Valchanova.me

Started as a personal blog, focused on marketing, growth and digital strategy, Valchanova.me was born out of the passion for sharing my knowledge and experience with digital professionals.

Now it's the hub for my consulting practice. I work with brands on markets all over the globe and I help them build meaningful relationships with stakeholders and scale them through digital channels.

Marketing, Growth, and Digital Strategy Consulting:
- Working with brands in industries from e-commerce to SaaS, from fitness to luxury design.
- Building digital strategies through hands-on customer research, data-driven persona building, and competitive auditing.
- Content marketing planning - building roadmaps and day-to-day team consulting about content production, distribution, and measurement.
- Performance marketing - creating strategies and managing budgets in paid channels from Google Ads and Facebook Ads to Quora and Reddit.
- Copywriting, landing page optimization, and CRO.
- Growth marketing - going beyond customer acquisition to activation, retention, and more.

Public Speaking & Training:
- An accredited lecturer at New Bulgarian University and Software University, guest speaker at Sofia University, having taught more than 2,000 students on Content Marketing, Marketing Analytics, and Gamification.
- Participated in more than 10 international events as a speaker on topics including measurement, content marketing, growth, and more.

Publishing:
- 300,000 readers accumulated through 10 years of content publishing.
- One of the top 20 blogs in Bulgaria, second most authoritative marketing blog (2010).
- Featured as a 'Must Read' on GrowthHackers.com.

Digital Marketing Strategist, Trainer, and Public Speaker

Ratio.bg

Responsible for all communication-related issues, including social media management, blogger relations, media relations, promotion of events, sponsorship proposals, etc.

Bragging rights:
- Led the full development of the event brand from 180 to 750 guests per conference
- Organized more than 50 events in different formats
- Overdelivered on guest expectations with an event NPS of 85 for the latest Ratio Science Forum
- Secured partnerships and sponsorships with national and international companies

Founder and Communications Manager

GrowthMentor

I'm dedicating some of my time to mentor founders, growth, and marketing leads through GrowthMentor, a curated platform of invite-only startup and growth marketing mentors.

I've so far had more than a 350 insightful discussions with companies in varied industries and sizes. Looking forward to talking with many more.

Check out my profile at the link below 👇

Mentor

Hypergrowth

I work to bring expert-led content to growth marketers and startup founders who can benefit from it. If you're curious about my work, check out the Hypergrowth Blog and our interview series Hypergrowth Talks.

Head Of Content

Enhancv

Enhancv helps you highlight your achievements, attitude, and personality to stand out and feel proud. The company has been featured at Forbes, Business Insider, Inc. Magazine, Lifehacker, The Hill.

Bragging rights:
- Optimized performance advertising efficiency and brought down CAC 3-fold in 6 months.
- Led the implementation of a full measurement strategy and implementing the data-driven approach for the whole team.
- Set up and led the first growth experimentation process in the company.
- Planned and executed an extensive customer research project through the Jobs-to-be-done methodology and implemented the findings in a product repositioning at the end of 2017 (team effort together with Enhancv's CMO and Art Director).

Digital Strategist

New Bulgarian University

Lecturer of Gamification in the Master's Department of New Bulgarian University.
Gaming elements, gamification strategy, and tactics, gamification mechanics, successful gamification implementation.

Already taught 3 years of students, undergoing a Master's Degree in New Media and Communications.

Lecturer - Gamification

Wishio

Creating and optimising the overall marketing strategy of the Wishio brand, including choice of channels, setting KPIs and conducting ongoing performance measurement. Managing an internal marketing and design team, as well as third parties for SEO, PPC and social media marketing. Keeping an active role in creating marketing campaigns, content marketing, promotion set-up and co-marketing campaign discussions with suppliers.

- Led the first marketing campaigns establishing the brand and reached some 150 000 targeted users through paid and organic channels.
- For 4 months served as project manager for the whole Wishio team of 8 people, analyzing company performance and keeping track of all major projects within the organization.

Marketing and Project Manager

Innologica Ltd.

Worked on the communication and marketing strategy of the content reader Inoreader. Developed an overall strategy with different consumer engagement and community building activities, including email marketing automation flows, media outreach to leading tech bloggers, content marketing and advertising management.

Product Marketing Manager

Ozone.bg

Developed the overall marketing strategy, marketing actions and programs for the company brand and specific product lines. Created the social media presence strategy and social media communications policy, determining the use of social media tactics so as strategic goals are met. Advertising planning and management, PR and blogger relations.

Managed all marketing budgets and did general oversight of a team of 5 content managers and 1 designer.

