Christopher Newton
Verified Expert in Marketing
Marketing Expert
Boston, MA, United States
Toptal member since May 12, 2026
Chris is a growth marketer who's been in the trenches at every stage, from a founding member of Klaviyo's marketing team to leading demand generation and growth marketing at several startups and consulting with HubSpot Premier Services. He brings hands-on expertise across Google Ads, SEO, HubSpot builds, and full-funnel attribution, and executes the work himself rather than just advising from a distance. Clients get a partner who understands the vision and what it takes to get there.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- Business to Business (B2B)
- Generative Engine Optimization (GEO)
- Growth Marketing
- HubSpot
- Paid Search
- SEO with AI
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Software as a Service (SaaS)
Work Experience
Founder
Lytical
- Founded Lytical, Inc., a privacy-first web analytics SaaS positioned as a practitioner-built alternative to GA4 for small and medium-sized businesses and marketing agencies, built on a Rails, PostgreSQL, and Heroku stack.
- Shipped a full analytics product suite, including cookieless visitor tracking, session recordings and heatmaps, keyword rank tracking, AI search visibility monitoring, a technical SEO crawler, and an embedded AI assistant named Quincy.
- Developed and launched more than 10 native integrations with marketing and advertising platforms, including HubSpot, Shopify, Google Ads, Google Search Console, and Meta Ads.
- Owned all GTM strategy and execution, including SEO content production, cold outreach, directory listings, community-led distribution, and product marketplace launches.
- Launched on the ChatGPT app store and HubSpot app marketplace, expanding distribution into AI-native and CRM-adjacent buyer ecosystems.
- Built and shipped a suite of free interactive tools, including the LinkedIn Insufferability Calculator, GA4 Data Sampling Calculator, and spam trigger word checker, to drive top-of-funnel acquisition.
- Architected pricing strategy and packaging across four tiers—Free, Lyte, Pro, and Custom—aligned to user behavior segments and willingness-to-pay analysis.
- Built and shipped product-integrated AI capabilities using Claude and other LLMs, including the Quincy assistant for in-product analytics queries and recommendations.
- Operated full-stack development on the product, contributing to Ruby on Rails, JavaScript, and front-end implementation alongside go-to-market and product strategy.
Marketing Consultant
Independent Marketing Consultant
- Directed growth marketing consulting engagements for more than 50 clients across direct-to-consumer (DTC), B2B SaaS, eCommerce, and Fortune 500 segments, managing $3.5+ million in monthly Google Ads spend at peak.
- Architected and managed Google Shopping and Performance Max campaigns for eCommerce clients, including DataFeedWatch implementations, product feed optimization, and GTIN strategy.
- Consolidated and optimized a $3.1 million a month Google Ads program for a Fortune 500 company, managing campaign structure, MCC operations, and weekly executive performance reporting.
- Delivered conversion rate optimization audits and implementation roadmaps across pricing pages, landing pages, and full-funnel customer journeys for B2B and DTC clients.
- Implemented HubSpot CRM and marketing automation builds for B2B clients, including contact lifecycle modeling, lead scoring, custom property design, and 3rd-party data integrations.
- Built and managed Google Shopping product feeds, identifying and remediating data quality issues, including missing GTINs, brand attribution, and out-of-stock variant handling.
- Conducted technical SEO audits, keyword research, and content strategy engagements for clients across multiple verticals.
- Operated through agency subcontractor partnerships, delivering specialized growth marketing and analytics expertise to mutual clients across multiple industries.
- Led SEO strategy and execution for client engagements, including technical audits, keyword research, content roadmaps, on-page optimization, and AI search visibility (GEO/AEO) positioning to capture both traditional organic and LLM-driven traffic.
- Implemented analytics and measurement infrastructure for client engagements, including GA4 setup, server-side tagging, conversion tracking, attribution modeling, and custom event taxonomy design.
Director of Growth Marketing
Skedda
- Directed a product-led growth program that generated 6,000+ free product sign-ups in six months, owning end-to-end acquisition and activation outcomes.
- Reduced customer acquisition cost by 20% year-over-year through channel optimization, audience refinement, and conversion rate improvements across the funnel.
- Managed all paid acquisition channels, including Google Ads, Meta Ads, LinkedIn Ads, and sponsorship programs, allocating budget to maximize qualified signup volume.
- Owned organic search strategy and execution, including technical SEO, content development, and competitive alternative pages targeting high-intent comparison keywords.
