Ryan Mulchrone
Verified Expert in Marketing
Digital Marketing Expert
London, United Kingdom
Toptal member since September 5, 2024
Ryan specialises in brand positioning and marketing strategy for early-stage startups. He's helped VC-backed startups clarify their go-to-market positioning, translate ambitious product visions into executable marketing roadmaps, and leverage AI to multiply small teams' output 10x. Ryan combines strategic brand thinking with hands-on implementation of systems that actually deliver results.
Project Highlights
Expertise
- AI Tools
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Brand Strategy
- Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
- Fractional CMO
- Growth
- Growth Marketing
- Podcasting
Work Experience
Fractional Strategic Marketing Advisor
Teem
- Delivered a comprehensive strategic marketing audit and 6-month roadmap that secured ongoing retainer commitment within 30 minutes of presentation.
- Coached and developed the global marketing manager's strategic capabilities through weekly sessions, elevating the team's ability to prioritise and execute independently.
- Designed a Leader Content Profiler system and an AI ghostwriting framework, enabling the leadership team to systematically produce personal brand content at scale.
- Repositioned the brand from a generalist recruiter to a specialist "transatlantic bridge" for VC-backed SaaS companies expanding between Europe and the US.
Freelance CRM Manager
Save My Exams
- Led full email platform migration from ActiveCampaign to Iterable for a 150+ employee edtech company, completing on time with zero disruption to active campaigns.
- Designed and launched automated lifecycle campaigns, including learning engagement nudges and reactivation sequences, targeting dormant subscribers.
- Built reporting automation infrastructure to replace manual analytics processes, enabling the CRM team to track campaign performance with significantly less effort.
- Developed a behavioural engagement campaign framework that nudges passive users toward active exam practice, directly supporting student retention metrics.
GTM Strategist
Tandem Ventures LLC
- Conducted comprehensive competitive landscape analysis and repositioned product strategy after identifying critical market positioning gaps and unvalidated assumptions about the target audience.
- Developed customer research framework and GTM validation playbook for first-time founder, clarifying product-market fit approach before significant development investment.
- Provided strategic product development guidance that prevented premature scaling, helping the founder establish a proper discovery process and pain point validation methodology.
Brand Narrative and Positioning Specialist
SOTER ANALYTICS LTD
- Worked with the founder and wider team to analyze and overhaul the brand positioning, messaging, and strategy.
- Created strategic brand documentation to act as a foundation for all future marketing campaigns.
- Mentored and supported the internal marketing team, including reviewing marketing assets, messaging, and website collateral.
Client Director (Fractional CMO)
Aperture
- Overhauled the messaging pillars and product positioning, refining the ideal customer profile (ICP) for a financial services client.
- Rewrote website copy and oversaw the redesign and relaunch of the website for a financial services client.
- Set up AI-powered automation flows to generate content in the company's brand voice for an early-stage AI client.
- Created and delivered leads through account-based marketing tactics for a financial services client.
- Refined the go-to-market (GTM) strategy and positioning for a stealth fintech client.
Digital Director
Boardwave
- Spearheaded the creation and implementation of a new design system, enhancing product consistency and user experience across all digital touchpoints.
- Led the development and implementation of the digital ecosystem strategy and roadmap, focusing on user-centric design and functionality.
- Launched a new community platform and led the launch of a new digital webinar content series attracting 500 members.
- Redesigned the entire user onboarding flow, significantly improving new member activation and retention rates.
- Conducted a full platform review options appraisal ahead of tech stack migration.
Head of Marketing
Sifted
- Headed the subscription strategy, tripling paying venture capital (VC) and startup members through multichannel campaign marketing, funnel optimization, and partnership activities.
- Revamped the company mission, vision, and values while working cross-functionally with stakeholders to codify the brand strategy and clearly define the core target audiences of investors and startup founders.
- Developed and executed the marketing strategy for a high-profile, revenue-generating event series, exceeding year-one delegate revenue targets.
- Recruited and led the marketing function as the first senior hire, implementing processes across acquisition, retention, traffic strategy, brand awareness, and commercial marketing.
- Grew registered users by 25% year-on-year, implementing a 1st-party data strategy that introduced richer segmentation options.
- Conducted a comprehensive platform review and implemented advanced customer relationship management (CRM) and social media management systems.
Senior Digital Platforms Manager
Pirate.com
- Oversaw a cross-functional team focused on improving customer engagement and retention.
