Fernando D'Annunzio, Marketing Expert in Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
Fernando is available for hire
Hire Fernando

Fernando D'Annunzio

Verified Expert  in Marketing

Marketing Expert

Location
Fort Lauderdale, FL, United States
Toptal Member Since
May 8, 2023

Fernando is experienced in performance marketing, search engine marketing, and paid media. He has worked with eCommerce and Ledgen Group for B2B and B2C companies like NBA and NHL teams, Caterpillar, Lending Tree, regional banks, and cybersecurity firms—managing monthly budgets of up to $1 million. Fernando is also a quick learner and leverages AI for digital media. He has deep knowledge of SEO and local SEO, effectively conducting audits, content planning, and on-page optimization.

Project Highlights

Product Page SEO for Parts.cat.com
Improved product feeds and SEO for aftermarket accessories regarding earth-moving solutions that increased indexing by over 36% and organic listing by over 120%.
SEO for Foreyes.com
Revamped the content plan and site structure, increasing organic sessions from 3,000 to over 100,000 per month in 12 months, which resulted in a 3.8% organic conversion rate in 2018-2019.
Paid Search Campaigns Optimization
Designed a paid search cadence for a bank customer that optimized ads to the ever-changing interest rate environment in late 2022 and 2023. This grew ROAS by 1,020 for new money market accounts.

Expertise

Work Experience

Paid Search and SEO Consultant

2023 - PRESENT
Freelance
  • Planned and executed short to medium-term search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search, including Apple Search Ads, for national ad agencies—focusing on search, Google Display Network (GDN), and shopping ad campaigns on Google and Microsoft Ads.
  • Revamped the Chicago Blackhawks' product feed SEO for the Shopify store, which grew ROAS by 180% for paid and organic media on the shopping channel. Used Google Analytics 4 to analyze the store's traffic and engagement.
  • Worked for Planful, managing SaaS lead generation on Google and Microsoft Advertising, performing ad optimization, and restructuring search engine marketing (SEM) accounts and campaigns in the NAM, APAC, and EMEA regions.

SEM Expert

2023 - 2024
Car Part Source
  • Supported the client in revitalizing their extensive B2B eCommerce platform, which had stagnated under the management of a digital agency, resulting in months of limited growth.
  • Implemented a product segmentation strategy based on the 80-20 principle, optimizing impression-add-to-cart ratios and profitability, resulting in a TROAS increase from 800% to 1,200%.
  • Introduced new products to the account structure uncovering new sales that were previously bypassed. The process involved market research, keyword research, and campaign setup.
  • Improved the Google Ads performance and conducted a thorough audit of the Google Merchant Center, increasing organic impressions by 46% for the shopping channel.

SEO Expert

2023 - 2023
Nicolas Kimball II
  • Developed the on and off-page SEO structure for a new website launch.
  • Delivered an SEO framework for creating 1,500 new pages and 3,000+ internal link opportunities using AI for content planning.
  • Used ChatGPT 4.5 to upload the on-page SEO framework programmatically.

Digital Marketing Manager – Paid Media and SEO

2021 - 2022
Caterpillar
  • Improved product feeds and SEO for aftermarket accessories regarding earth-moving solutions that increased indexing by over 36% and organic listing by over 120%.
  • Reduced the cost per acquisition (CPA) on Google Ads for perkins.com by 41% and for parts.cat.com by 36% through a portfolio bidding strategy and SEO content marketing for landing pages.
  • Introduced Performance Max for ShopCaterpillar.com, a clothing and accessories website, resulting in over 21% conversions vs. shopping.
  • Managed paid media, including pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and SEO for B2B and B2C eCommerce sites, overseeing all eCommerce marketing and a budget of $2.5 million annually.

Paid Search and SEO Consultant

2020 - 2021
Self-employed
  • Managed demand generation and SEO for the Chicago Blackhawks' eCommerce with paid media and shopping ads, improving ROAS by 5.71.
  • Elevated the brand for Firestone Building Products, managing lead generation on Microsoft Ads and Google—search, GDN, YouTube, and Discovery—with a monthly budget of $180,000 targeting the UK, Benelux, Germany, Italy, and Scandinavian countries.
  • Handled planning and execution of personal accounts' paid search plan for Byline Bank, with a monthly budget of $250,000. I standardized CPA for new account leads at $81.
  • Worked for LendingTree in lead generation for deposit accounts, managing paid search and display with a monthly budget of $175,000. I improved conversion value by over 13% after two months by segmenting audiences and using 1st-party data.

Digital Marketing Lead

2018 - 2020
For Eyes
  • Increased organic sessions from 3,000 to 100,000 in 12 months through SEO tactics targeting local searches and enhancing our EETA content.
  • Created a content marketing plan generating 600+ pages and managed copywriters, developers, and a social media team.
  • Devised and implemented a paid media plan and SEO to promote online eye exam booking, managing an annual budget of $4.7 million and leading a team of two direct reports.
  • Standardized CPA at $23.2 from a base cost of $90.1 for paid media—paid search.
  • Launched smart shopping campaigns instead of regular shopping execution, improving ROAS by 7.1.