Bragging rights:
- developed the largest expansion of the site's target audience in overall history
- oversaw the transformation from a niche gaming brand to an entertainment and leisure brand with broader appeal
- created marketing campaigns leading the expansion of the company portfolio from 3 to 14 product categories with much larger and diverse target audience
- organized more than 20 events, such as gaming launches, product promotions and festival participations, including the largest gaming launch party in Bulgaria to date with 600+ guests

Head of Marketing

ASBIS

Worked for leading world tech brands like Dell, Razer and ASUS, developed locally the presence of ASBIS' private brands Canyon and Prestigio.

Bragging rights:
- led the establishment of Canyon as a lifestyle tech brand for teens and tweens, including the launch of 5 limited edition series
- introduced a local collaboration between Prestigio e-readers and famous Bulgarian authors
- created partnerships with off-road and drift stars to promote Prestigio GPS
- worked on community building activities with gamers for Razer, including many gaming competitions, product launch events and blogger outreach activities
- managed full year marketing budgets for Dell and ASUS and led all retailer co-campaigns

Marketing Coordinator

Content Strategist & Brand Messaging Craftswoman 💡 I help brands build meaningful relationships with the people who matter. ✨ Sharing strategic ways to create value-packed content and stellar brand messaging.

As a digital marketing strategist, I help brands build meaningful relationships with stakeholders and scale them through digital channels. I run Valchanova.me, a hub for my consulting practice and a blog on marketing, digital strategy, and growth.

My core competencies include strategic research and planning, content marketing, brand messaging, and copywriting. I have worked with brands in various industries, from e-commerce to SaaS, from business services to luxury design. I have also trained more than 2,000 students and spoken at conferences across Europe. In my spare time, I organize popular science events with Ratio, fueling the passion for science in those who don't know they have it yet.

I aim to share my knowledge and experience with digital professionals and inspire them to create impactful and engaging marketing campaigns. I am passionate about words which is the building block of both content marketing, brand messaging, and copywriting. You can easily get in touch by contacting me at v@valchanova.me. Read more at https://valchanova.me.

Vassilena Valchanova

This one isn't mine. And that makes me even happier. 😅

I talk about structure. And systems. And planning. And strategic discipline. And saying No. And then I talk about them again. And again.

Sometimes it feels like I'm alone in that corner.

Thankfully, Adriana Tica is in the same club.

She posted this in her latest newsletter—right as I was writing about the exact same thing on Friday.

If you want to learn how to build a content system by saying No more often—so you can say Yes only to what actually moves your business—join us for a practical live session: https://luma.com/zgti70mf

Let's get that content plan ready for 2026!

2026 is coming. Are you building a content system—or just feeding the hamster wheel?

​The content that actually drives results doesn't come from doing more. It comes from strategic discipline—knowing exactly which pieces are worth creating, how they connect to business outcomes, and how to make them work harder.

​This is exactly what we’ll focus on in this strategy-first session with Adriana Tica.

➡️ Watch us live on LinkedIn or sign up through the event page to get the recording and additional materials: https://luma.com/zgti70mf

​With 18+ years in marketing, Adriana has built her brand on one principle: strategy beats gimmicks. Through her Strategic AF newsletter and consulting work, she helps founders and solopreneurs create content that gets results—not just likes. And she’ll share with us insights on building content systems that scale into 2026 and beyond.

​You'll learn:
→ ​How to translate business goals into content goals that actually map to revenue
→ ​How to decide what content is worth creating
→ Smart distribution and repurposing principles to make content work harder
→ How to free yourself from algorithm dependency
→ How to measure and optimize your content performance

​Plus: Deep dives on newsletters and original research

​Adriana will share why newsletters are your strategic advantage, how to grow one, and how to make it drive revenue. She'll also break down her recent State of Solopreneurship Report—not just the key insights, but the business case, process, and results from creating original research as a content strategy.

​Sign up to join live and ask questions—or get the recording if you can't attend.

Building a Content System for 2026 with Adriana Tica

Counting down the days to Friday for a great event! Just like last year, I'll be meeting fellow peers at Hyperscience's office in Sofia for the mini-conference of Women in Marketing - Bulgaria 🇧🇬.

If you're into events that provide practical value, you can check out the program below. If you're into events for the networking, you can check out the photos below.

If you can't come and join us live, there are virtual tickets available.

If you're based in Bulgaria and looking for a community you can feel at home in, apply – it's totally free and totally worth it.

Damn. It's December 1, and I still don't have a solid marketing plan for 2026.
And honestly? Most of us don't. So if you're in the same boat, I've got a bit of news.

The good news: there's still time. The bad news: not a lot of it.

You could spend the next few weeks trying to figure everything out on your own. Or you could use a structured guide that connects the dots for you.

Which is why you may find one of my courses to be a good solution to your dwindling-days-of-2025 issue.

Both courses are up to 50% off—but only until midnight tonight.

