
Abel Baruwa
Verified Expert in Marketing
Marketing Expert
Lagos, Nigeria
Toptal member since July 22, 2026
Abel is a performance marketing expert with over 6 years of experience building paid media and content systems across B2C and B2B industries. He thrives in remote, cross-functional teams. Abel drove 60% new-user growth at Copy.ai and acquired 110,000+ signups at Systeme.io.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- AI-Powered Marketer
- Brand Strategy
- Digital Marketing
- Email Marketing
- LinkedIn Marketing
- Paid Advertising
- Social Media Strategy
- TikTok Marketing
Work Experience
Senior Performance Marketing Consultant
NuScienta
- Led growth strategy managing a $85,000 monthly ad budget across Google, LinkedIn, and Facebook, achieving 2.8x ROAS.
- Developed an audience segmentation framework for 5 distinct personas, improving ad relevance scores across paid channels.
- Re-engineered lead funnel, improving conversion rate from 2.1% to 6.4% and generating 400+ monthly course signups.
- Designed and ran A/B tests across landing pages and ad creatives, scaling winning variations to top-performing campaigns.
Senior Marketing Advisory Consultant
Data Products
- Developed a problem-solution brand voice strategy that raised brand trust scores by 42% among enterprise clients within 60 days.
- Consulted on integrated marketing systems across multiple channels, supporting improved user acquisition efficiency.
- Delivered AI trend insights that refined core service offerings and strengthened market positioning.
- Advised on brand authority development, driving a 23% increase in inbound enterprise leads.
Head of Global Marketing
ALOV Air-Sea
- Positioned the company as a premium international freight forwarder by translating complex logistics into clear content for enterprise buyers.
- Built lead generation funnels that convert cold prospects into long-term partners, shortening the average sales cycle through nurture sequences.
- Developed C-suite LinkedIn branding strategies to establish authority in a price-driven industry, improving inbound qualified leads.
- Designed marketing automation systems that increased customer lifetime value through retention and post-shipment engagement campaigns.
Social Media Marketing Manager
VidIQ
- Launched AI-driven ad strategies across YouTube and TikTok for creators, increasing average engagement rate by 35%.
- Developed performance campaigns generating 2.3 million impressions and 4,200 new creator signups.
- Ran daily campaign analysis to identify funnel drop-offs, improving conversion rate from 4.1% to 7.6%.
- Executed targeting optimization across audience segments, expanding reach and reducing CPC.
Social Media Marketing Manager
Semrush
- Managed 8 PPC campaigns with a $45,000 monthly budget targeting digital marketers, reducing cost-per-lead by 15%.
- Used competitive analysis tools to identify high-intent keywords, improving organic visibility for branded content.
- Aligned content with search intent alongside the content team, increasing organic traffic by 42%.
- Analyzed cross-platform data weekly to optimize campaigns, improving quality score from 6.8 to 8.4.
Email Campaign Manager
Systeme.io's
- Acquired 110,000+ new users through optimized email sequences and segmented audience targeting.
- Ran A/B tests on subject lines, CTAs, and landing pages, improving email-to-signup conversion by 41%.
- Developed a behavior-based segmentation strategy that raised email engagement from 12% to 23%.
- Applied a persuasive copywriting framework across templates, driving stronger click-through performance.
Team Lead
Noise Media
- Led the agency and acquired 23 clients across 7 industries, growing monthly recurring revenue by 30%.
- Led viral social campaigns generating 750 million views and $854,000 in attributed client revenue.
- Managed multi-channel campaigns across SEO, social, and paid advertising, achieving an average 4.2x ROAS.
- Built and led a team of 5 specialists producing content that extended customer retention and client satisfaction.
Advertising Strategist
Copy.ai
- Executed a Q4 campaign managing a $120,000 ad budget that drove a 60% increase in new-user signups in 1 quarter (from 18,500 to 29,600).
- Managed 12 paid social campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, improving CPA by 34%.
- Partnered with a cross-functional team on data-driven strategies that lifted campaign ROI from 2.1x to 4.3x.
- Implemented a creative testing framework, scaling top-performing ads to drive the majority of conversions.
Team Lead
AB Media
- Drove growth strategies across 14 client accounts, increasing total client acquisition by 30%.
- Oversaw multi-channel campaigns across social, PPC, and SEO, growing portfolio revenue from $180,000 to $312,000 annually.
- Led a team of 5 specialists producing optimized content that extended customer lifetime value and reduced churn.
- Built an analytics-driven growth system tracking KPIs, improving portfolio ROAS from 2.6x to 5.1x.
