News, CBS TV, CBS Radio, The Star-Ledger, NBC News, and American Transport. One of his many accomplishments during his time there was facilitating $2.3 million in energy savings by promoting green initiatives, including solar panels and emission control filters on hybrid cars. He also successfully grew trips per day from under 6,000 to more than 17,000 for the Secaucus Junction Station by creating and leading a major media blitz.

Ken Hitchner earned his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Temple University. He went on to earn his MBA in marketing from Rutgers University in New Brunswick, NJ. While in graduate school, Ken also earned the Dr. S. George Walters Interfunctional Consulting Award. 

In addition to his degrees, Ken Hitchner has acquired several certificates including his Google Analytics Certificate from Google Academy, a Content Marketing Certificate from HubSpot, a BuzzSumo Certificate, and a Social Media Marketing Certificate from Rutgers University in NJ.

When he isn’t working, Ken Hitchner also spends his time as a volunteer in NJ. He has been the Board Chairman for the Public Service Group of Central New Jersey since 2012. He previously was a Board Trustee for the Rutgers Business School Alumni Association in NJ.