The primary importance of having an analytical-first Digital Marketing Director is to transform marketing from a cost center into a quantifiable revenue engine by building scalable, data-driven systems. This role moves beyond managing execution and focuses on architecting the truth—creating a unified data layer that enables profitable strategic growth and informed C-Level decision-making.

Here are concrete use cases demonstrating this impact:

I. Finding Hidden Market Opportunities via BI Integration (Hotels.com)

Instead of optimizing within existing data silos, I used QlikView to integrate external and internal data sources at the granular destination level. I linked Hotels.com's internal conversion and ticket-price data with external Google Ads competitor data (Impression Share, top-winning queries) and competitor pricing.

• Actionable Insight: By crossing this information, I identified destinations characterized by high average ticket prices (long stays, high cost per night) combined with low competitor presence and low Cost Per Click (CPC).

• Strategic Outcome: This deep analysis unlocked a new, valuable growth opportunity in intra-regional destinations that was otherwise invisible. We strategically pivoted by: 1) Expanding our keyword base; 2) Requesting targeted discounts from the merchandising team; and 3) Modifying bid strategies to dominate those profitable niches. This not only provided an incremental growth path but also mitigated potential revenue losses in saturated markets.

II. Creating Global Consensus and C-Level Visibility (BBVA Bank)

In a multi-national corporate environment, I solved the challenge of inconsistent performance measurement across disparate systems (some using legacy analytics software).

• Standardizing KPIs for Investment: I leveraged my high-level understanding of data methodology to define a consistent and reliable set of KPIs across all banks. Crucially, I led a team of data scientists to build a unified Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) measurement model that became the foundation for the bank’s Cost of Customer Acquisition (CAC) strategy, allowing the team to operate with a performance-based "unlimited budget" model.

• Driving C-Suite Decisions: Using Datio, I created a global reporting dashboard that provided immediate visibility into CAC and LTV metrics. This centralized platform ensured every investment decision was transparent and tied directly to long-term profitability, empowering the C-suite with the credible data required for strategic budget allocation.

III. Strategic Synergy and Real-Time Qualification

My BI-first approach ensured that marketing channels were not optimized in isolation but worked together to achieve deeper business goals:

• Integrated SEO/SEM Monitoring: At BBVA, I used Looker to monitor the synergistic relationship between SEO and SEM, ensuring we maximized total qualified traffic while minimizing cannibalization and optimizing budget distribution between free and paid channels.

• Multi-Platform Funnel Performance: Using Firebase, I gained a real-time, multi-platform view of customer behavior beyond the click. By tracking the full credit card solicitation funnel (solicited, granted, activated, used, and paid in full), I enabled the marketing team to understand the true quality of leads and adjust campaigns in real time to focus only on attracting the most qualified, highest-value customers.

IV. Advanced Cross-Platform and Cross-Device Attribution (BBVA Mexico)

To accurately measure the true value of upper-funnel marketing activities, I engineered a robust, customized attribution model.

• Data Integration: I implemented and integrated Sizmek AdServer's path-to-conversion data directly with Adobe Analytics data.

• Complex Funnel Modeling: This integration was vital for analyzing a highly complex purchase funnel where customers interacted with awareness campaigns for different products, performance campaigns for specific products, and often switched devices and platforms during their journey.

• Targeting Upper-Funnel Campaigns: By understanding the multiple touchpoints, I successfully quantified the value of branding and awareness campaigns, which typically suffer from last-click attribution biases. This allowed us to set concrete, incremental targets for upper-funnel spend, which were later validated through A/B testing, proving their essential contribution to overall conversion and profitability.

The challenge at PACE Supply was transforming a broad organizational mission and scattered transaction history into a clear, scalable commercial strategy for the sales team. The goal was to move the focus from reacting to current orders to proactively driving high-potential revenue growth through targeted outreach.

I. Data Augmentation and Comprehensive Customer Profiles

The strategy began with aggressively enhancing first-party data by layering in third-party business intelligence (BI) and proprietary survey data. This effort was critical to move beyond transaction history and create a comprehensive view of each customer's potential.

• Data Sourcing: Purchased third-party business data and executed targeted customer surveys to answer key questions, including:

  • Number of plumbers/employees in the customer company.

  • Estimated annual revenue and fleet size (trucks).

  • Geographic service area and comprehensive list of services provided.

II. Predictive Customer Segmentation via Cluster Analysis

Using this enhanced data, I applied statistical methods to segment the customer base, moving from arbitrary categories to clusters based on predictive indicators.

• Segmentation: Performed cluster analysis based on quantitative factors (size, revenue, fleet) and qualitative factors (services provided) to group customers by true business potential (High, Medium, Low).

• Market Share Matrix: This information was then cross-referenced with their purchasing history from PACE Supply, categorizing them by actual engagement (e.g., Are we their main provider, competitor #2, or one of many?).

III. Implementing Actionable, Segmented Sales Strategy

The resulting matrix defined three clear, prescriptive commercial strategies, effectively turning the data into a sales mandate for the field team:

• Segmented Goals: Established defined goals for each segment:

  • Keep: Nurture high-potential, high-spend customers (PACE is their main provider).

  • Grow: Increase share of wallet with high-potential, medium-spend customers.

  • Win Back: Re-engage high-potential customers with low current spend.

• Result: This data-backed, segmented approach was tested with a control group vs. a test group of the sales team. The test group, armed with clear targets and quantified potential, achieved a 24% revenue increase in their portfolio compared to the control group, validating the success of the analytical strategy.

Challenge: PACE Supply, a company with established operations, was embarking on an expansion into Southern California, a new market where its brand recognition was virtually non-existent. The primary challenge was to rapidly build a customer base and achieve strong revenue figures in these new branches, exceeding the performance of previous branch openings in different regions. The goal was to significantly improve the revenue versus forecast ratio within the initial critical months of operation.

Approach: Recognizing the importance of early engagement in a new market, a proactive and multi-faceted pre-launch strategy was developed and implemented three months prior to the official opening of the Southern California branches. This strategy focused on creating awareness, generating leads, and securing initial business even before the doors opened.

