Marianna Spanou

Editor-in-Chief and Digital Content Lead

[
[
[

]
]
]

Experience

Quick, evidence-based samples—articles, series, and growth projects—with brief notes on goals, contribution, and impact.

dOWNLOAD CV
CONTACT

Real Media Group: 2023-2025

Real Media Group is a leading Greek media company, spanning print (Real News), digital (Enikos.gr with over 5.5M visits monthly and Real.gr with 3M+), and radio (Real FM), reaching millions of readers and listeners across platforms. With the recent launch of Oloygeia.gr, the group expanded into health news, further strengthening its multi-platform presence and advertising appeal.

Oloygeia.gr, Real Media Group’s new health platform, logged ~2.1Mvisits the last six months with engagement of ~00:42 per visit. Still early in growth, its strong organic search share (~67%) signals clear potential to expand reach in the health news sector.

As Content Manager & Lead Editor at oloygeia.gr, I co-led the product and editorial design from concept to launch. Working closely with the director, the design team, and the social media managers, I shaped the site’s template system, logo direction, layout, and content model to deliver a modern, highly readable health destination. We aligned brand voice with visual identity, built mobile-first page layouts that make long-form content effortless to scan, and set clear editorial and social packaging guidelines so every story ships consistent, accurate, and high quality.

How that looked in practice (with examples)

  • Brand & logo direction: defined positioning, tone, and usage rules to keep the identity consistent across web and socials.
  • Template & layout system: article, category, and landing page patterns designed for readability (typography, spacing, hierarchy, media).
  • Content architecture: pillars, taxonomy, and SEO-friendly metadata so stories are discoverable and easy to maintain.
  • Editorial playbook: voice, headline framing, fact-checking steps, and accessibility checks to raise baseline quality.
  • Social packaging: formats for headlines, thumbnails, and captions; UTM conventions and posting cadence aligned with newsroom flow.
  • Workflow & QA: CMS field structure, publishing checklists, and performance/accessibility reviews to keep quality high at speed.

My contribution (skills & outputs)

  • Co-design: Brand & logo direction plus modular templates (article/category/landing) built for mobile readability.
  • Explain: Turned medical research into clear, accurate service pieces with strict sourcing and fact-checks.
  • Systematize: Set taxonomy/SEO and social packaging standards; added lightweight CMS fields & pre-publish checklists for speed and consistency.
  • Edit & optimize health content: Craft readable, trustworthy health content from complex studies—explainers, checklists, and evergreen hubs—paired with SEO structure, social packaging, and smart push to lift engagement. oloygeia.gr

New Media Network Synapsis: 2022-2023

New Media Network Synapsis S.A. is an Athens-based media company that develops and operates the platform iefimerida.gr. As of August 2025, iefimerida.gr ranks #22 in Greece and #7 in News & Media Publishers (Greece), with ~17.4M monthly visits, 3.07 pages/visit, and ~4:27 average visit duration—a strong signal of readability and engagement.

As an Content Editor at iefimerida.gr I worked on the World/International desk, packaging fast-moving geopolitics and policy into clear explainers for a Greek audience. My coverage stitched together verified reporting from primary outlets (e.g., FT, WSJ, Politico, Bloomberg) with context and structured subheads, so readers could grasp the “why now” behind each story. Representative work spans NATO and EU decision-making, Russia–Ukraine war dynamics, platform accountability/tech safety, and EU public-health policy.

How that looked in practice (with examples)

  • Turn breaking wires into readable explainers. Example: why the U.S. and Germany shifted on sending tanks to Ukraine, outlining the Biden–Scholz choreography and alliance optics. iefimerida.gr
  • Cover NATO expansion & Turkish leverage with clear stakes. What simultaneous accession of Sweden–Finland meant for security planning—and where Ankara’s veto fit. iefimerida.gr
  • Surface rigorous counter-disinformation. Summarized an open letter by 110 economists challenging narratives about Ukraine and NATO, highlighting the evidence-based rebuttals. iefimerida.gr
  • Report EU policy that touches daily life. Broke down the Commission’s response to drug shortages, noting how Greek practices influenced broader measures. iefimerida.gr
  • Track European politics & institutions. From the EU’s stance on Morocco post-Qatargate to assessments of Macron’s Ukraine posture and EU leadership. iefimerida.gr
  • Add data-driven perspective. Explained why two-thirds of the world is neutral or Russia-leaning on the war, drawing on EIU’s Democracy Index analysis. iefimerida.gr
  • Cover platform accountability. Summarized the WSJ investigation on Instagram’s recommendation systems and child-safety failures, including Meta’s response. iefimerida.gr

My contribution (skills & outputs)

  • Rapid research & source synthesis: monitor trusted foreign outlets; cross-check claims; localize context.
  • Reader-first structure: use sharp headlines, decks, and sectioned subheads to lift scanability and time-on-page. Examples above show consistent “why it matters / what’s next” framing.
  • Editorial judgment: select visuals and tags, and maintain neutral, evidence-led tone on sensitive geopolitics/health topics.