- Line-managed a team of search engine optimization (SEO) and CRM marketing managers.
- Assisted in launching the go-to-market plan for expansion into the US market.
- Took overall responsibility for website conversion rates. Collaborated with product, marketing, and data teams to develop the digital roadmap and enhance the onsite customer journey.
Head of Digital Marketing
The Spectator
- Spearheaded efforts to grow the total database of known users and potential subscribers.
- Developed and led the paywall strategy, contributing to a 15% year-over-year growth in subscribers and a 16% year-over-year increase in reader revenue.
- Set the traffic acquisition strategy across social media, email, SEO, and paid search.
Digital Marketing Manager
Newtrade Media
- Developed and implemented an effective digital and audience growth strategy resulting in a 6-fold increase in website traffic, doubling of email subscribers and increased engagement.
- Spearheaded the transition of a traditional print publishing house to a digital-first model.
- Managed all digital assets including the website, video production capability and marketing automation strategy.
Co-founder and Creative Director
Idiosynphonic
- Created and maintained the brand and visual identity including posters, in-show animations, promotional videos and website.
- Developed and executed the digital marketing strategy using email and social media.
- Sourced sponsorship and managed budgets and finances.
- Organized 23 successful events in London and across the UK, attended by 900-2,000 people on average and featured some of the biggest acts in the scene.
- Built up a brand and a loyal following from scratch in a competitive and saturated market.
Project History
GTM AI Marketing Automation
- 4x — Increase in Project Delivery Speed
In-depth GTM projects required extensive manual work, including competitive research, multiple client phone calls, surveys, and hours of data analysis to produce final deliverables. Each project demanded significant time investment, creating a bottleneck that limited the number of projects we could take on.
I built a series of AI agents and automation workflows that handled the majority of research and analysis automatically. The system processed competitive research data, analysed call transcripts, synthesised survey responses, and combined all results to produce a comprehensive first draft of the complete Kickstarter deck. This automated workflow created deliverables that were 60-80% complete, allowing the team to focus on refinement and strategic finessing rather than manual data processing.
This approach resulted in a 4x increase in project turnaround time, allowing for an increase in the number of projects delivered while still maintaining high quality and boosting client satisfaction.
Brand and Content Strategy for Startup Talent Consultancy
Refined the brand positioning and key messaging and overhauled the content strategy of a specialist talent acquisition consultancy.
This specialist talent agency assists startups in rapidly hiring exceptional people. It enables startups to expand their headcount as if they already have a world-class team in-house using a flexible and modular approach. However, the agency needed help to convey this unique selling point (USP) in a crowded market of traditional recruitment providers.
I collaborated with the founders to refine their brand positioning and overall strategy. This project revamped the brand’s mission and vision, establishing a clear path to differentiate its approach from traditional recruiters. Following this, I overhauled all website copy and blog content to align with the new strategy, ensuring consistent and compelling messaging.
Brand Strategy for Sifted EU Ltd (Financial Times)
Managed the strategy project to clarify and codify the positioning, personality, and brand voice while refining the brand identity of the leading media publication for European startups.
Sifted is the Financial Times-backed publication for European startups. As the inaugural head of marketing, I established the foundational marketing strategy for the business. One of the key initiatives I led was a comprehensive brand strategy refresh and revitalization. The brand previously lacked a clear mission, positioning, and identity, attempting to cater to too many diverse audiences without a defined value proposition.
The project entailed refreshing the mission and vision statements and clarifying the brand positioning to target founders and investors. This was followed by a complete overhaul of the brand identity, including enhancements to the color palette, logo guidelines, and the overall user experience of the website. This strategic initiative provided a clearer and more compelling brand message, strengthening the publication’s market presence.
Flagship Event Series Launch
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSuuMqNmwXoDeveloped and executed the marketing strategy for a high-profile, revenue-generating event series, exceeding year-one delegate revenue targets.
The Sifted Summit is the flagship networking event for European startups. I led the marketing efforts for the inaugural edition, which successfully brought together over 3,000 founders and investors for two days of insightful talks and roundtables.
This project involved creating a striking new brand identity that distinguished the event from the rest of the product portfolio while maintaining the core brand voice and positioning. Following this, I implemented a comprehensive marketing plan across both paid and organic channels to drive awareness, engagement, and delegate ticket sales. This initiative ensured the event’s success and established the foundation and playbook for all future sell-out Sifted Summit events.