Project History
Summer Scaling that Generated Over $2 Million
- $2,009,624 — Total Conversion Value
- 4.56 — Return on Ad Spend
- 122,159 — Total Clicks
In June 2025, revenue was 491,000 with a 4.36 return. The client wanted more volume, but they did not want to sacrifice profitability to get it. Finding that balance was the hardest part of this project.
The answer was strict budget control. I optimized bidding to keep the cost per click at 3.61. I pushed the budget to convert audiences and paused the loss of ads—like pruning a garden, so healthy branches grow.
The summer scaling was a massive success. The monthly value skyrocketed from 491,000 to 829,000 by August. The best part? Efficiency went up. The return on ad spend climbed to 5.21, and ultimately, I generated over $2 million.
Starting a New Campaign from Scratch
- $393,434 — Total Conversion Value
- 4.67 — Return on Ad Spend
- 37,712 — Total Clicks
Starting a new campaign from scratch is hard. In May 2025, we started slow. The monthly revenue was barely scratching $5,927. The client had big goals; they wanted to scale aggressively by Q4. Building momentum from zero to a massive return is the biggest hurdle.
The secret was aggressive testing. I ran multiple ad variations to find the winner—like throwing darts until you hit the bullseye. We ramped up the budget on the best performers while keeping CPC low at 2.23.
Monthly revenue jumped from 5,000 to over 164,000 by October. Return on ad spend hit 4.67, and I generated nearly 400,000 in total value.
Growing Followers from 3,000 to 300,000
- 307,000+ — Total Followers
- 303,682+ — Net New Followers Gained
- 2,153 — Total Posts Published
Before we started, the account was stuck at just 3,318 followers despite having over a thousand posts published. The client wanted massive viral reach, but standing out in the crowded fitness niche felt nearly impossible without a real content engine.
We revamped the account strategy around high-performing short-form videos and sharp bio positioning. We optimized posting schedules, hooked viewers in the first 3 seconds, and built a repeatable process that converted casual viewers into loyal followers.
We blew past all early targets and took the page from 3,318 followers all the way to 307,000. My client also secured brand partnerships. She scaled her coaching program to $15,000 a month using organic content.
Project 05
- **413,088,255 ** — Total Views
- 45.9 Million — Hours of Watch Time
- 702,700 — Subscribers Gained
- $1,349,177.31 — Estimated Revenue
The client publishes inconsistently and has lost momentum after initial growth. Without a predictable upload schedule and content structure, audience retention drops sharply after the first few months, killing algorithm amplification.
I built a content calendar system with a proven hook-structure-payoff framework. I established a consistent publishing schedule that signaled reliability to YouTube’s algorithm. This alone drove 28% higher views than the previous year and created compounding subscriber gains.
Views jumped 28%, watch time climbed 52%, and revenue shot up 62%. The channel completely dominates the market.
Project 06
- **20,300 ** — Followers, Up from 200
- **4.1 Million ** — Impressions
- $10,000 — Organic Sales
The client struggles with a broad audience that ignores the content. They try to help everyone with general fitness tips. The result? Nobody pays attention. The profile looks exactly like a million other pages online.
I shifted from generic fitness content to specific “run coach” positioning with podcast integration. I changed the value proposition from “motivation” to “practical running methodology.” This specificity attracted serious runners willing to follow and engage, not just scroll past.
I scaled an Instagram fitness coaching account from 200 to 32,300 followers and increased posts from 175 to 555. I repositioned the account’s messaging to focus on run coaching and podcast content, attracting a more engaged niche audience.
Project 07
- $5,722.29 — Total Revenue
- **179% ** — Revenue Increase
- **$406.90 ** — Flow Revenue
The client businesses overspend on ads chasing top-of-funnel traffic when they already have a warm email list that converts at 5-10x the rate of cold traffic. Budget gets scattered across channels instead of being concentrated where ROI is highest.
I audited all revenue channels and found that email delivered 100% of attributed conversions. The budget was redirected from low-converting channels into email sequence optimization. I built automated flows that triggered in response to customer behavior, turning the list into a revenue machine.
Total revenue jumped 179% to $5,722.29. Email revenue spiked 215% to $1,252.39. Automated flows generated $406.90.
Project 08
- $25,000+ — Sales
- 32,300 — Followers, Up from 782
- 40 Million — Monthly Impressions
Fitness creators compete in the most saturated niche on Instagram. Generic workout tips and motivation quotes don’t cut it. Followers want specific results or specific coaches, not another generic fitness page.
I transformed the profile from a generic fitness profile to a specific “hybrid athlete and run coach” positioning. I added a podcast link in bio and started featuring podcast clips. The specificity attracted people already interested in this exact coaching style, not just random fitness scrollers.