The key elements of the pre-launch customer engagement plan included:

• Direct Outreach to Target Audience: A targeted database of plumbers and construction companies in Southern California was acquired. A professionally designed brochure introducing PACE Supply, its products, and its commitment to service was created and mailed to these potential customers. The brochure included a clear call to action, inviting recipients to contact PACE Supply for merchandising inquiries and to establish early relationships.

• Proactive Lead Generation via Social Media: A lead generation campaign was launched on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) targeting professionals in the plumbing and construction industries within the Southern California region. The campaign offered an exclusive invitation to the grand opening party in exchange for contact information. This initiative aimed to build an initial database of interested individuals.

• Nurturing Leads Through Multi-Channel Communication: The leads generated through the Meta campaign were immediately integrated into dedicated email marketing lists. These individuals received regular email updates leading up to the grand opening, providing further information about PACE Supply, its product offerings, and the benefits of partnering with them.

• Personalized Sales Team Outreach: The sales team was actively involved in reaching out to the generated leads via phone and email. This proactive engagement allowed for personalized introductions, relationship building, and the opportunity to discuss potential product needs and even secure pre-opening orders for delivery upon launch.

Results: The pre-launch customer engagement strategy proved highly effective in accelerating revenue generation for the new PACE Supply branches in Southern California:

• Significantly Higher Revenue vs. Forecast Ratio: The revenue generated by the new Southern California branches within the first three months of operation was an impressive 50% higher than the revenue versus forecast ratio achieved by other new branches opened in the past. This demonstrated a substantial improvement in initial market penetration and sales performance.

• Early Customer Acquisition: The proactive outreach resulted in the acquisition of customers and even the placement of orders for delivery before the official branch openings. This provided an immediate revenue stream and a strong foundation for future growth.

• Rapid Brand Awareness: The combined efforts of direct mail and targeted social media campaigns effectively introduced the PACE Supply brand to the Southern California market, laying the groundwork for future brand recognition and customer loyalty.

• Strong Initial Customer Relationships: The early engagement and personalized outreach by the sales team facilitated the development of strong initial relationships with key customers, fostering trust and setting a positive tone for long-term partnerships.

Conclusion: The strategic pre-launch customer engagement plan implemented by PACE Supply in Southern California was instrumental in achieving exceptional revenue performance in its new branches. By proactively reaching out to potential customers, generating qualified leads, and nurturing those leads through a multi-channel approach, PACE Supply successfully built a customer base and secured early business even before its physical presence was fully established. This case study highlights the significant impact of targeted pre-market engagement in accelerating growth and exceeding expectations in new market expansions.

Challenge: Like many B2B companies, PACE Supply recognized the critical need to foster strong customer loyalty and increase the share of wallet its existing customers allocated to them. To effectively address this goal, a deep understanding of customer needs and concerns was paramount.

Approach: To gain valuable insights into customer challenges, PACE Supply conducted a comprehensive survey. The findings revealed a significant and pressing concern among their customer base: a growing lack of skilled workers within the plumbing industry. This shortage posed a direct threat to their customers' businesses and their ability to operate efficiently.

In response to this critical customer pain point, PACE Supply developed a strategic initiative centered around supporting a local non-profit organization dedicated to promoting skilled trades in the geographic areas where PACE Supply operated. The plan was multi-faceted, aiming not only to demonstrate empathy and proactive problem-solving to customers but also to forge a meaningful and collaborative partnership with the non-profit.

The key elements of this strategy included:

• Strategic Partnership with a Non-Profit: PACE Supply identified and partnered with a reputable non-profit organization, TradeStrong, whose mission aligned with promoting and supporting careers in the skilled trades, specifically within the plumbing industry.   

• Financial Contribution Through Customer Engagement: PACE Supply implemented a donation-matching program. For every dollar donated by their customers to TradeStrong, PACE Supply pledged to match it, up to a significant total amount. This strategy served a dual purpose: directly funding the non-profit's initiatives and incentivizing customer participation, fostering a sense of shared purpose.

• Expanding the Non-Profit's Reach and Impact: Beyond financial contributions, PACE Supply actively sought ways to leverage its resources and network to amplify TradeStrong's impact. This included:

  • Donor Acquisition Support: Collaborating on strategies to attract new donors to TradeStrong.

  • Educational Institution Outreach: Facilitating connections between TradeStrong and local educational institutions to encourage the adoption and expansion of trade programs.

• Content Marketing and Engagement: PACE Supply integrated relevant content from TradeStrong into its owned marketing channels (website, social media, email newsletters). This provided valuable information and resources to their customers, showcasing PACE Supply's commitment to addressing the skilled worker shortage and driving engagement through relevant, customer-centric content.

Results: The strategic partnership with TradeStrong and the engagement-driven donation program yielded significant positive outcomes for PACE Supply:

• Significant Financial Contribution: PACE Supply successfully donated over $80,000 to TradeStrong by matching its customers' generous contributions. This substantial financial support directly empowered the non-profit to expand its programs and reach.

• Exceptional Customer Engagement: Content related to TradeStrong and the skilled trades generated 3x higher engagement rates on PACE Supply's owned channels compared to similar, non-partnered content. This demonstrated a strong resonance with the customer base and validated their concern about the skilled worker shortage.

• Strengthened Customer Loyalty and Relationships: By actively addressing a key customer pain point and facilitating their participation in a meaningful cause, PACE Supply fostered deeper and more meaningful relationships with its clientele. This went beyond transactional interactions, building trust and loyalty.

• Enhanced Brand Reputation: The partnership positioned PACE Supply as a company that not only provides quality products but also actively invests in the long-term success and well-being of its industry and customers.

• Ongoing Collaborative Partnership: PACE Supply and TradeStrong continue to collaborate, regularly sharing relevant content and exploring further opportunities to support the skilled trades and engage the customer base.

Conclusion: PACE Supply's strategic partnership with TradeStrong exemplifies a powerful approach to customer retention and increasing share of wallet. By deeply understanding customer challenges and proactively supporting a relevant cause, PACE Supply not only provided tangible assistance to address a critical industry issue but also cultivated stronger customer loyalty, enhanced brand reputation, and fostered meaningful, long-term relationships. This initiative demonstrates the effectiveness of aligning business goals with customer needs and engaging in impactful community partnerships.