Proto Thema: 2018-2021

Proto Thema is one of Greece’s biggest news publishers, built around the country’s best-selling Sunday newspaper and a market-leading digital network. (For context: protothema.gr consistently ranks at or near #1 among Greek news sites.) Similarweb
The newsroom reaches about 14M monthly uniques and ~355M page views, with ~5:53 average session duration (GA, 2025). ProtoThema – Media Kit+1

As the dedicated health platform of the group, Ygeiamou.gr ranked #76 in News & Media Publishers (Greece) in Aug 2025, logging ~2.8M visits over the last 3 months and engagement of ~00:56 per visit and 1.53 pages/visit—a strong signal of reach and readability in the category.

As an Content Editor at Ygeiamou.gr, I turned complex medical research and public-health updates into clear, trustworthy service journalism for a broad Greek audience. I wrote and edited daily pieces across nutrition, wellness, disease prevention, mental health, and medical news, packaging each story with practical takeaways and SEO structure.

How that looked in practice (with examples)

  • Research → explainers (NEJM/Lancet/WHO/ECDC → “what it means for you”. Sugars that double liver-fat production (implications for NAFLD/diabetes). Ygeiamou
  • Daily publishing flow (pitch → write/edit → SEO → publish → social). Exercise & fat oxidation from pre-workout caffeine (clear headline, scannable subheads). Ygeiamou
  • Evergreen hubs (diet, sleep, family health) — refreshed on a schedule. Sleep & kids: consistent bedtimes tied to BMI/health (evergreen, updated with new studies). Ygeiamou
  • Quality & standards (sourcing, caveats, no overclaiming). Iron deficiency & heart risk—explicitly flags observational limits (“cannot infer causality”). Ygeiamou
  • High-tempo coverage (policy/vaccine updates → fast service explainers). Severe-case treatments/complications—plain-English summaries during peaks. Ygeiamou+1
  • Social packaging (weekly calendars, native captions, thumbnails, story cards). Workflow responsibility (not a public article), but applied to the pieces above.
  • Push notifications (Wonderpush segmentation, UTMs, A/B send times & headlines). Workflow responsibility (not a public article), used to distribute the articles above without fatigue.
  • Readability & accessibility (mobile-first typography, subhead ladders, alt text, simple tables/infographics). Editorial standards applied across articles—see the scannable structure in the examples listed above.

My contribution (skills & outputs)

  • Explain: Turned medical research into clear, actionable service pieces with strict sourcing and fact-checks.
  • Distribute: Ran the social calendar (captions, thumbnails, timing) and managed push notifications (Wonderpush: segmentation, UTMs, A/B send times) to lift CTR without fatigue.
  • Optimize: Applied SEO structure (titles, metadata, internal links), refreshed evergreen hubs, and iterated using analytics.

Autotriti S.A.: 2014-2018

Autotriti S.A. publishes autotriti.gr (Greece’s #2 Vehicles site; 1.7M visits, 3.59 pages/visit, 3:22 avg time, 15.48% bounce in Aug 2025), the travel vertical AutoTriti Touring, plus 4green.gr and the monthly print title Πράσινο Σπίτι & Κτίριο (Green House & Building). These brands focus on practical, readable service journalism across mobility and energy/renovation.

As Digital Content Lead across AutoTriti Touring, 4green.gr, and Πράσινο Σπίτι & Κτίριο, I unified voice and quality standards, co-designed mobile-first templates and buyer-guide formats, and set a quarterly evergreen-refresh program. I realigned taxonomy and internal links for discoverability, ran a consistent 3×/week newsletter cadence with SEO-aligned packaging, coordinated print–digital specials and event coverage, and built a clean workflow (briefs, checklists, fact-checking) that kept production fast without sacrificing accuracy.

How that looked in practice (with examples)

  • AutoTriti Touring (mag & site): Set editorial strategy and calendar; shipped destination/road-trip issues and SEO-aligned digital travel guides.
  • 4green.gr: Led pillars (energy savings, photovoltaics, smart home), launched buyer-guide formats and refresh cadence; aligned site IA/SEO; coordinated the 3×/week newsletter packaging.
  • Πράσινο Σπίτι & Κτίριο (monthly): Owned issue planning and standards; turned technical energy/building topics into clear, homeowner-friendly service features and event coverage.

My contribution (skills & outputs)

  • Set direction: Co-shaped modular, mobile-first templates and buyer-guide formats for AutoTriti Touring, 4green.gr, and Πράσινο Σπίτι & Κτίριο.
  • Boost discovery: Re-mapped taxonomy and cross-links, tightened on-page SEO and schema, and put evergreen refreshes on a cadence.
  • Drive distribution: Programmed a 3×/week newsletter, refined headlines/thumbnails, and packaged travel & energy guides for higher open/CTR and completion.
  • Systemize quality: Introduced clear briefs, sourcing standards, and production checklists; streamlined print–digital specials and event coverage for faster, consistent output.