Jakub Michalak
Performance Marketing Manager · Growth Lead
Turning attention into revenue – and guesswork into growth – 10 years, $30M+ managed.
PROFILE
Performance & growth marketer with ~10 years scaling paid acquisition for B2C brands across Europe and the US – both e-commerce and consumer apps. Managed $30M+ across Meta, TikTok, and Google, owning strategy, creative, and measurement end to end. Built and led paid social teams from zero, and now drive paid growth for an AI learning app with 40M+ users. Known for pairing creative strategy with hard analytical rigour – building the frameworks that separate winning ads from noise, and turning data-layer insight into acquisition strategy.
WORK EXPERIENCE
Mar 2025 – Present
Munich, DE (hybrid)
Munich, DE (hybrid)
StudySmarter (Vaia) – Performance Marketing Manager
AI-powered learning app, 40M+ users, DACH market
–Owned paid user acquisition across TikTok, Meta, and Google for the DACH market.
–Built web2app funnels from scratch alongside app campaigns, lifting funnel CR from 0.5% to 3.2%.
–Built the company’s core creative-evaluation framework (click-to-install / signup-to-purchase dial model), replacing engagement-based ad ranking with install-intent and payer-quality metrics across channels.
–Ran deep cohort and creative-level analysis to pinpoint what actually moves ROAS – isolating creative fatigue from auction dynamics – and translated it into budget and testing decisions.
–Surfaced a monetization insight (an underserved segment making up ~5% of users but ~18% of payers) and turned it into a dedicated Google Ads acquisition strategy.
–Ran the UGC creative pipeline end to end: creator briefing, hook frameworks, and performance-based iteration.
–Identified app-store conversion as a hidden scaling blocker (~11% vs ~43–46% peer median) and flagged the fix to the team.
–Connected AppsFlyer, RevenueCat, and Amplitude into one clear measurement picture (attribution, revenue, behaviour) to guide budget and channel decisions.
Sep 2021 – Feb 2025
Poznań, PL
Poznań, PL
MTA Digital / Force of Nature – Paid Social Team Leader · Senior Social Ads & Creative Strategist
One agency, two markets – EU (MTA Digital) and US (Force of Nature)
–Promoted from Senior Meta Ads Specialist to Paid Social Team Leader; grew and led a team of 7 across 20+ client accounts.
–Managed $5M+ in annual ad spend across Meta and TikTok for B2C brands in the EU and US.
–Cut cost-per-lead by 66% on US B2B campaigns (Meta & LinkedIn) through data-driven creative strategy.
–Built the team’s creative-strategy and testing playbook and introduced AI into the social-ads workflow ahead of the market – later a client-facing consulting offer.
–Delivered Meta Ads training and consulting for specialists and clients, standardising how creative was briefed, tested, and scaled.
Jan 2025 – Present
Poznań, PL
Poznań, PL
JM Marketing (Jakub Michalak) – Founder · AI-for-Paid-Social Consultant & Educator
–Launched Poland’s first creative-strategy course for paid social.
–Build an expert brand across YouTube and LinkedIn, publishing on AI in paid social and creative strategy.
–Consult B2C brands and agencies on embedding AI into their creative and paid-social workflows.
Nov 2020 – Nov 2022
Poznań, PL
Poznań, PL
Projekt Mniej – Co-founder & CMO
–Co-founded a zero-waste / eco e-commerce brand; built acquisition and brand from scratch.
Oct 2018 – Jul 2021
Poznań, PL
Poznań, PL
Verseo – Social Media Ads Manager & Trainer
–Built the agency’s Facebook Ads team from zero: hired, trained, and supported 15+ specialists.
–Managed Facebook and TikTok campaigns for 100+ clients and supported the agency’s strategic partners.
–Ran ad training and contributed to sales / client acquisition.
Jan 2017 – Sep 2018
Poznań, PL
Poznań, PL
Freelance – Digital Marketing
–Ran Facebook Ads, page management, copywriting, and WordPress builds for local B2C clients – the self-taught foundation of the full-stack skillset.
BRANDS I’VE WORKED WITH
StudySmarter (DACH) · Gibson Guitars (US) · Ashley Stewart (US) · Dr Irena Eris (PL) · Selsey (PL) · Source Hydropanels (US)
EDUCATION
Bachelor of Digital Marketing – Collegium Da Vinci University, Poznań · 2018–2021
SKILLS
Channels
Meta Ads · TikTok Ads · Google Ads · Reddit Ads · Snapchat Ads
Tech stack
Triple Whale · AppsFlyer · Amplitude · RevenueCat · FunnelFox · Adnova / Motion
AI stack
Claude · Claude Code · Claude Design · Lovable · ChatGPT · Gemini · Magnific · Higgsfield · Seedance · Arcads AI
Analytics
SKAN / attribution · cohort analysis · funnel diagnosis · root-cause analysis · app funnel analysis
Creative
building workflows · sprint management · creator briefing · data-driven frameworks & testing systems
Leadership
team building & mentoring
LANGUAGES
English C1 · Polish (native)