Challenge: Faced with the aggressive entry of a strong competitor, Hotels.com Latam experienced a significant erosion of its revenue share, particularly impacting the profitability of US hotel bookings for the Latin American market due to escalating bidding costs. The core problem was the shrinking profit margins on a key destination segment.

Approach: Recognizing the need to identify alternative avenues for profitability, a thorough exploratory analysis was undertaken. This analysis focused on uncovering untapped opportunities within the Latin American travel market. By merging internal booking data with digital performance metrics, a crucial insight emerged: intra-regional destinations – travel between Latin American countries – presented a significant, yet underutilized, potential.

The combined data revealed that:

• Revenue Parity: Intra-regional destinations generated comparable revenue levels to the established US destination segment. Key metrics such as average length of stay, price per night, and overall vacation duration were similar across both segments.

• Digital Performance Gap: An examination of Search Engine Marketing (SEM) performance indicators highlighted substantial room for improvement within the intra-regional destination campaigns. Specifically:

  • Impression Share: Remained below 50%, indicating a significant number of potential customers were not being reached.

  • Average Position: Consistently above 3, suggesting ads were not prominently placed in search results.

  • Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Conversion Rate (CVR): Both metrics were approximately half the performance of the US destination campaigns, signifying inefficiencies in ad relevance and landing page effectiveness.

Solution: The findings were presented to the Latin American General Manager, leading to a collaborative, cross-functional effort focused on optimizing the intra-regional destination segment. This involved a multi-pronged strategy:

• SEM Optimization: A comprehensive overhaul of keywords and ad copy was implemented to improve relevance and ad positioning. This involved identifying high-intent keywords specific to intra-regional travel and crafting compelling ad messaging in local languages.

• Landing Page Testing: New landing pages tailored to intra-regional travelers were designed and A/B tested. These pages focused on showcasing the unique value propositions of Latin American destinations and providing a seamless booking experience.

• Enhanced Deals and Inventory: The team worked to secure more attractive and relevant deals for intra-regional destinations, ensuring competitive pricing and a diverse range of accommodation options.

• Performance Monitoring Dashboard: A dedicated dashboard was established to track the key performance indicators (KPIs) for intra-regional destinations, allowing for continuous monitoring, analysis, and optimization of campaign performance.

Results: The strategic shift towards focusing on intra-regional destinations yielded significant positive outcomes:

• Profitability Recovery: The initial goal of recuperating lost profit from the US market was not only achieved but surpassed. The increased efficiency and focus on intra-regional travel created a new, robust revenue stream.

• New Line of Business: Intra-regional destinations evolved from an overlooked segment to a recognized and strategic pillar of Hotels.com Latam's regional strategy. This diversification reduced reliance on the US market and created a more resilient business model.

• Improved Digital Performance: The optimization efforts led to substantial improvements in SEM KPIs, including increased impression share, higher average ad positions, and significantly improved CTR and CVR.

Conclusion: By leveraging data-driven insights and fostering cross-functional collaboration, Hotels.com Latam successfully navigated a challenging competitive landscape. The strategic pivot towards intra-regional destinations not only mitigated revenue losses but also unlocked a new and valuable growth opportunity, demonstrating the power of market analysis and targeted optimization in achieving business objectives.

Challenge: BBVA's digital marketing efforts were facing a critical juncture. The digital channels were proving to be a cost-effective sales engine, often selling products at a lower cost compared to other acquisition channels. However, the fixed budget allocation was becoming a constraint, limiting the potential for further growth and potentially leading to missed opportunities. Simultaneously, there was a need for a more sophisticated and data-driven approach to budget allocation that considered the true profitability of each acquisition.

Approach: To overcome the budgetary limitations and optimize digital marketing investment, a strategic initiative was undertaken to establish a variable budget model. The core principle was to link the digital marketing budget directly to the achievement of agreed-upon Cost Per Acquisition (CPA) goals. This required close collaboration with the finance teams to build a robust and transparent framework.

The key actions involved in developing and implementing the variable budget model were:

• Cross-Functional Alignment with Finance: A series of meetings and collaborative sessions were held with the finance teams to articulate the potential benefits of a variable budget and to gain their buy-in. The focus was on demonstrating how this model could drive greater efficiency and maximize return on investment in digital marketing.

• Development of a Unified CPA Measurement Framework: A standardized model was created to measure CPA consistently across all products and countries where BBVA had a digital presence. This ensured an apples-to-apples comparison of acquisition costs, which was crucial for setting realistic and achievable CPA targets.

• Integration of Key Profitability Metrics: The newly developed model went beyond simple CPA calculation. It incorporated critical financial variables to determine optimal target CPAs for each product and country. These factors included:

  • Lifetime Value (LTV) of the Customer: Understanding the long-term revenue generated by a customer acquired through each channel.

  • Default Rates: Accounting for the risk associated with different customer segments and products.

  • Fraud Rates: Factoring in the costs associated with fraudulent transactions.

  • Offline Investment: Recognizing and incorporating the impact of offline marketing efforts on digital conversions.

By integrating these variables, the model provided a holistic view of the profitability of each digital acquisition, allowing for the setting of more informed and strategic CPA targets.

• Dynamic Budget Allocation: With the new model in place and target CPAs defined for each product and country, the digital marketing budget became variable. As long as the digital marketing teams consistently achieved the agreed-upon CPA goals, they would have access to the necessary budget to continue driving growth. This created a performance-driven funding mechanism.

Results: The implementation of the variable digital marketing budget based on CPA goals yielded a significant positive impact on BBVA's digital sales performance:

• Substantial Increase in Digital Sales Contribution: Digital media's contribution to total digital sales surged from 13% to an impressive 37%. This demonstrates the effectiveness of the variable budget in unlocking the growth potential of digital channels.

• Improved Budget Efficiency: By focusing on achieving CPA targets and aligning budget with performance, BBVA ensured that marketing spend was directly tied to successful customer acquisition, leading to a more efficient use of resources.

