Michael Shearer, Marketing Expert in New Market, United States
Michael is available for hire
Hire Michael

Michael Shearer

Verified Expert  in Marketing

Marketing Expert

Location
New Market, United States
Toptal Member Since
April 11, 2023

Michael is an entrepreneur and sought-after growth marketer who brings a unique blend of technical, creative, and analytical skills to the table. With over 20 years of experience in the digital space, Michael has extensive expertise in marketing, analytics, content development, software operations, and more. He drove the success of numerous businesses, having led digital and agile marketing teams at four B2B SaaS startups and two agencies and consulted with nearly 100 businesses.

Project Highlights

Claravine Website
Led the launch of a new website for a SaaS startup, including implementing a dynamic personalization engine powered by WordPress and Mutiny.
SelectHub Content Library
Executed startup marketing tactics by building 100+ pieces of top-ranking content for organic search traffic and leading conversion efforts.
Analytics Nexus
Executed a virtual event with more than 3,600 registrants and 1,000+ attendees.

Expertise

Work Experience

ActiveCampaign Specialist

2023 - 2023
Yoltee, Inc.
  • Helped build multiple onboarding sequences in a week's time.
  • Advised client on how to structure and configure automation so it would advance users to the next best action.
  • Wrote copy for 15 emails in an automated nurture sequence.

Senior Director, Digital Innovation and Strategy

2019 - 2023
Claravine
  • Supported the enterprise sales team to hit aggressive quarterly pipeline and revenue goals, including marketing-led pipeline growth of 76% (2020), 53% (2021), and 31% (2022).
  • Developed and executed a comprehensive content strategy as part of an organic search and content marketing program, coupled with social media management, resulting in significant increases in organic traffic and lead generation.
  • Delivered a virtual event with more than 3,600 registrants and 1,000+ attendees.
  • Generated $9 million in the marketing-sourced new business pipeline (45% of the total pipeline) in three years for a new software category startup.

VP of Marketing

2015 - 2018
SelectHub
  • Led the overall direction of the marketing strategy and management of marketing operations.
  • Created a data-driven lead generation program through a search engine, content, email, and internet marketing, growing organic traffic and lead volume to 100% YoY growth (2016 to 2017), 100,000 visitors/month, and 2,000+ B2B leads/month.
  • Oversaw the testing, reporting, and analytics culture for a growing SaaS startup.

Founder

2009 - 2018
NetExperienced
  • Implemented 14 marketing automation instances, including Pardot, Act-on, and eTrigue.
  • Configured, launched, and performed live troubleshooting of an eCommerce and product delivery platform, which led to $1 million in sales in the first week of launch.
  • Conceptualized and implemented direct marketing and search engine optimization (SEO) strategies through HubSpot, delivering a 40%+ increase in inbound client traffic.
  • Spearheaded project management and delivery of multi-site (12+ sites) and multi-user (100+ users) web publishing environment integrating Kapost (content marketing platform) with WordPress Network Sites.

Director of Marketing

2008 - 2009
Aromi D'Italia
  • Ran marketing for five vertically integrated companies under the parent company, including wholesale sales, manufacturing, equipment sales, cafe design, and retail operations.
  • Built, alongside the design team, four new websites for the different business models needing them, growing organic traffic from scratch for each, driving hundreds of new business opportunities for the varied companies.
  • Delivered product photography for a new line of bulk-manufactured dessert ingredients.

Claravine Website

http://claravine.com

Led the launch of a new website for a SaaS startup, including implementing a dynamic personalization engine powered by WordPress and Mutiny.

Oversaw project management, copywriting, design, and technical configuration of a new B2B SaaS website with over 200 pages. I also implemented new SEO best practices that resulted in organic search going from 7,000 users to nearly 10,000 users/month in less than four months.

SelectHub Content Library

Executed startup marketing tactics by building 100+ pieces of top-ranking content for organic search traffic and leading conversion efforts.

I led the content development and marketing strategy from scratch for a lead generation startup, leading to more than 100 pieces of content ranking on page one of Google and driving tens of thousands of visitors per month.

Analytics Nexus

https://analyticsnexus.com/

Executed a virtual event with more than 3,600 registrants and 1,000+ attendees.

Built and marketed a virtual event customizing the entire registration and delivery in a WordPress environment linked to Pardot marketing automation for registrant and attendee customized nurturing and follow-up.
2005 - 2007

Master's Degree in Management

American Public University - Online

1996 - 2000

Bachelor's Degree in Information Systems

Drake University - Des Moines, Iowa, USA

Core

Google Ads, Marketing, Email Marketing, Marketing Automation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Campaign Management, Digital Marketing Strategy, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Content Creation, Content Strategy, Marketing Operations, Digital Marketing, Content Marketing Strategy, Marketing Strategy, Google AdWords, Performance Marketing, Content Marketing, Social Media, Video Ads, LinkedIn Ads, Mobile Marketing, Social Media Advertising, Paid Advertising, Facebook Ads, Go-to-market Strategy, Social Media Strategy, Funnel Marketing, Marketing Analytics, Social Media Management, Marketing Leadership, Brand Marketing, Link Building, Email Marketing Automation, A/B Testing

Platforms & Tools

Pardot, ActiveCampaign, Content Management Systems (CMS), CRM Systems, Google Ad Manager, HubSpot, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads Manager, Google Analytics 4

Business Models

Business to Business (B2B), SaaS Product Marketing, Software as a Service (SaaS), B2C

Other

WordPress, B2B Lead Generation, Demand Generation, Paid Search, Content Writing, Startups, Salesforce, Web Analytics, Management, Data Reporting, Personalization, Web Content, eCommerce, Split Testing, Paid Media, Hotjar, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Direct to Consumer (D2C), Shopify, Growth Marketing, Project Management, Event Marketing, Website Redesign, Direct Marketing, Internet Marketing, Startup Marketing

Collaboration That Works

How to Work with Toptal

Toptal matches you directly with global industry experts from our network in hours—not weeks or months.

1

Share your needs

Discuss your requirements and refine your scope in a call with a Toptal domain expert.
2

Choose your talent

Get a short list of expertly matched talent within 24 hours to review, interview, and choose from.
3

Start your risk-free talent trial

Work with your chosen talent on a trial basis for up to two weeks. Pay only if you decide to hire them.

Top talent is in high demand.

Start hiring