- Launched Skedda's first interactive lead generation tool, a hybrid-work grader, generating 50+ new leads in its first month and establishing a repeatable interactive content motion.
- Built competitive alternative landing pages with an embedded interactive cost savings calculator, driving 5+ new customers and $1,000+ in net new MRR within the first three months.
- Implemented an always-on A/B testing program across high-traffic pages, increasing page-level conversion rates by 5-10% across tested experiences.
- Set up HubSpot and Heap analytics from the ground up, creating a reporting infrastructure that gave the leadership team visibility into funnel performance and channel ROI.
- Owned all social media channels and editorial strategy, building consistent organic distribution to support brand awareness and content amplification.
- Partnered with product and engineering teams to align growth experiments with product roadmap, identifying activation friction points and testing in-product conversion improvements.
Head of Demand Generation
Ketch
- Drove a 4x growth in inbound demo requests, a 20x growth in free product signups, and a 10x growth in MQLs year-over-year through integrated demand generation programs.
- Managed a $2+ million annual budget across paid search, paid social, content syndication, organic search, and demand generation campaigns, generating $10+ million in qualified pipeline.
- Sourced more than $3 million in marketing-attributed closed-won revenue, establishing demand generation as a primary growth channel for the business.
- Reduced cost per lead (CPL) by 60% and cost per opportunity by 75% through campaign optimization, audience refinement, and channel mix rebalancing.
- Owned revenue and marketing operations from scratch, partnering with sales leadership on forecasting, pipeline management, and operational tooling decisions.
- Built marketing reporting infrastructure and KPI frameworks across all programs, establishing source-of-truth dashboards for executive and board-level reporting.
- Served as HubSpot administrator and led the integration of HubSpot with Salesforce, designing lead routing, lifecycle stages, and bidirectional sync logic.
- Trained the sales and BDR teams on HubSpot and Salesforce best practices, including sequence usage, task management, and pipeline hygiene.
- Established marketing programs in EMEA and APAC, including localized paid media, regional events, and partnerships to support Ketch's international expansion.
- Drove category creation efforts in the data privacy and consent management space, positioning Ketch against established competitors through thought leadership and high-intent search capture.
Senior Marketing Manager
Teikametrics
- Achieved 90% year-over-year growth in MQLs and SQLs through full-funnel demand generation programs across paid, organic, and lifecycle channels.
- Redesigned lead nurture flows in HubSpot, increasing lead-to-MQL and MQL-to-SQL conversion rates and accelerating pipeline velocity.
- Implemented and launched the company's first chatbot tool on the marketing website, improving lead generation and engagement rates by 30%.
- Developed and operationalized a lead scoring model that enabled the BDR team to prioritize high-intent accounts, increasing meeting booking efficiency.
- Served as HubSpot administrator and marketing operations lead, owning workflows, lifecycle stage definitions, list segmentation, and database hygiene.
- Built executive-level dashboards and delivered weekly performance reporting directly to the CEO, providing visibility into pipeline contribution and channel ROI.
- Managed paid acquisition campaigns across Google Ads, LinkedIn, and Meta, optimizing toward MQL volume and cost-per-opportunity benchmarks.
- Partnered with sales leadership to align marketing and sales handoff processes, improving SLA adherence and reducing lead leakage.
- Owned demand generation strategy for an Amazon and Walmart marketplace SaaS platform, targeting eCommerce sellers and aggregators in a competitive category.
Inbound Marketing Manager
Klaviyo
- Joined as a founding member of the marketing team pre-Series B, responsible for organic product-led growth as Klaviyo scaled from early-stage startup to category leader in eCommerce marketing automation.
- Grew organic search traffic 110% year-over-year through a combination of technical SEO, on-page optimization, and content strategy across Klaviyo's marketing website.
- Increased organic-sourced MQLs 105% year-over-year, establishing organic search as a primary acquisition channel for the business.
- Drove a 159.21% YoY increase in closed-won MRR from organic search, contributing $3,25 million in incremental annual revenue.
- Authored over 15 blog posts targeting non-brand keywords, generating more than 5,000 organic pageviews per month, and ranking for high-intent eCommerce and email marketing terms.
- Conducted comprehensive on-page, off-page, and technical SEO audits, identifying and resolving issues that improved sitewide page speed by 25%.
- Implemented Conductor Searchlight as the company's enterprise SEO platform and embedded it into the daily workflow of the marketing team for keyword tracking, content optimization, and competitive analysis.