• Data-Driven Investment Decisions: The model provided a clear and data-backed framework for making investment decisions in digital marketing. By understanding the true profitability of each acquisition, BBVA could allocate budget strategically to the most effective channels and products.

• Enhanced Collaboration with Finance: The process of developing and implementing the variable budget fostered stronger collaboration and alignment between the digital marketing and finance teams, creating a shared understanding of performance metrics and business goals.

Conclusion: The transition to a variable digital marketing budget, driven by the achievement of profitability-focused CPA goals, proved to be a highly successful strategy for BBVA. It not only addressed the budgetary constraints but also fostered a more data-driven and efficient approach to digital customer acquisition. The significant increase in digital media's contribution to overall digital sales underscores the power of aligning marketing investment with clear performance targets and a comprehensive understanding of customer lifetime value and associated costs.

Challenge: BBVA USA launched an affiliate marketing program with the primary objective of increasing the number of new checking accounts opened. However, a comprehensive review of acquisition channel performance, customer behavior, and industry benchmarks revealed that the affiliate channel was not operating optimally. It was driving up the overall cost per acquisition (CPA) and, concerningly, cannibalizing customers who could have been acquired through more cost-effective channels such as Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising. The core challenge was to redefine the affiliate marketing strategy to ensure it delivered truly new customers and contributed positively to the overall acquisition efficiency.

Approach: To address this challenge, a strategic overhaul of the affiliate marketing program was initiated. The central tenet of this revised strategy was to position the affiliate channel as a means to reach customer segments and geographies that were otherwise difficult to penetrate through existing marketing efforts, while also leveraging its potential for brand recognition. This required a shift from a broad acquisition focus to a more targeted and strategic approach.

The key elements of the redefined affiliate marketing strategy included:

• Strategic Targeting Rules: To prevent cannibalization and improve acquisition quality, specific rules were implemented for affiliate partners:

  • Geographic Bidding Restrictions: Certain high-performing geographic areas, already well-served by BBVA USA's organic and paid search efforts, were excluded from affiliate bidding. This ensured affiliates focused on regions where brand awareness and organic reach were lower.

  • Brand Term Restrictions: Affiliates were prohibited from bidding on BBVA USA's brand name and related keywords. This eliminated direct competition for branded search traffic, which typically converts at a lower CPA through owned channels.

  • Negative Keyword Lists: Comprehensive lists of existing BBVA USA customers and highly likely organic search converters were provided to affiliates as negative keywords. This prevented affiliates from being paid for acquiring customers who were already within BBVA USA's reach.

• Focus on Incremental Reach and Brand Building: The revised strategy emphasized the role of affiliates in reaching new customer demographics and enhancing brand recognition in underserved markets. The ideal affiliate partners were those with established audiences that BBVA USA had limited access to through its primary channels.

• Partner Enablement for Success: To ensure affiliates were equipped to deliver the desired results, the following support mechanisms were put in place:

  • Learning and Insights Sharing: Regular communication and sharing of insights on target customer profiles, effective messaging, and successful campaign tactics were established. This empowered affiliates to optimize their efforts for the desired customer segments.

  • Performance-Based Incentives: A differentiated commission structure was introduced. Affiliates were incentivized with higher payouts for acquiring customers in specific geographic areas where brand recognition was lower and for reaching customer segments that aligned with BBVA USA's strategic growth objectives. This motivated affiliates to focus on delivering truly incremental value.

Results: The implementation of the redefined affiliate marketing strategy yielded significant improvements:

• Reduced Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): By eliminating cannibalization and focusing on incremental customer acquisition, the overall CPA for new checking accounts decreased significantly. The affiliate channel became a more efficient acquisition source.

• Acquisition of New Customer Segments: The targeted approach successfully attracted customer segments that BBVA USA had previously found challenging to reach through its core marketing channels. Affiliates with niche audiences proved effective in driving applications from these demographics.

• Enhanced Brand Recognition in Target Markets: The strategic focus on specific geographies led to increased brand visibility and recognition in areas where BBVA USA aimed to grow its market share. Affiliate partnerships with local influencers and community-focused platforms contributed to this improved brand presence.

• Improved Channel Efficiency: The affiliate channel transitioned from a potential drain on marketing budget to a valuable contributor to overall customer acquisition goals, delivering truly incremental growth and supporting broader marketing objectives.

Conclusion: By critically evaluating the performance of its affiliate marketing program and implementing a strategically targeted approach, BBVA USA successfully transformed the channel into an efficient and effective tool for acquiring new customers in previously hard-to-reach segments and enhancing brand recognition in key markets. The emphasis on clear guidelines, partner enablement, and performance-based incentives ensured that the affiliate channel delivered truly incremental value and contributed positively to BBVA USA's customer acquisition strategy.

This case study outlines my management style, characterized by a belief in empowering team members through clear objectives, fostering data-driven decision-making, encouraging collaborative problem-solving, and providing consistent support for growth and development. Two specific examples illustrate these core principles in action.

Example 1: Cultivating Innovation Through Structured Experimentation

Situation: A new team member, a recent graduate brimming with enthusiasm but lacking extensive practical experience, was tasked with creating advertising campaigns at scale. Initially, she struggled to adopt a previously successful ad structure, expressing a desire to explore alternative approaches based on her own ideas. She articulated that she didn't fully grasp the rationale behind the established structure and believed she could devise a more effective method.

Task: The challenge was to balance the need for efficient campaign creation with the new employee's desire for autonomy and exploration, ultimately fostering her growth and potentially uncovering new, improved strategies.

Action: Instead of strictly enforcing adherence to the existing model, I engaged in a dialogue to understand her perspective and ideas. We reached a collaborative compromise:

• Iterative Updates: She would begin by updating the ad copies within the proven structure. This allowed for immediate progress and familiarized her with the existing framework.

• Structured Experimentation: Simultaneously, she was encouraged to design and execute a controlled test of her own ideas. This involved combining different advertising structures with varied ad copy approaches. This framework provided a safe space for her to explore her creativity while ensuring measurable results.