👉 Strategic Content & Messaging helps you build a marketing system that actually works—strategic, designed to outlast algorithm changes, and, most importantly right now, modular. You can start with the sections that solve your biggest challenge straight away.

👉 Personal Branding Blueprint gets you from "I should probably work on my brand" to having a clear positioning, voice, and content plan. Most people complete it in 4 weeks and already start implementing in week 1.

Now, these two won't hand you all the answers. They still require work. But they give you a roadmap so you can figure things out yourself—because you know your brand better than anyone. You just need a bit of support to get there.

If you start now, you'll hit January 2nd with a plan already in place while everyone else is still recovering from New Year's and finally circling back 🙄

Links are in the comments. Not sure if this is the right thing for you? Drop your questions below or DM me.

Leave it to me to turn a touristy brewery tour into a positioning lesson. 😅 But a recent trip to Dublin gave me the perfect thing to share.

The third floor of the Guinness Storehouse is all about the brand's marketing approach. And it reveals something I knew but never really thought about:

Guinness built their entire brand around the one thing most beer companies would try to fix. A proper pour takes a 💩-ton of time!

While everyone orders lagers and gets served immediately, Guinness drinkers wait. And wait. 

💡 And that became their story.

They didn't hide it. They made it ceremonial and built it into culture. They turned patience into a premium signal.

Most marketers I know are tiptoeing around something about their product. A feature that doesn't fit category expectations. Something that feels like a disadvantage.

What Guinness figured out was dead simple: find the cultural context that makes your product truth valuable—"disadvantages" included.

In their case, they tapped into our collective exhaustion with rushed everything (yes, that was a thing before AI, too).

Every market has invisible lanes everyone competes in. Fast delivery. Lower prices. More features. But which one could you actually break—not for the sake of being contrarian, but because your product truth requires it?

Your biggest differentiator might be the thing you're currently hiding.
What product truth have you been avoiding in your marketing?

You know the "there are two wolves" parable? Well, turns out it's valid in brand design, too 😅

Sarah Hart ✤ shared the interesting push and pull between:
👉 the von Restorff effect, thanks to which a distinctive visual brand stands out and gets etched in your customer's mind,
and
👉 the Bandwagon effect that makes us subconsciously crave to blend in with the pack and just drown in the sea of sameness of our industry.

In our live session this week, she shared practical ways to leverage von Restorff and fight against your subconscious conformist when designing for your brand. 

If you missed it, don't fret—check out below ⬇️

Some problems are hard. Some just require brandy – and an eye for the overlooked.

The team at Eleven Madison Park refused to accept "how things are done" in restaurants. They questioned an awkward moment in every diner's experience.

Which is what we need more of in marketing.

We're too busy benchmarking competitors to notice overlooked opportunities. We analyze what everyone else is doing, then compete to do it slightly better. 

That's not strategy. That's settling for crowded spaces and incremental improvements.

The real opportunities are the overlooked moments your audience experiences but your competitors ignore.

Stop watching your competitors. Start watching your customers.

Brandy and Marketing

Nift

The Gratitude Flywheel – Reshaping how people discover and engage with brands.

Partnerships

Sell Grow Repeat

On a mission to help founder led sales organizations, early stage companies, and digital entrepreneurs build sales processes and strategies that work.

Some recent successes:

- From 5% to 40% close rate in 3-months
- 40% increase in revenue in 2-months 
- First 1K customers in 6-months
- From $80K to $2M+ ARR

💪🏻 Let's work together!

Founder

TalentSheets

More than 490+ marketers and founders use TalentSheets to manage and support their influencer marketing efforts.

The first influencer platform that layers on top of Google, turning Google Drive into your own personalized influencer marketing database. All without changing your current workflow or costing you a fortune.

Co-Founder

LOOM CLUB

A neighborhood club where a community of locals exercise, co-work, and socialize under one roof. 

Re-imagining community & wellness for a changing world.

Investor

Plei, Inc

Plei is the largest pickup soccer platform & organizer in the United States, boasting more than:

- 180,000+ soccer players on the Plei App
- 40,000+ games hosted on the Plei App as of Aug '23 (30,000+ in 2023 Alone)
- Partnerships with 130+ sports facilities across 15 U.S. cities

Teachable

Director Of Business Development

Fullscreen

Fullscreen empowers talent and brands to build and monetize highly engaged, social-first audiences through best-in-class strategy, creative services and technology.  Our company is a global leader in social-first entertainment experiences and services for the world’s top talent, digital influencers, brands and avid fans.   
 
For our talent and digital influencer partners, we provide a range of services and tools that include talent management, multi-platform content optimization, brand partnerships, live touring, consumer products, and a powerful consumer-facing technology platform that provides affinity brands, talent and influencers with websites, online stores, fan clubs and social optimization tools to help them seamlessly analyze data and create meaningful relationships with fans. 
 