- Owned all CRO initiatives across the marketing website, launching A/B tests on high-traffic pages that improved overall site conversion rate by 1.3% YoY.
- Partnered with product, content, and design teams to launch new landing pages, pillar content, and resource hubs aligned to high-intent keyword clusters.
- Built scalable SEO and CRO processes that supported the marketing team's growth from the founding stage through Klaviyo's expansion toward IPO readiness.
Inbound Marketing Consultant L2
HubSpot
- Managed a portfolio of 50+ enterprise-level Premier Services accounts, serving as the primary strategic consultant for inbound marketing, sales, and CRM implementations.
- Achieved a 95.55% client retention rate across the assigned book of business through proactive account management and measurable program outcomes.
- Grew net dollar retention to an average of 120% by identifying expansion opportunities, driving upsells into additional HubSpot Hubs, and increasing seat counts.
- Led cross-functional consulting projects spanning HubSpot Marketing Hub, Sales Hub, and CMS implementations for mid-market and enterprise clients.
- Advised clients on inbound marketing strategy, including content marketing, SEO, lead nurturing, marketing automation, and lead scoring frameworks.
- Architected and configured HubSpot workflows, lead scoring models, lifecycle stage definitions, and reporting dashboards tailored to each client's revenue operations.
- Conducted technical onboarding and training sessions for client marketing and sales teams, accelerating time to value on the HubSpot platform.
- Took lead on cross-team consulting projects, mentoring peers and contributing to playbooks adopted across the broader Premier Services organization.
- Integrated HubSpot with Salesforce and other 3rd-party tools for enterprise clients, establishing bidirectional sync, custom field mapping, and pipeline reporting.
- Earned promotion to L2 consultant tier based on consistent delivery of measurable client outcomes and depth of platform expertise.
Senior Digital Advisor
Cox Automotive
- Managed more than $250,000 in monthly recurring ad spend across paid search, display, paid social, and retargeting channels for a portfolio of automotive dealership clients.
- Grew assigned advertising portfolio by 3% month-over-month through account expansion, upsells, and client retention.
- Executed full-funnel paid media strategies on Google Ads and Bing Ads, including campaign structure, keyword research, bid management, and ad copy development.
- Built and optimized display and retargeting campaigns to drive vehicle detail page views, lead form submissions, and showroom visits for dealer clients.
- Delivered monthly performance reporting and strategic recommendations to dealership stakeholders, translating campaign metrics into business outcomes.
- Implemented conversion tracking and Google Analytics setups across client websites to measure lead volume, cost per lead, and ROAS.
- Managed multi-account campaigns through Google Ads MCC structure, enabling efficient oversight and optimization across dozens of dealer accounts simultaneously.
- Partnered with creative and content teams to develop display ad creative, landing pages, and seasonal promotional campaigns aligned to OEM co-op guidelines.
- Promoted from digital advisor to senior digital advisor based on portfolio performance, client retention, and demonstrated strategic account leadership.
Project History
Lytical Marketing Analytics Platform
- 10+ — Native Integrations Shipped (HubSpot, Shopify, Google Ads, Search Console, Meta Ads, and Others)
- 2 — Marketplace Listings Launched (ChatGPT App Store and HubSpot App Marketplace)
- 100% — Bootstrapped Product Built and Shipped Solo, From Zero to Live SaaS
The web analytics market is dominated by GA4, which most marketers find painful day-to-day—complex sampling, confusing event models, and a UI built for Google’s needs rather than the practitioner’s. SMBs and agencies needed a privacy-first alternative with enterprise depth and the usability of a tool built by someone who has actually run campaigns.
I founded and built Lytical as the sole founder, shipping a full analytics product on a Rails, PostgreSQL, and Heroku stack. The platform includes cookieless visitor tracking, session recordings and heatmaps, keyword rank tracking, AI search visibility monitoring, a technical SEO crawler, and an embedded AI assistant called Quincy. I developed 10+ native integrations with the tools marketers already use, launched them on the ChatGPT App Store and the HubSpot App Marketplace, and built a complete GTM motion spanning SEO, content, cold outreach, directory listings, and free interactive tools.
Lytical is live with paying customers, processing six-figure event volumes monthly. The product competes with GA4 alternatives in the privacy-first category, with distribution across two major SaaS marketplaces and a free tools-driven funnel.