I scaled Benjamin Williams’ fitness account from 782 followers to 32,300 followers, generating over $25,000 in sales from coaching programs. He was established as an authority in his niche while still being a micro-influencer.
Project 09
- 3.8 — Return on Ad Spend
- 106 — Total Purchases
- $3,484 — Revenue Earned
- $920 — Ad Spend Utilized
My client blew the budget on a few high-production ads and hopes they stick. TikTok’s algorithm rewards native-feeling, lower-production content. Polished ads underperform while authenticity outperforms.
I shifted from expensive creative production to rapid-fire testing of 10+ native-style ad variations. The best performers were kept, and the underperformers were eliminated within 48 hours. This “creative velocity” approach won because TikTok users don’t want ads; they want relatable content.
My work generated a 3.8x ROAS with a $920 ad spend on TikTok, delivering 106 purchases and $3,484 in revenue. This demonstrated that lower-spend, high-creative-velocity testing outperformed traditional large-budget campaigns for this product.
Project 10
http://abelbaruwa.com- **267 ** — Total Conversions Tracked
- 1.22% — Click-through Rate for Ads
- $22,400 — Total Campaign Spend
- **65,000 ** — Total Conversion Value Generated
The client’s Google Ads accounts bleed money on broad match keywords that attract unqualified traffic. They saw
“high impression volume” and think it’s working. In reality, they’re paying for tire-kickers, not buyers.
My contributions included switching from broad match to exact and phrase match keywords, focused on bottom-funnel intent (words like “pricing,” “buy,” and “versus”). I killed keywords with CTR below 1% and reallocated the budget to top performers. This dropped volume but doubled ROAS.
My work drove 267.02 conversions with a 1.22% CTR and $22,400 cost across 65,000 total clicks. Measurable ROAS was achieved by focusing ad spend on high-intent keywords and eliminating underperforming ad groups.
Project 11
http://abelbaruwa.com- 11.29 Million — Impressions
- 5.5 Million — Total Audience
- 433,230 — Engagements
- 311,860 — Unique Active Viewers
The client posts daily on Pinterest, but getting traffic is completely dead. They pin random images—without any search strategy behind them. The result is zero engagement and zero clickthroughs to their website.
I optimized pin titles and descriptions with high-volume search terms. I designed visually striking rich pins to boost click-through rates. I build automated pin-scheduling sequences to maintain an active daily presence. Pinterest is a search engine—you treat it like Google, not Instagram.
Impressions surged to 11.29 million, with a 17% increase. The total audience expanded to 5.5 million unique users. Total engagements jumped 15% to hit over 433,000. Engaged audience grew by 21%, reaching 311,000 people.
Project 12
http://abelbaruwa.com- 3.7 Million — Views
- 162,100 — Watch Hours
- 10,600 — Subscribers
The client was struggling to get any real traction despite having a decent subscriber base and good video ideas. They post randomly, and their existing audience is slowly losing interest in the content over time because of the inconsistency. Without a clear and aggressive publishing schedule, the YouTube algorithm basically ignores their channel and their videos.
I implemented a high-frequency publishing schedule to wake the algorithm up. I analyzed their search terms to find exactly what their audience craves. I doubled down on producing videos to drive massive traffic.
Total views hit 3,738,141, which is a 26% increase. The channel gained 10,600 new subscribers. Watch time reached 162,100 hours. Estimated revenue is at $5,013.
Project 13
http://abelbaruwa.com- 1.37 Million — Impressions
- 1.08 Million — Total Audience
- **46,670 ** — Engagements
The client runs a fitness blog called diyactive.com, but its organic traffic has been flat. They manually pin graphics every single day. They treat Pinterest like a photo album instead of a visual search engine.
I extracted trending fitness search queries directly from the platform. I injected those exact high-volume keywords into the pin titles and descriptions. I built an automated scheduling workflow to drip-feed pins at peak user times.
Total impressions climbed 2.2% to hit 1.37 million views. The overall audience expanded 3.3% to 1.08 million unique users. Engagements steadily increased 2.1% to 46,673 interactions. Active, engaged viewers have grown to 29,720 people.
Project 14
- 122,000 — New Followers
Generic health accounts (workout tips and motivational quotes) get lost. Every fitness influencer says the same things. Health audiences don’t follow for generic information; they follow for specific problems solved or specific POVs.
I repositioned the account to “everyday health facts and myths debunked” with a medical student perspective. Instead of broad fitness content, it focused on specific health misconceptions (sleep, nutrition, stress). The specificity attracted serious health learners willing to follow and engage consistently.
