Charles Blain

About Charles Blain

I build the data infrastructure and AI systems that turn marketing from guesswork into engineering.At Single Throw Marketing, I lead data strategy, marketing analytics, and AI integration across the agency\'s client portfolio. That means designing attribution models, building BigQuery pipelines, deploying GA4 implementations, and creating the reporting systems that connect ad spend to actual revenue. Not vanity metrics. Closed-loop, dollar-for-dollar clarity.Before this role, I spent 20+ years in digital marketing. SEM when AdWords was still new. Affiliate marketing. SEO. Consulting. Agency. In-house. I taught myself whatever the next problem required: SQL, Python, GTM, conversion optimization, behavioral science. That path gave me something most data people don\'t have and most marketers don\'t build: fluency in both languages.I write about the patterns underneath all of this at charlesblain.com. Daily notes on why accurate data still leads to wrong decisions, why organizations slow down as they grow, and what AI actually changes about marketing (and what it doesn\'t). Frameworks like Dashboard Blindness, The Momentum Engine, and Hybrid Intelligence came from watching the same mechanisms repeat across industries.What I\'m focused on now: predictive analytics for client performance, agentic AI workflows that replace manual reporting, and marketing attribution models that account for the messy reality of multi-touch customer journeys.If you work in marketing analytics, data strategy, or AI implementation for growth, I\'d enjoy comparing notes.

Experience

1. SVP Data & Innovation

   Single Throw Marketing

   Jan 2023 — Present · Wall Township, NJ, US

   Lead data infrastructure, AI integration, and marketing analytics strategy for a full-service digital marketing agency serving healthcare, manufacturing, professional services, and B2B clients- Designed and deployed BigQuery-first data pipeline architecture, replacing legacy connector-to-dashboard workflows with SQL-transformable, AI-ready data infrastructure- Built marketing attribution models (Markov chain, multi-touch) connecting ad spend to closed revenue across Google Ads, Meta, and organic channels using GA4 and CRM data- Created agency-wide reporting system with automated anomaly detection, reducing manual reporting time and surfacing performance issues before client calls- Developing agentic AI workflows using custom tooling to automate client performance analysis, tag auditing (GTM/GA4), and competitive intelligence- Architected internal tools including a BigQuery-powered prospecting system and automated GTM audit platform for new client onboarding

Education

• Université Paris-Est Créteil

  Business Administration and Management (BA), Marketing

  1989 — 1992

Skills

• Ppc
• Sem
• SEO
• Lead Generation
• Affiliate Marketing
• Local Search Optimization
• Marketing
• Search Advertising
• Online Lead Generation
• Google Analytics
• Google Adwords
• Online Advertising
• Video SEO
• Online Marketing
• Analytics
• Landing Page Optimization
• Conversion Optimization
• Web Marketing
• Email Marketing
• Social Media Marketing
• Media Buying
• Digital Marketing
• Web Analytics
• Mobile Marketing
• Keyword Research
• Ad Networks
• Call Centers
• Local Marketing
• Direct Mail
• Referral Generation
• Google Maps
• Google Apps
• Pay for Performance
• Contextual Advertising
• Yahoo Search Marketing
• Organic Search
• Marketing Strategy
• Digital Strategy
• Campaign Management
• Customer Acquisition