Result: This approach yielded several positive outcomes:

• Immediate Performance Improvement: The initial updates to the ad copies within the existing structure led to an immediate improvement in Conversion Rate (CVR), demonstrating the value of fresh perspectives even within established frameworks.

• Development of a Novel Model: The employee's structured experimentation led to the development of a new ad creation model that proved effective.

• Future-Proofing Strategy: The innovative model she developed, focusing on combining different structural elements with varied messaging, proved to be remarkably adaptable and was later leveraged when Google introduced dynamic ad generation capabilities, giving the team a head start in utilizing this new technology.

• Empowered Growth: The employee felt heard and empowered to contribute her ideas, fostering a sense of ownership and accelerating her professional development.

Example 2: Fostering Independence Through Clarity and Consistent Support

Situation: As I prepared to transition out of my role at Hotels.com, a valued member of my team expressed significant concern. She articulated that while she sometimes felt lost within the complexities of a project, our weekly one-on-one meetings consistently provided the clarity and direction she needed to get back on track. This highlighted the importance of structured support in enabling her independent work.

Task: The goal was to identify the specific mechanisms within our working relationship that provided this clarity and support, ensuring her continued success and fostering her independence even after my departure.

Action: We engaged in a reflective discussion to dissect our working methodology and pinpoint the key elements that contributed to her sense of direction and progress. We identified the following core components:

• Clear Goal Setting: I consistently provided the team with well-defined objectives and a clear understanding of the desired outcomes.

• Autonomous Decision-Making: Team members were empowered to analyze data and make independent decisions on how they would contribute to achieving those overarching goals.

• Collaborative Brainstorming: We regularly held brainstorming sessions to collectively analyze different approaches to reaching the goals, leveraging the diverse perspectives within the team.

• Structured Work and Discovery Sessions: Our regular meetings served as crucial work sessions to review project plans, assess milestones, and evaluate outputs. Importantly, these sessions also functioned as discovery sessions, allowing us to collaboratively identify potential roadblocks early on and determine if adjustments or even a complete pivot were necessary.

Result: The identification and consistent application of this methodology had a lasting positive impact:

• Employee Empowerment and Growth: The team member felt supported yet empowered to take ownership of her work and contribute strategically.

• Successful Transition and Promotion: Demonstrating her capability and the effectiveness of the working methodology, the team member was promoted to a more senior role after my departure.

• Enduring Management Philosophy: The principles identified during this reflection have continued to inform my management style in subsequent roles, highlighting the universality and effectiveness of this approach.

Conclusion: These examples illustrate a management style rooted in empowering individuals through clear direction and fostering an environment of trust and autonomy. By encouraging structured experimentation, valuing diverse perspectives, and providing consistent, goal-oriented support, I aim to cultivate not only immediate results but also the long-term growth and success of my team members. This approach prioritizes data-driven decision-making, collaborative problem-solving, and a continuous learning mindset, ultimately leading to both individual and collective achievements.

Challenge: BBVA Mexico faced the strategic imperative of accelerating customer acquisition through digital channels. The traditional growth model, heavily reliant on opening new physical branches, presented significant operational costs and a slower pace of market share expansion. The primary challenge was to identify a cost-effective digital acquisition strategy that could attract a significant number of new customers.

Approach: Recognizing the need for a targeted approach, a thorough customer behavior analysis was conducted, focusing on digital interactions and identifying promising customer segments for digital acquisition. This analysis pinpointed young professionals as an ideal segment for a beta test of a bundled product offering: a credit card combined with checking and savings accounts. This segment demonstrated a propensity for digital engagement and a potential need for the financial solutions offered in the combo.

To tailor the offering and communication effectively, in-depth surveys were conducted among young professionals to uncover their most relevant financial pain points that such a product combination could address. The insights gleaned from these surveys formed the foundation of the subsequent marketing strategy.

The developed marketing strategy encompassed the following key elements:

• Clear Value Proposition: Based on the survey findings, a compelling value proposition was crafted, clearly articulating how the bundled credit card, checking, and savings accounts would solve the specific financial needs and pain points of young professionals. This value proposition became the central message in all marketing communications.

• Targeted Marketing Mix: A marketing mix was designed to effectively reach the young professional demographic. This included leveraging digital channels frequented by this segment, such as social media platforms, professional networking sites, and relevant online publications. The messaging and creative assets were tailored to resonate with their aspirations, lifestyles, and digital consumption habits.

• Defined Target CAC and Budget: A specific target Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) was established for this strategy, along with a dedicated budget allocated to achieve the desired sales volume. This financial framework provided clear performance benchmarks and ensured a focus on cost-effective acquisition.

• Acquisition Funnel Optimization Feedback: Continuous analysis of the digital acquisition funnel was undertaken to identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement. Actionable feedback was provided to the relevant teams to optimize the user experience and increase the Conversion Rate (CVR), or throughput rate, at each stage of the funnel.

• Performance-Driven Campaign Optimization: The digital marketing campaigns were continuously monitored and optimized based on real-time performance data. This included analyzing key metrics, A/B testing different ad creatives and targeting parameters, and refining the campaign strategies to maximize efficiency and lead quality.

• Publisher Algorithm Back feeding: A sophisticated feedback loop was implemented to share pre- and post-conversion signals with the advertising platform algorithms. This allowed the algorithms to learn which user profiles were most likely to convert into valuable customers, thereby improving the quality of leads generated and further optimizing campaign performance over time.

Results: Through this data-driven and iterative approach, BBVA Mexico achieved significant success in digitally acquiring young professionals with the bundled product offering:

• Achieved Target Sales Volume: After several cycles of analysis, optimization, and refinement, the initiative successfully reached the target of 5,000 combo sales within the allocated budget.

• Cost-Effective Customer Acquisition: By focusing on digital channels and continuously optimizing the acquisition funnel and campaigns, BBVA Mexico was able to acquire new customers at the targeted CAC, demonstrating a cost-effective alternative to traditional branch-led growth.