I transformed @doc.ermler from 546 followers to 123,000 followers for Wilhelm Ermler by repositioning from general health content to the specific “health facts for everyday living” niche. The account grew 225x.
Project 15
http://abelbaruwa.com- **$4,887 ** — Ad Spend
- **281 ** — Total Sales
- 3.61 — Overall ROAS
- **$17,642 ** — Revenue
The client runs three ad campaigns simultaneously, but one ad set has a terrible 0.76 ROAS that eats their profits. Their cold audience targeting suffers from a low 0.23 percent click rate because their creative hooks fail to grab attention. They keep throwing money at losing ad sets instead of reallocating budget to their winning 5.39 ROAS campaign.
I killed the bleeding campaign immediately to stop budget waste on ad sets with low click-through rates. I scaled the budget into the high-performing campaign to push its 5.39 ROAS and 3.69 percent click rate. I tested new creative variations with clearer product hooks to drive down the cost per thousand impressions.
Total ad spend stayed controlled at 4,887 dollars. Direct store purchases climbed to 281 total orders. Overall return on ad spend hit a 3.61 multiplier. Total store income reached $17,642 in revenue.
Project 16
http://abelbaruwa.com- 119,000 — Followers
- 2.8 Million — Likes
Personal brands often fail to separate their identity from business opportunities. Growth plateaus because the audience follows the person, not the mission. Building a separate brand account from zero is risky and requires a different content strategy.
I created Docent as a mission-driven brand (not person-dependent) with a distinct content philosophy. I used D.A. Murray’s personal audience as a warm traffic source to bootstrap Docent, then decoupled them. Docent grew independently because it stood for something, not someone.
The author’s profile rocketed to 73,100 targeted followers and drove heavy traffic to her book link. The brand account built a loyal community of 46,700 followers through raw street interviews.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Communications
The Open University - United Kingdom
Certifications
Craft Precise Prompts for AI Models
IBM
AI Fluency: Framework & Foundations
Anthropic
Content & Creative Design
AI-Powered Shopping Ads Certification
How to Incorporate PPC Into Your Marketing Strategy for Increased Conversions
Semrush
Email Marketing
HubSpot Academy
AI-Powered Marketer
Semrush
Social Media Marketing
Semrush
Google Analytics Certification
Inbound Sales
HubSpot Academy
SEO Specialist
Semrush
IBM Certified Marketing and Communications Expert
IBM
Google Ads Apps Certification
Skills
Core
Content Marketing, Email Marketing, Account-based Marketing (ABM), Lead Generation, Keyword Research, Pinterest Marketing, Pinterest, Organic Social Media, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), SEO Audits, SEO Marketing, Marketing Leadership, Social Media Content, Social Media, A/B Testing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, Content Creation, Email Marketing Automation, Marketing Strategy, Marketing Automation, Google Ads, TikTok Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Digital Marketing, Market Research & Analysis, Social Media Strategy, TikTok Marketing, Paid Advertising, Brand Strategy, Sales, LinkedIn Marketing, SEO Tools, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Inbound Marketing, Pay-per-Click (PPC), Google Paid Ads, Social Media Marketing (SMM), Instagram Marketing, Growth Hacking, Social Media Management, Content Marketing Strategy, Instagram Growth
Platforms & Tools
Google Analytics, Ahrefs, HubSpot, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), YouTube Shorts, Claude, Canva
Other
PPC Campaign Management, Outbound Marketing, Landing Page Optimization, Keyword Analysis, YouTube Editing, YouTube Thumbnails, Pinterest Ads, Instagram Account Management, Personal Branding, Search Engine Advertising (SEA), Content Optimization, Client Management, Social Media Copywriting, Video Editing, Direct to Consumer (D2C), eCommerce, Growth Marketing, Paid Media, Conversion Copywriting, Landing Page Design, Customer Acquisition, X (formerly Twitter), Growth Strategy, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Technical SEO, Google, LinkedIn, Facebook, Meta Ads, Semrush, Customer Insight, Competition Research, Performance Reports, B2B Lead Generation, B2B Marketing, Content Distribution Strategy, Email Content, TikTok Shop, Advertising Copy, Keyword Advertising, Cross-team Collaboration, Google Apps, Prompt Engineering, AI Prompts, Market Segmentation, AI-Powered Marketer, Inbound Sales, Artificial Intelligence (AI), YouTube, Storytelling, Community Media, Community Growth, YouTube SEO, Instagram, Email Marketing Strategy, Email Copywriting, Newsletters, Email Campaign Optimization, Zapier, TikTok Ads Manager
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