Sebastian Loaiza, Marketing Expert in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Sebastian is available for hire
Hire Sebastian

Sebastian Loaiza

Verified Expert  in Marketing

Marketing Expert

Location
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Toptal Member Since
September 22, 2022

Sebastian has 17+ years of experience in digital marketing as a general manager focused on growth, performance, marketing, sales and management, business operations, and strategy. He has consulted for brands worldwide on their growth efforts as a country manager, global marketing director, head of performance, and growth director in numerous industries, including iGaming, retail, entertainment/gaming, affiliate network, edtech, and healthtech.

Project Highlights

Black Friday 2013
Introduced Black Friday in Africa, tripling orders during a two-day, last-minute event.
Successful Funding Rounds
Directed multiple million-dollar funding rounds as a key stakeholder.
Optimizations
Achieved huge optimizations for numerous metrics, KPIs, and user experience.

Expertise

Work Experience

Consultant

2014 - PRESENT
Self-employed
  • Established a firm and wore multiple hats, including country manager, global marketing director, director of acquisitions, chief marketing officer (CMO), and growth director.
  • Managed strategies, including app store optimization (ASO) and gamification and pricing strategies, to achieve different goals as the owner, ranging from hyper-growth to profitability and LTV optimization.
  • Helped with pitching and acquiring several funding rounds that depended on the client. I was a key stakeholder and team member.
  • Led huge optimizations and customer engagement increases, including 300% FTD, 270% registration, 1,200% net revenue, 140% paid subscribers, 27% CR, 1,450% in-app conversion, 98% CPA decrease, and key partnerships.
  • Drove results for 360VUZ, a video entertainment app; Camper.com, a global premium footwear retailer; BetWarrior, a LATAM and Canadian iGaming operator; Chessplus International, a West Africa iGaming Operator; and uLesson, a West African edtech.
  • Delivered marketing solutions under NDAs for leading game operators in Africa, India, and the United States; healthtech and ad tech platforms; and affiliate networks.
  • Used loyalty marketing within various brands and clients for incremental retention and LTV. This included points schemes and cumulative spending opportunities, leading to long-term success.

Country Manager (Africa)

2016 - 2020
Criteo
  • Managed a market and expansion strategy, conducted market research, remarketing, and brand activation on focus groups, localized and optimized our product offering, and circumvented regulatory and payment service provider limitations.
  • Grew our live numbers from four clients to around 74, a medium-to-large customer base with numerous others signed with integration in progress.
  • Led direct interactions and became a trusted advisor with C-levels, technical, and marketing teams from numerous industries, verticals, GEOs, and ad agencies. Agencies included FMGCs, fintech, banking, travel and airlines, and other services.
  • Handled account planning and management for numerous affiliate and client accounts, including creating targeting lists, reaching out and launching, optimizing performance, and ensuring top-level service while growing the relationship.

Head of Digital

2014 - 2016
Konga
  • Owned the P&L of a 7-figure monthly budget for startup marketing.
  • Oversaw target allocation across various channels, including mobile advertising, mobile sales, social media marketing (SMM), SMS marketing, email marketing through SendGrid, Salesforce, customer service, and operations.
  • Increased ROI by over 400% on major channels while maintaining a relatively stable budget.
  • Performed massive optimizations, including a 99.6% CPO decrease, 92% bounce rate decrease, and 2x CR increase.

Head of Online Marketing

2013 - 2014
Jumia
  • Owned P&L responsibility for a high 6-figure (EUR) monthly budget: managed the budgets and target allocations for online and offline marketing departments, sales force, customer service, and operations.
  • Utilized sales management and demand planning strategies and introduced Black Friday to the Africa region despite pushback, which tripled field sales during a 2-day event in the first year. It has exponentially increased ever since.
  • Achieved significant optimizations, such as a 77% gross revenue increase while maintaining relatively stable budgets and 135% gross orders.
  • Gained experience in TV ads and YouTube Ads, including video and display ads, strategically placed within YouTube content. Achieved a significant increase in brand recognition and audience engagement throughout campaigns.
  • Collaborated with agencies to create radio advertising jingles for campaigns like Black Friday, Christmas, and St. Valentine's and standard branding to produce teasers and reinforce brand recognition.

Black Friday 2013

http://www.jumia.com

Introduced Black Friday in Africa, tripling orders during a two-day, last-minute event.

The concept of Black Friday for this region and the brand Jumia was unknown or resisted by numerous team members and stakeholders.

Nonetheless, I went around to the different category team leads, including fashion and general merchandising, and we improvised a plan. With little prior notice in marketing and preparation, we built out a two-day event, which brought in three times the number of orders of our highest days and provided the stepping stone for years to come with exponential increases in orders and gross revenue with higher customer engagement.

Successful Funding Rounds

Directed multiple million-dollar funding rounds as a key stakeholder.

I led successful funding rounds worth millions for several brands. Each involved growth strategies and tight deadlines, which I delivered with excellent results. Depending on the client, it also involved numerous projection and forecast models, P&L collaboration with the CFO, and pitches and introductions.

Optimizations

Achieved huge optimizations for numerous metrics, KPIs, and user experience.

I drove optimizations for numerous brands, covering key metrics, KPIs, and UX, leading to stronger brands, customer engagement, performance, and profitability.

OUTCOMES
• 300% FTD increase
• 270% registration increase
• 1,200% net revenue increase
• 140% paid subscribers increase
• 27% CR increase
• 1,450% in-app conversion increase
• 98% CPA decrease
• Key partnerships
• 400% ROI increase on major channels while maintaining a relatively stable budget
• 99.6% CPO decrease
• 92% bounce rate decrease
• 2x CR increase
2004 - 2007

Bachelor of Commerce Degree in Marketing

Concordia University - Montreal, QC, Canada

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