Built to Convert

Alaina Andreozzi is the Co-founder of Pizza Wine, a sparkling red wine brand designed to pair perfectly with pizza. With a background in brand strategy and fractional CMO work, Alaina has helped early-stage companies refine their messaging, test creative ideas quickly, and scale with lean resources. She's held leadership roles at companies like Suma Brands and Haldi, bringing a sharp, no-nonsense perspective to what makes a brand resonate. At Pizza Wine, she brings that same ethos of scrappy creativity and message-first marketing to life, building a beverage brand that's both playful and intentional.

Many brands spend too much time perfecting design and not enough time clarifying their message. This episode explores how early-stage companies can accelerate, experiment with messaging, and craft brands that resonate. Tyler Lane hosts Alaina Andreozzi as they discuss the value of minimum viable creative, structuring fractional roles for high impact, and why message clarity consistently outperforms polished campaigns.

Mark Mitton is the President of Gravity Sprint, a specialized division of Gravity Global serving startups and companies pivoting for rapid growth. With over 15 years of experience, he has led branding initiatives for 15 startups and collaborated with numerous Fortune 1000 companies. Before joining Gravity Global, Mark co-founded Carbon8, a digital marketing agency acquired by 9thWonder in 2017, and held leadership roles in branding and digital strategy across various technology firms. He is also a recognized speaker on digital marketing and branding, having appeared on programs like MSNBC's Business Makeover and contributed thought leadership to the industry.

The rise of AI is reshaping marketing at a breakneck pace, pushing teams to rethink how they work, create, and compete. But as tools evolve almost daily, many marketers struggle to figure out how to get started or keep up. How can brands harness AI's power without losing the human touch that makes great marketing resonate?

According to Mark Mitton, a marketing innovator and thought leader in AI-driven transformation, the key is embracing experimentation and curiosity to stay ahead. He highlights that AI isn't just a tool for automation, it's an engine for expanding creative possibilities and empowering marketers to focus more on strategy than execution. This shift enables teams to work smarter, faster, and more efficiently without sacrificing quality. By blending human insight with AI's capabilities, brands can unlock new levels of scale, agility, and personalization. Mark also points to the importance of using AI not only to generate ideas but to challenge assumptions, find blind spots, and validate campaigns.

In this episode of Built to Convert, host Tyler Lane sits down with Mark Mitton, President of Gravity Sprint, to discuss how AI is transforming marketing strategy and creativity. They explore why marketers must rethink their roles, how AI tools can boost ideation and validation, and the evolving balance between automation and human input. Mark also shares his approach to building client-specific AI models to drive smarter campaigns.

Paul Rakovich is the CEO of Clicks and Clients, a full-service digital marketing agency specializing in lead generation and performance-based advertising for B2B and B2C businesses. Since founding the company in 2008, he has helped clients manage over $100 million in ad spend, focusing on ROI-driven strategies across platforms like Google, Meta, and TikTok. Paul began his digital marketing journey in 2003 by launching a successful e-commerce business from his garage, which quickly scaled through paid search advertising. A graduate of Northern Arizona University, he is also a recognized PPC expert and a recommended Perry Marshall consultant. 

Want to know why your paid media campaigns hit a wall even when the leads look cheap and the clicks seem steady? Many brands fall into the trap of chasing surface-level metrics without understanding what really drives scalable growth. So, what's the smarter approach to incremental success that unlocks bigger wins?

According to Paul Rakovich, a seasoned paid media strategist, the key lies in looking two to three steps beyond the first metric — because cheap leads often deliver poor downstream results. He highlights that real optimization happens when brands measure deeper funnel actions like booked meetings, show rates, and lead quality, not just the front-end cost per click. This deeper measurement approach reveals where campaigns truly succeed or fail, allowing for precise, data-backed improvements. By focusing on incremental lifts, teams can compound small wins into major gains over time, while avoiding costly mistakes and knee-jerk optimizations.

In this episode of Built to Convert, host Tyler Lane sits down with Paul Rakovich, CEO of Clicks and Clients, to discuss smarter paid media strategies and the power of incremental growth. They explore how to optimize beyond initial metrics, why client-agency collaboration lessons from managing multimillion-dollar accounts and navigating tough client conversations.

Ryan Levander is the Founder of Rednavel Consulting, a Denver-based firm specializing in analytics, conversion rate optimization, and experimentation for SaaS and e-commerce businesses. With over seven years of experience in measurement and four years in CRO, Ryan has led Rednavel in delivering data-driven strategies that enhance user experiences and drive revenue growth. Beyond consulting, Ryan is a recognized educator, contributing to platforms like Traffic Think Tank and MeasurementMarketing.io, and frequently speaks at industry events, sharing insights on analytics and optimization.

Most marketers focus their attention on traffic sources and ad platforms — but what happens after the click? Too often, teams rely on incomplete data or overlook the user journey entirely, leaving opportunities untapped and budgets wasted. How can brands build a marketing strategy that measures what really matters and turns insights into action?