• Valuable Customer Segment Acquisition: The strategy effectively targeted and acquired a valuable segment of young professionals, establishing a foundation for long-term customer relationships and potential future product adoption.

• Learnings for Future Digital Growth: The insights and successful methodologies developed during this initiative provided valuable learnings that could be applied to future digital acquisition strategies for other customer segments and product offerings, paving the way for continued digital growth and reduced operational costs.

Conclusion: BBVA Mexico's strategic approach to digitally acquiring young professionals with a tailored product combo demonstrates the power of combining customer behavior analysis, targeted value propositions, optimized digital marketing strategies, and continuous performance monitoring. By focusing on a specific segment and iteratively refining the acquisition funnel and campaigns, BBVA Mexico successfully achieved its customer acquisition goals within budget, providing a scalable and cost-effective model for future digital growth.

Challenge: BBVA USA, a regional bank with a growing online presence, was running national advertising campaigns for its online checking accounts on Google and Facebook. An initial geographic performance analysis revealed a significant inefficiency: the majority of the advertising budget was being consumed by regions where BBVA USA already had a physical branch footprint and, consequently, stronger brand recognition. This suggested that the generic national campaign was not optimally catering to markets where brand awareness was low, potentially leading to suboptimal conversion rates and missed opportunities for expansion.

Hypothesis: It was hypothesized that by creating dedicated campaigns specifically targeting markets without a physical BBVA USA footprint, the messaging and user experience could be tailored to resonate better with unfamiliar audiences, leading to improved conversion predictability and higher acquisition volumes in these growth markets.

Approach: To validate this hypothesis, an A/B test was designed and implemented:

• Control Group: Two sets of four states were selected: two states with an existing BBVA USA branch footprint and two states without. In the control group, the existing national checking account campaigns on Google and Facebook were left unchanged across all eight states.

• Test Group: For the two states without a BBVA USA footprint in the test group, the national campaigns were strategically "hacked" by implementing negative geographic targeting. Simultaneously, the national campaigns were duplicated and specifically targeted to these two out-of-footprint states. This aimed to isolate the performance in these markets and allow the advertising algorithms to optimize independently for this audience.

Initial Results: The initial results of the A/B test were compelling:

• Significant Conversion Increase in Out-of-Footprint Markets: The dedicated campaigns in the out-of-footprint states within the test group delivered four times more conversions compared to the performance in the equivalent out-of-footprint states within the control group. This strongly indicated the validity of the initial hypothesis.

New Hypothesis and Subsequent Testing: Building upon these promising initial results, a new hypothesis was formulated: further tailoring the ad creative to specifically address the needs and awareness levels of the out-of-footprint audience would lead to even greater performance gains.

This new hypothesis was also tested by developing and deploying distinct ad copy and potentially landing page variations for the dedicated out-of-footprint campaigns, emphasizing BBVA USA's online banking capabilities and value proposition for customers unfamiliar with the physical branches.

Results of Optimized Geo-Targeted Campaigns: The implementation of the new, geo-targeted campaign structure, coupled with tailored ad creatives, yielded remarkable growth:

• 6x Growth in Out-of-Footprint Conversions: The volume of checking account openings from the out-of-footprint states experienced a six-fold increase after the deployment of the dedicated and optimized campaigns.

• 1.5x Increase in Footprint Conversions: Interestingly, even the footprint states saw a positive spillover effect, with a 1.5-fold increase in conversions without any changes to their campaign targeting or creative. This could be attributed to improved overall account opening flow or learnings from the out-of-footprint campaigns.

• Consistent Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): Importantly, this significant growth in acquisition volume was achieved without increasing the target Cost Per Acquisition (CPA), demonstrating a substantial improvement in campaign efficiency and return on investment.

Conclusion: This strategic restructuring of Google and Facebook campaigns, specifically tailoring the targeting and potentially the messaging to reflect the varying levels of brand recognition across the US, proved to be a highly successful initiative for BBVA USA. By "hacking" the national campaigns and creating dedicated, optimized campaigns for out-of-footprint markets, BBVA USA unlocked significant growth in new customer acquisitions without compromising efficiency. This case study underscores the critical importance of granular geographic analysis and the power of tailoring marketing strategies to specific audience awareness levels to maximize campaign performance and drive expansion into new markets.

Challenge: PACE Supply sought to significantly increase its social media follower base and deepen its engagement with existing customers. Recognizing its upcoming 30th anniversary, the challenge was to develop a social media strategy that would organically boost interaction, inspire sharing, and ultimately attract new followers in a meaningful way.

Approach: To achieve these objectives, a content strategy centered around the company's 30th anniversary was conceived. The core idea was to leverage nostalgia to connect with the audience on an emotional level, fostering organic engagement and shareability. The hypothesis was that by creating content that evoked positive memories and highlighted PACE Supply's longevity, it would resonate strongly with current customers and pique the interest of potential new followers.

A series of different content formats were tested to identify the most effective approach. Ultimately, a nostalgic trivia format emerged as the clear winner, effectively meeting all the desired goals.

The chosen format involved presenting engaging trivia questions that subtly tied into the anniversary theme. A successful example of this format was:

Trivia Time! Besides PACE Supply, what other major company was also founded in 1994? 🤔

Hint 1: They started by selling books online. Hint 2: Their logo features an arrow that points from 'A' to 'Z'.

The Answer is: Amazon! 🚀

PACE Supply: Proudly serving you for the past 30 years! #PACESupply30 #ThrowbackThursday #BusinessAnniversary #PlumbingSupply #ConstructionSupply

Find the final creative here

This format was strategically designed to:

• Increase Organic Social Media Engagement: The trivia questions encouraged active participation through comments and guesses.

• Inspire Shares: The surprising and relatable nature of the trivia, connecting a familiar giant like Amazon with PACE Supply's founding year, made the content inherently shareable.

• Organically Gain New Followers: The increased shareability exposed the content and the PACE Supply brand to a wider audience, organically attracting new followers interested in industry-related content and company milestones.

Results: The series of nostalgic trivia posts delivered exceptional results, significantly outperforming PACE Supply's average social media content:

• 2x Higher Interaction Rate: The trivia posts generated two times more interactions (likes, comments, clicks) compared to the average engagement rate of PACE Supply's regular social media posts. This indicated a significantly higher level of audience interest and participation.