Klaviyo SEO Program
- 159% — YoY Increase in Closed-won MRR from Organic Search
- 110% — YoY Growth in Organic Search Traffic
- **$3.25 Million ** — Incremental Annual Revenue from Organic Search
I joined Klaviyo as a founding member of the marketing team, prior to the Series B. The company had strong product-market fit in eCommerce email marketing, but limited organic visibility against larger competitors like Mailchimp. To support Klaviyo’s growth toward IPO readiness, I needed to establish organic search as a primary acquisition channel with no enterprise SEO infrastructure in place.
I built Klaviyo’s SEO program from the ground up—running technical, on-page, and off-page audits, implementing Conductor as the team’s SEO platform, authoring 15+ blog posts targeting non-brand keywords, and partnering with product, content, and design to launch pillar pages and resource hubs. I also owned all CRO across the marketing site, running A/B tests on high-traffic pages.
Organic search became a lead acquisition channel, driving $3.25 million in incremental annual revenue and 110% YoY growth in traffic. Sitewide page speed grew by 25%, conversion rate by 1.3% YoY, and SEO processes scaled with Klaviyo through the IPO.
Suncruiser
- 50+ — Target Keywords Researched and Mapped to Site Architecture
Boston Beer Company was launching Suncruiser, a new ready-to-drink cocktail brand entering a crowded, fast-growing category dominated by established RTD competitors. The brand needed to establish organic search visibility from day one, capture launch-related search demand, and build a technical SEO foundation that could scale alongside national distribution and paid media investment.
I directed SEO strategy for the brand launch, delivering keyword research mapped to the site architecture, competitive analysis across the RTD cocktail category, and a technical SEO audit with prioritized implementation recommendations. I advised on on-page optimization, content structure, metadata, and indexation strategy to ensure the new brand site was launch-ready and search-visible from go-live.
Suncruiser launched with a complete SEO foundation in place: keyword strategy, technical recommendations, and on-page optimization supporting Boston Beer’s strong brand debut and positioning the site to capture organic demand alongside a paid launch.
Education
Master's Degree in Business Administration (MBA)
Champlain College - Burlington, VT, USA
Bachelor's Degree in Business Administration (BBA)
Champlain College - Burlington, VT, USA
Certifications
Google Ads - Measurement Certification
AI-Powered Performance Ads Certification
Googlw
AI-Powered Shopping Ads
Google Ads Search Certification
Skills
Core
SEO Tools, SEO Audits, Google SEO, Google Paid Ads, Inbound Marketing, Customer Success, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Paid Advertising, LinkedIn Ads, LinkedIn Marketing, Local SEO, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Digital Marketing, Digital Marketing Best Practices, WordPress SEO, Email Marketing, A/B Testing, Marketing Automation, SEO Marketing, Google Ads, SEO Keyword Research, Keyword Research, Marketing Operations, SEO Backlinking, Pay-per-Click (PPC), Lead Generation, Digital Marketing Strategy, Funnel Marketing, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategies, Growth Hacking, Account-based Marketing (ABM), Facebook Ads, Automotive, Cold Emailing, Marketing Analytics
Platforms & Tools
HubSpot, Screaming Frog, Google Analytics, Moz, HubSpot Marketing Hub, Klaviyo, Linkedln, Ahrefs, Google Analytics 4 (GA4), CRM Systems, Google My Business, Conductor, Claude, Looker Studio, Google Data Studio, Performance Max
Business Models
B2B, Business to Business (B2B), Software as a Service (SaaS)
Technical
JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Google Search Console, SQL
Other
Claude Code, Heap, Paid Search, Salesforce, Business, Meta Ads, Google Display Ads, Retargeting Pixels, Client Services, Client Presentations, Conversion Rate, Account Management, HubSpot CRM, HubSpot Sales Hub, Semrush, Demand Generation, Growth, Paid Acquisition, B2B Marketing, B2B Lead Generation, SendGrid, Ruby on Rails (RoR), Ruby, GitHub, Git, Search Engine Advertising (SEA), eCommerce SEO, WordPress, ChatGPT, Microsoft Advertising, Product-led Growth (PLG), Growth Marketing, Technical SEO, Keyword Mapping, Customer Acquisition, Claude API, OpenAI API, Early-stage Startups, HubSpot API, SEO with AI, Agency Relationship Management (ARM), Shopify SEO, ZoomInfo, 6sense, Hotjar, Squarespace, Webflow, Figma to Webflow, Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), Large Language Models (LLMs), Outreach, Apollo, Instantly, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Shopify API, Google Ads API, Facebook Ads API, PPC Campaign Management, Web Analytics, Google Shopping Ads
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