For our brand partners, we work with marketers who are looking to engage valuable, elusive youth audiences on social platforms through original entertainment, influencer marketing, multi-platform social content, organic and paid distribution, live events, and targeted media.  We have offices in Los Angeles, New York, and Atlanta.

VP Sales and Marketing

Reelio

- Founder with a strong focus on sales & marketing
- Built and managed cross-departmental teams for goal and process alignment that continue to provide stellar relationships and results for our clients.
- Drove company from ideation and pre-revenue to annual 8-figures 
- Sold into key accounts, such as, Estée Lauder, Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, & Dunkin' Donuts without pre-existing relationships
- Liaison between market demands and product development in order to better shape product roadmap
- Built an outsourced SDR org to deliver 11X ROI on cost
- Drove company to successful acquisition

Co-founder & VP, Sales & Marketing (ACQUIRED)

Partnerships @ Nift | 3X Founder (8-figures, 7-figures, and a dud) | Investor. Advisor. Bourbon Lover | Exploring the tactics and stories from the best entrepreneurs on the planet

Daily insights on business building.

Sales & Marketing Leader with 10+ years selling high-value solutions as a player/coach to meet customer needs. 

Creative and curious mindset, with a track record of leveraging problem-solving skills to uncover new revenue opportunities and drive business growth. 

Unquestioned ethics and a strong commitment to doing what is right for customers, co-workers, and the company.

EQ > IQ

Some highlight from across my career:

- Responsible for more than $100M in advertising budgets

- Scaled startups $0 to 8-figures, then again from $0 to 7-figures

- Built an outsourced SDR Team that produced 11X ROI on net new logos

- Trained more than 50 sellers to systematically attain quota through repeatable process

- Sold into and built marketing programs for some of the best companies on the planet. 

I'm excited to create something amazing with you.

💪🏻 Let's work together

Mark Borum

The hits keep coming. Nift has once again been named to the Deloitte Technology Fast 500™.

One of North America’s fastest-growing technology companies, driven by 731% revenue growth over the past three years. 💪

[Full release in comments]

For the first time, the people who own the transaction are also becoming the most powerful media owners in the room. 

Walmart, Target, Kroger, Instacart, Uber, DoorDash… they have carts, orders,  identities, and now the media dollars.

Everyone’s hyped about retail media racing toward ~$100B. The more interesting question is: what happens when every “ad opportunity” is attached to a logged-in, paying customer?

The space is still relatively new, but its month-over-month rate of change can give you whiplash. If you still think commerce media is “sponsored products on a retailer’s site,” you’re already behind.

This is fast becoming the default way brands buy performance media:
closer to the transaction, closer to the customer, closer to actual revenue.

And the tension no one wants to talk about? there’s a ceiling on how many ads you can jam into an app, a feed, or a checkout flow before users tap out.

So the next phase isn’t “more ads.” It’s:

– Turning high-intent moments into value, not noise
– Growing yield per user without torching the experience
– Bringing in non-endemic dollars w/out turning into Times Square

The players who solve that balance — retailers, apps, BNPLs, streamers — will own the next decade of advertising. 

Everyone else will be arguing about CPMs while their users quietly churn.

Open article: Retail media ad spend will reach over $100B by 2027 by emarketer.com

Retail media ad spend will reach over $100B by 2027

Big milestone for us at Nift: we’re continuing our expansion in the UK with another phenomenal partner.

When Nift started, the idea was simple– help people discover great brands through gifts that actually feel good to receive. Watching that idea grow from a handful of partners in the U.S. to working with some of the biggest consumer apps in the world… that’s been surreal.

This latest addition to our UK partner ecosystem is a reminder of how far the team has taken this. 

New markets, new partners, and the same belief that there’s a better way for brands and consumers to connect than another interruptive ad.

I’m incredibly proud of what we’re building and even more excited for what opening up the UK unlocks next.

We’re pleased to share that Nift is partnering with Clearpay (Afterpay) as we expand into the UK.

Through this partnership, Clearpay customers will receive thoughtful thank-you gifts at meaningful moments in their journey—helping them discover brands they’ll love, while giving Clearpay a way to generate incremental revenue without interrupting the experience.

It also offers brands a more thoughtful path to reaching new audiences, rooted in relevance and choice rather than disruption.

We’re grateful to be partnering with Clearpay and look forward to what we’ll build together. 💪 

 🔗 Full announcement:  https://lnkd.in/gP4eRDNF

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Mark Borum

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The Battle

Vassilena Valchanova

Mark Borum

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Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Vassilena Valchanova's LinkedIn Performance

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