Award Winning Independent Podcast
Created and co-hosted an award winning podcast that explores the use of AI in storytelling.
PastMaster is an independent podcast that examines the explosive growth of AI and how to use it in storytelling. It asks the question, “Could you survive in the past using the knowledge of the present?” and then uses an AI Game Master to act as the narrator.
Since launching in 2023, the show has gained several thousand listeners and has won numerous awards, including Best Entertainment, Best Games, and Best Technology podcast at the American Writing Awards and nominations at the Independent Podcast Awards 2023.
I conceived, hosted, and produced the show.
Education
Bachelor's Degree in Design
Goldsmiths, University of London - London, United Kingdom
Skills
Core
Brand Strategy, Content Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Marketing Automation, Branding, Social Media Marketing (SMM), Digital Marketing, Paid Advertising, Lead Generation, Marketing Analytics, Digital Marketing Strategy, Email Marketing, Email Marketing Automation, Marketing Leadership, Omnichannel Marketing, Marketing Strategy, Ad Campaigns, Marketing, Growth Hacking, Email Campaigns, Facebook Marketing, Social Media Management, Funnel Optimization, Product Marketing, Content Marketing Strategy, Brand Marketing, Content Creation, Marketing Operations, Google Tag Manager, SEO Tools, Product Positioning, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Copywriting, Content Strategy, Marketing Technology (MarTech), LinkedIn Marketing, LinkedIn Ads, X (formerly Twitter) Ads, Testing, Social Media Content, Google SEO, Social Media Strategy, Go-to-market (GTM) Strategy, Landing Pages, Customer Engagement, B2C Marketing, A/B Testing, Google Paid Ads, Search Engine Marketing (SEM), Inbound Marketing
Platforms & Tools
HubSpot, ActiveCampaign, Mailchimp, Google Analytics, Facebook Ads Manager, Content Management Systems (CMS), Google Analytics 4 (GA4), Pardot, Google My Business, Iterable
Business Models
SaaS, SaaS Product Marketing, B2B, Business to Consumer (B2C)
Technical
Google Search Console
Other
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Growth Marketing, Subscriptions, Digital Publishing, Customer Retention, Sailthru, Startup Marketing, Customer Acquisition, Audience Retention, Website Traffic, Brand Positioning, Competitive Analysis, Digital Newsletters, Email Marketing Strategy, Descript, Adobe, Audio Production, Meta Ads, B2B Lead Generation, Webinars, Landing Page Optimization, Analytics, Reporting, Growth Strategy, Instagram, Digital Strategy, eCommerce, Customer Journey, Go-to-market Plans, Startups, Customer Data, Strategy, Retargeting Pixels, Digital Marketing Product Manager, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Brand Books, AI Prompts, AI Learning, Marketing Reports, Fractional CMO, Newsletters, User Retention, Growth, Customer Lifecycle, Lifecycle Marketing, User Journeys, Performance Metrics, User Engagement, Tone of Voice, Marketing Consulting, Podcasting, WordPress, Creative Strategy, Creative Thinking, Value Creation, Brand Identity, Database Management, Team Management, Headless CMS, Product Owner, Audience Segmentation, Paid Media, Integration, Videography, Email Design, Facebook Pixel, B2B Marketing, Project Management, YouTube, Unbounce, Landing Page Design, Cross-channel Marketing, Direct Marketing, Microsoft Advertising, Campaigns, Personas, Startup Consulting, Launch Strategy, Web UX, Value Proposition, Product Ideation, Ideation, Data Analysis, Market Research, Digital Brand Identity, Logo Design, n8n, AI Tools, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Go-to-market Execution, Technical Writing, Product Launch, Product Strategy, Zapier, Make (formerly Integromat), Revenue Operations (RevOps), Webflow, Graphic Design, Process Development, Event Marketing, Hiring, Audience Development, Website Design, Microsoft Power BI, Podcast Marketing, Google Optimize, Wix, Circle, User Research, UX Design, Networking, Digital Project Management, Digital Product Management, User Onboarding, Shopify, Community Outreach, Advertising, Process Optimization, Messaging Development, Website Audits, Blogs, Seos, Client Presentations, Storytelling, Make.com, AI Agents, Automation, Loyalty Programs, Mobile User Acquisition, CRM
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