According to Ryan Levander, a data-driven marketing strategist and experimentation expert, it starts by measuring the entire customer journey, not just the last click or final conversion. He highlights that many businesses miss valuable insights by only tracking bottom-of-funnel outcomes, failing to understand earlier touchpoints that influence decisions. By setting up smarter analytics and prioritizing measurement from the outset, companies can better align their strategy with customer behavior, improve optimization efforts, and make more confident marketing decisions. Ryan also emphasizes the importance of asking the right business questions before jumping into reports or tools, ensuring data serves strategy, not the other way around.

In this episode of Built to Convert, host Tyler Lane sits down with Ryan Levander, Founder of Rednavel Consulting, to discuss how to build a measurement-first marketing strategy. They explore why most brands overlook pre-conversion insights, how to map user flows for better testing, and why strong analytics foundations drive smarter experimentation. Ryan also gives advice on bridging the gap between paid media and on-site experiences.

Paul Lewis is the Chief Technology Officer at Pythian, a global IT services company that helps organizations transform by leveraging data, analytics, AI, and the cloud. With over 25 years of experience in technology leadership, he is recognized for his expertise in digital transformation and operational IT strategy. Before joining Pythian, Paul served as Global CTO for Hitachi Vantara and held senior technology roles in the financial services sector. He is also a frequent speaker at industry events and serves on advisory boards for programs in business analytics and artificial intelligence. 

The enterprise AI race is full of bold claims, rapid innovation, and mounting pressure to keep up or risk falling behind. But amid the hype, how can organizations cut through the noise to focus on what actually works? What does it take to win with AI at scale?

According to Paul Lewis, a globally recognized technology strategist and AI advisor, the answer lies in intellectual honesty and practical readiness. He highlights that most organizations are captivated by futuristic AI use cases but lack the foundational data quality and governance to support them. As a result, AI initiatives often stall or fail due to mismatched expectations and underdeveloped infrastructure.

In this episode of Built to Convert, host Tyler Lane sits down with Paul Lewis, Chief Technology Officer at Pythian, to discuss what it really takes to win with AI in the enterprise. They explore the five-part AI readiness framework, the gap between hype and execution, and how to uncover the five percent of AI ideas worth building. Paul also emphasizes the importance of prompt engineering and highlights why data quality is still the primary barrier to AI success.

​Tyler Lane is the CEO and Founder of Session Interactive, a Denver-based digital marketing consultancy specializing in SEO, analytics, paid search, and content strategy for mid-market and enterprise brands. With over 11 years of experience in digital marketing, Tyler leads a team of seasoned professionals who deliver data-driven solutions to help clients achieve measurable growth. Under his leadership, Session Interactive has become a trusted partner across industries such as finance, healthcare, technology, and travel, known for its strategic thinking and flawless execution.

What does it really take to scale a brand in today's fast-moving digital world? Many businesses throw money at paid ads or follow trends hoping for quick wins; but true, sustainable growth demands more than that. How do top-performing companies turn data into a strategic advantage?

According to Tyler Lane, a seasoned digital marketing strategist and analytics expert, smart growth begins with trustworthy data and a clear understanding of performance across every channel. He highlights how most businesses overlook the foundation — clean data and attribution — leaving their strategies to guesswork. Tyler explains how aligning analytics with creative strategy empowers teams to innovate without sacrificing performance, leading to campaigns that are not only more effective but also more resilient as platforms evolve.

In this episode of Built to Convert, Tyler Lane, CEO and Founder of Session Interactive, is interviewed by Chad Franzen of Rise25 to discuss how data-driven marketing and strategy help brands grow with intention. He shares how to balance analytics with creativity, why SEO is far from dead, and what makes a successful digital campaign in a crowded landscape. Tyler also provides insights on embracing AI to boost collaboration and accelerate results.

Amir Alsayegh is the SEO Lead at Crocs, a global footwear company known for its lightweight, comfortable, and casual shoes. With a strong background in international SEO, he emphasizes the importance of cultural understanding and technical strategies to effectively reach diverse markets. His expertise continues to drive Crocs' digital growth and global brand visibility.

Building a scalable SEO program in a large, fast-moving organization is no small feat — especially when that program has never existed before. Without internal precedent, clear workflows, or SEO-specific resources, where do you even begin? And once you've got something working, how do you make sure it sticks?

According to Amir Alsayegh, a seasoned SEO and growth strategist, the key is to start small, prove value fast, and build momentum from strategic wins. He highlights how focusing on one product category allowed him to test and refine a full-funnel SEO approach before replicating it across other silos. This focused execution created measurable growth while minimizing disruption to other teams. Amir also redefined "best practices" through a "good, better, best" model that helped set realistic standards and drive team-wide buy-in. Education, performance visibility, and internal alignment became just as important as keyword data.

In this episode of Built to Convert, host Tyler Lane sits down with Amir Alsayegh, SEO Lead at Crocs, to discuss how to launch and embed a sustainable SEO strategy inside a global brand. They cover silo-by-silo SEO testing, aligning cross-functional teams around performance data, and the transition from agency work to in-house leadership. Amir also shares how Crocs is approaching AI integration with user value in mind.