• 5x Higher Share Rate: The trivia posts achieved an impressive five times more shares than the average share rate. This exponential increase in shares dramatically expanded the organic reach of the content, exposing the PACE Supply brand to a much larger audience.

Conclusion: By strategically leveraging its 30th anniversary to create engaging and nostalgic content, particularly the successful trivia format, PACE Supply effectively achieved its social media goals. The campaign not only strengthened its relationship with existing customers by evoking positive memories but also significantly increased organic engagement and shareability, leading to substantial organic growth in its social media follower base. This case study demonstrates the power of understanding audience interests and utilizing creative, relatable content formats to drive meaningful social media results.

While consulting for AgentKnox, a video platform designed for insurance agents, my primary focus was maximizing the conversion of free-trial users into loyal, paying subscribers. I achieved this by building and executing a high-touch, automated email marketing conversion campaign.

Core Conversion Strategy

I designed a time-sensitive, seven-day automated email journey that focused on delivering value and removing friction points, directly addressing the common challenges faced by new users:

• 1. Immediate Value Reinforcement (Day 1): The first email was triggered immediately after platform signup. It focused on accelerating time-to-value by directing users to the single most critical feature or a quick-start guide, ensuring they experienced an early win with the platform.

• 2. Feature Adoption and "Aha Moment" (Days 2-4): The middle sequence of emails acted as feature education, but only for features the user hadn't yet utilized. This included video tutorials and use-case examples specifically relevant to insurance agents (e.g., "How to film a perfect claims explanation video"). The goal was to ensure the user reached their "Aha Moment"—the realization of how the platform solved their daily workflow problem—well before the trial ended.

• 3. Overcoming Objections (Day 5-6): This stage preemptively addressed common barriers, such as pricing concerns or lack of technical skill. It included a Q&A summary and a soft reminder of the imminent trial expiration, emphasizing the cost of not having the platform (the opportunity cost of poor video quality).

• 4. Final Call-to-Action (Day 7): The final email created urgency and provided a clear, frictionless path to subscribe, sometimes including an exclusive, limited-time first-month discount to push the final decision.

This structured, automated approach ensured every user received personalized support and feature guidance throughout the seven-day trial, significantly increasing the likelihood of successful activation and conversion.

While working as a consultant for RipeMetrics, an AI-enhanced CRM startup, I was responsible for designing, building, and launching a full-funnel demand generation engine specifically targeting Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) to drive qualified inbound interest for their automated CRM platform.

My approach focused on three critical phases:

1. Fueling the Engine: Strategy & Insight

• Target Identification: I initiated the process by conducting qualitative interviews with potential SMB customers. This research was crucial for identifying their core pain points (e.g., lack of accessible automation, difficulty nurturing early-stage leads).

• Content Strategy: Based on the pain points, I created highly relevant, educational content designed to position the platform as the essential solution. This content was tailored for distribution across key channels, including LinkedIn, Meta, and programmatic campaigns.

2. Accelerating the Engine: Conversion & Nurturing

• Value-Based Lead Generation: I deployed high-value lead generation advertisements (Lead Gen Ads) to capture contact information. The offers were tiered based on the prospect's stage in the nurturing cycle:

  • Educational/Awareness Stage: Offered in-depth information (e.g., white papers) on the benefits of automated nurturing.

  • Consideration/Decision Stage: Offered a custom calculator tool that quantified the potential increase in client acquisition possible with the RipeMetrics CRM, followed by a free consultation.

• Pipeline Qualification: The entire process served as an automated qualification and nurturing mechanism, ensuring prospects were educated on the product's value before the sales handoff.

3. Optimizing the Output: Sales Alignment

• Inbound Response System: The sales team was aligned to quickly respond to high-intent inbound requests generated by the calculator and consultation offers.

• Outbound Trigger: For prospects who completed the full digital pipeline (consumed the content and used the tools) but did not formally request a consultation, their high engagement score triggered the sales team to initiate a highly informed outbound reach, significantly reducing sales cycle time and effort.

In essence, I built a structured, automated system that leveraged content and proprietary tools to transform cold prospects into sales-ready leads.

Automation, Privacy, First party data, Data feeding.

Yes, digital marketing evolved, and so should the output of your digital marketing team.

There are many ways you can leverage Artificial Intelligence's capability, and before investing time, resources and money on technology which business cases projections always come back with positive results, Try doing the following:

Ask, Can it be done with Excel?

Many things that you need to do as online marketers, can be done on excel. This could be a good action to take if: i) you want to prove something, ii) it is a one-off action or you can make it sporadically

Example:

There are two facts about ad copies: 

1. there is a magical quantity of ads that you can have in your campaigns, that will allow for the algorithms to work better. 

2. refreshing your ads is essential for better performance

Now, deciding which ads to delete to make room for the newer copies could be challenging, specially if you are running large campaigns.

A little trick that I used was downloading all of the ad copies with their performance metrics, sorting them in a way that the best performing ad for each adgroup would be on top, and then applied a formula to change the status to delete for the ads that performed on top 4 and beyond position.

Simulations: 

The more data you give an algorithm, and the more accurate the desired goal is, the better Artificial Intelligence will work.

Now, in order to do that in real time, you have to invest in developer time.

Before jumping into big projects. Try running an A/B test with manually fed data.

Example: When selling a credit card, not two credit card holders are the same and a financial company wouldn't want to pay the same for those two clients.

When feeding post purchase behavioral data to Google's algorithm, and having differentiated Cost per Acquisition target for those two types of customers, we observed that the Life Time Value of the customers increased, and hence did the budget that we had. The first instance of this test was manually feeding spread sheets.

While working as a consultant for RipeMetrics, an AI-enhanced CRM startup, I was responsible for designing, building, and launching a full-funnel demand generation engine specifically targeting Small and Medium Businesses (SMBs) to drive qualified inbound interest for their automated CRM platform.

