Ryan Mulchrone, Marketing Expert in London, United Kingdom
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Ryan Mulchrone

Verified Expert  in Marketing

Bio

Ryan is a seasoned brand and digital strategist with over a decade of experience in both B2C and B2B industries. He has a particular passion for the intersection of marketing, design, and product. As a classic T-shaped marketer, Ryan has deep expertise in brand strategy and growth marketing, along with broad knowledge across the entire marketing mix. He can assist with everything from brand positioning to tactical execution across various marketing channels.

Project Highlights

Brand Strategy for Sifted
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.

Expertise

  • Brand Strategy
  • Content Marketing
  • Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
  • Customer Retention
  • Digital Publishing
  • Growth Marketing
  • Podcasting
  • Subscriptions

Work Experience

Digital Director

2023 - 2024
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

2021 - 2023
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

2020 - 2021
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

2015 - 2021
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

2011 - 2015
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

2010 - 2013
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.

Brand Strategy for Sifted

https://sifted.eu/

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.

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.

Flagship Event Series Launch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSuuMqNmwXo

Developed 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

https://pastmaster.ai

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.
2006 - 2010

Bachelor's Degree in Design

Goldsmiths, University of London - London, United Kingdom

Core

Brand Strategy, Content Marketing, Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO), Marketing Automation, Google Ads, Facebook Ads, 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, Pay-per-Click (PPC), Performance Marketing, Funnel Optimization, Content Marketing Strategy, Brand Marketing, Google Tag Manager, SEO Tools, Social Media, 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 Strategy, Landing Pages, Customer Engagement, Product Marketing, 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, Pardot, Google My Business

Business Models

B2B, Business to Consumer (B2C), SaaS, SaaS Product Marketing

Technical

Google Search Console

Other

Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Growth Marketing, Subscriptions, Digital Publishing, 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 Journeys, Startups, Customer Data, Strategy, Retargeting Pixels, Digital Marketing Product Manager, Competitor Analysis & Profiling, Brand Books, Customer Retention, 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, 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, Go-to-market Plans, Advertising, Process Optimization

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