Product Page SEO for Parts.cat.com

http://parts.cat.com

Improved product feeds and SEO for aftermarket accessories regarding earth-moving solutions that increased indexing by over 36% and organic listing by over 120%.

The aftermarket accessories' organic shopping listings on parts.cat.com had hit a plateau, with no improvement in organic impressions on Google Search Console for over a year. Consequently, the cost per click (CPC) and cost per acquisition (CPA) surged, making the entire Google Shopping performance too expensive.

I recommended stopping advertising and conducting a comprehensive SEO audit of all product landing pages. The audit uncovered duplicate content, product category mismatches, and a need for schema markup in all newly created pages.

After resolving these SEO issues, the Google Performance Max campaign was restarted, resulting in a significantly better CPA and a substantial increase in organic sales through Google's product synch organic listings.

SEO for Foreyes.com

http://foreyes.com

Revamped the content plan and site structure, increasing organic sessions from 3,000 to over 100,000 per month in 12 months, which resulted in a 3.8% organic conversion rate in 2018-2019.

A retail chain specializing in optical products with over 150 locations across the United States had its local SEO managed by an external listing tool, separate from the main domain. Furthermore, the organization was not producing industry-specific content despite 60% of leads being generated through organic search.

I conducted an audit of the main competitors in the industry and found out that while organic search was the most critical channel for conversion, no player was focused on content marketing. Based on my research, I identified three tasks to perform:
• Designing a structure for local SEO
• Creating a content marketing plan
• Managing content creation and distribution

As a result, the plan delivered 150 new location pages and over 600 pieces of new content targeting top, middle, and bottom funnel queries. These were later distributed via email and social media channels. The process increased the organic sessions' conversion rate to a healthy 3.8% and reduced paid media CPA below $23.

Paid Search Campaigns Optimization

Designed a paid search cadence for a bank customer that optimized ads to the ever-changing interest rate environment in late 2022 and 2023. This grew ROAS by 1,020 for new money market accounts.

Many regional banks were struggling to keep up with the frequent fluctuations in interest rates caused by competition and macroeconomic factors. Consequently, optimizing their paid search campaigns for the ever-changing conditions was challenging.

A system was implemented using the Google Ads Editor and Google Sheets to address this issue. This system replicated all live ads in Google Ads, allowing for offline changes to be instantly reflected in the account. Furthermore, a strict ad template was developed and tested, making identifying and modifying text assets easy.

As a result of this system, over $32 million in new accounts were opened through paid search—last click attribution—during the first quarter of 2023.

eCommerce for Perkins.com

Managed organic and paid search channels for Perkins.com in the UK and the US, leading to a 41% reduction in CPA and a 120% increase in organic product impressions in Google Shopping Organic.

I managed organic and paid search channels for Perkins.com in the UK and the US, achieving remarkable results by applying my expertise in search intent analysis, optimization frameworks, and strategic implementation.

I introduced a framework for product feed optimization based on search intent and aligned the available SKU (27,000 products) with potential customers' intent. This involved meticulous research, data analysis, and a deep understanding of customer behavior. Leveraging this knowledge, I developed a robust strategy to match users' search intent with the appropriate Shopping and Search ads on Google.

My efforts seamlessly connected the right products with the right audience, resulting in higher click-through rates, improved conversion rates, and increased revenue through organic and paid search channels.

My contributions showcased my ability to drive tangible results and demonstrated my commitment to delivering exceptional marketing performance in the ever-evolving digital landscape.

Google Ads Audit for Cybersecurity SaaS Company

https://www.logicmonitor.com/

Uncovered over 37% monthly savings on wasted clicks for Google Ads after conducting an account audit and improving performance marketing.

logicmonitor.com is one of the leading SaaS tools in the highly competitive cybersecurity market.

My task was to audit a large Google Ads account that's investing over $1 million per month and has experienced stagnation in performance and propose a medium- and long-term optimization roadmap. My audit followed a framework involving a review of account structure, keyword analysis, ad copy and extensions, quality score analysis (Keyword-Ad-Landing Page), bid management, and conversion tracking and reporting (Google Looker Studio).

Car Parts | Pay-per-click (PPC) Execution Google Ads

http://carpartsource.com

Improved revenues by 15% by restructuring the Google Ads account to increase CTR and conversion rate targeting high-value SKUs.

The account had been managed by a large agency for years without revenue scalation, which frustrated the client. Since I took over the account, I focused on advertising management by updating old campaigns and revamping assets and ad copy. I also reorganized the account to get a simpler and more manageable structure to make it easier to identify high-performer categories and SKUs while using Google algorithms to their full potential, resulting in a 15% sales increase in just two months of execution.
2010 - 2011

Master of Science Degree in Sustainable Business Systems

University of Michigan - Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA

1999 - 2001

Master’s Degree in Business Administration (MBA)

University of Manchester - Manchester, UK

1993 - 1998

Bachelor's Degree in Industrial Engineering

UCAB - Caracas, Venezuela

FEBRUARY 2023 - PRESENT

Ask Questions to Make Data-Driven Decisions

Google

FEBRUARY 2023 - PRESENT

Google Analytics Certification

Google

APRIL 2021 - PRESENT

Shopping Ads Certification

Google

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