My approach focused on three critical phases:

1. Fueling the Engine: Strategy & Insight

• Target Identification: I initiated the process by conducting qualitative interviews with potential SMB customers. This research was crucial for identifying their core pain points (e.g., lack of accessible automation, difficulty nurturing early-stage leads).

• Content Strategy: Based on the pain points, I created highly relevant, educational content designed to position the platform as the essential solution. This content was tailored for distribution across key channels, including LinkedIn, Meta, and programmatic campaigns.

2. Accelerating the Engine: Conversion & Nurturing

• Value-Based Lead Generation: I deployed high-value lead generation advertisements (Lead Gen Ads) to capture contact information. The offers were tiered based on the prospect's stage in the nurturing cycle:

  • Educational/Awareness Stage: Offered in-depth information (e.g., white papers) on the benefits of automated nurturing.

  • Consideration/Decision Stage: Offered a custom calculator tool that quantified the potential increase in client acquisition possible with the RipeMetrics CRM, followed by a free consultation.

• Pipeline Qualification: The entire process served as an automated qualification and nurturing mechanism, ensuring prospects were educated on the product's value before the sales handoff.

3. Optimizing the Output: Sales Alignment

• Inbound Response System: The sales team was aligned to quickly respond to high-intent inbound requests generated by the calculator and consultation offers.

• Outbound Trigger: For prospects who completed the full digital pipeline (consumed the content and used the tools) but did not formally request a consultation, their high engagement score triggered the sales team to initiate a highly informed outbound reach, significantly reducing sales cycle time and effort.

In essence, I built a structured, automated system that leveraged content and proprietary tools to transform cold prospects into sales-ready leads.

Challenge: Hotels.com was in the early stages of its Latin American expansion, with a particularly limited budget for brand awareness initiatives in Mexico, a strategically important but highly competitive market. To gauge the impact of offline brand building on sales, the marketing team implemented an aggressive A/B test involving offline branding campaigns in select destinations. The challenge was to measure the true impact of this offline activity and integrate those findings with digital performance data for a more holistic understanding and future planning.

Approach: Recognizing the opportunity to provide valuable insights beyond the initial offline test results, a proactive analysis was undertaken. Knowing the specific destinations included in the A/B test (both the test group receiving the offline branding and the control group without), a diagnostic analysis was conducted to compare key performance indicators (KPIs) between these groups. The metrics analyzed across both test and control destinations included:

• Sales: Overall booking revenue generated.

• Profit: Net profit derived from bookings.

• Cost Per Acquisition (CPA): The cost of acquiring a booking.  

• Click-Through Rate (CTR): The percentage of users who clicked on digital advertisements.  

• Conversion Rate (CVR): The percentage of users who completed a booking after clicking an ad.

By comparing these digital performance metrics alongside the offline branding efforts, the goal was to quantify the often-elusive impact of brand awareness on online customer behavior and conversions.

Findings: The diagnostic analysis revealed a clear and positive correlation between the offline branding test and improvements across all key digital performance indicators:

• Increased Sales: Destinations exposed to the offline branding campaign showed a noticeable uplift in overall sales volume compared to the control destinations.

• Higher Profitability: The increased sales translated into higher overall profit in the test destinations.

• Improved CPA: Despite the investment in offline branding, the Cost Per Acquisition actually improved in the test destinations, indicating that the brand awareness efforts contributed to more efficient digital customer acquisition.

• Elevated CTR: Digital advertisements in the test destinations experienced a higher Click-Through Rate, suggesting increased brand recall and recognition leading to greater user engagement with online ads.

• Stronger CVR: The Conversion Rate from digital traffic was also higher in the destinations with offline branding, indicating that increased brand awareness fostered greater trust and a higher propensity to book through Hotels.com online.

Impact and Results: The comprehensive analysis, demonstrating the tangible positive impact of offline branding on key digital metrics, was presented proactively to the marketing team and the Latin American Vice President. The findings were not only incorporated into the existing analysis of the offline test but also led to significant changes in Hotels.com's strategic approach in the region:

• Integration into Analysis: The digital performance data became an integral part of evaluating the effectiveness of offline branding initiatives, providing a more complete picture of their return on investment.

• Modified Budgeting: The clear link between offline brand building and improved digital efficiency led to adjustments in budgeting allocation, recognizing the synergistic effect of online and offline efforts.

• Evolved Forecasting and Planning: The methodology for forecasting and planning was revised to explicitly incorporate the anticipated digital impact resulting from offline brand awareness campaigns. This allowed for more accurate predictions and strategic resource allocation.

• Holistic Branding Tests: Crucially, all digital channels were integrated into subsequent branding tests. This meant that future A/B tests for brand awareness would simultaneously measure the impact across various online platforms, providing a truly omnichannel understanding of brand effectiveness.

Conclusion: By proactively analyzing digital performance data in conjunction with Hotels.com's offline branding test in Mexico, valuable insights were uncovered that demonstrated the measurable positive impact of brand awareness on online customer behavior and key digital marketing metrics. This initiative not only enriched the understanding of the initial offline test but also led to significant and lasting improvements in Hotels.com's budgeting, forecasting, planning, and the design of future branding experiments, fostering a more integrated and effective omnichannel marketing strategy in the crucial Latin American market.

S. I was given sales goals by product and by country.

T. Based on historical information, I would break down sales by seasonality and target market. Try to make it fit around the promotional calendar to make sure that we use our own channels (home, email). For example: Agree to have a product feature in a Branding campaign. Or usage of the home page. Acquisition and cross-sell plan, Cost associated with each one of those. Work with media and creative agencies to come up with a plan on what campaigns we were going to launch and how the always on campaigns would support efforts.

A. Follow up during Weekly Performance Meeting and Campaign specific meetings.

S. We didn’t have any, and we didn’t know if the money that we were spending on Social and Display was effective

T. Selected Sizmek, at that time it had an advantaged over Google’s because of our techstack was mostly Adobe, a

A. With the sales participation attributed to participating channels post impressions, we: 1. Adjusted up the target CPA for performance social and display. 2. Was part of the Marketing Mix

R. A/B tested both strategies, and saw 5% incrementality from the execution.