Lindsey A. Williams

Senior Marketing Manager

Growth · Membership · Performance

I've worked every stage of the funnel: getting people to notice a brand, turning that interest into members and keeping them coming back.

View my résumé See my work
Based in the DMV Growth & Membership Marketing
The funnelJump to the role
AwarenessTikTok & social strategy AcquisitionAffiliate & paid media ConversionMembership campaigns NurtureCRM & automation
Lindsey A. Williams

About Me!

I earned my BBA in Marketing at Alliance University in New York while playing Division II basketball on scholarship. Balancing training, travel and coursework taught me discipline, coachability and how to perform within a team, habits I bring to every cross-functional project.

After completing my MBA at Southern University in Louisiana, I grew my career at Sam's Club across several markets before returning home to Maryland. Each move meant learning a new team, a new market and new ways of working quickly, which sharpened my ability to adapt and understand different audiences.

Outside of my day-to-day role, I build my own ventures. Launching small product and brand projects from the ground up has given me hands-on experience across strategy, design and customer experience. I also write on Substack. This work keeps me close to what it takes to earn a customer's attention and keep it.

MBASouthern University

Entrepreneurship & Human Resource Management
Baton Rouge, LA

BBAAlliance University

Marketing
Nyack, NY

Off the clock
  • 🐝 Beyoncé Stan
  • 🐶 Dog Mom
  • 🛼 Roller Skater
  • 🏀 Retired Athlete

Career history

Where I've worked

  1. 2026 – presentColumbia, MD

    Marketing Specialist

    Columbia Association

    • Membership acquisition: leading multi-channel campaign strategy, referral programs and programmatic promotion
    • Zoho CRM rollout: lead scoring implementation, routing and automations
    • Built CA's TikTok channel from zero to launch
    AwarenessConversionNurture
  2. 2023 – 2025Dallas, TX

    Sr. Marketing Manager, Digital Media & Affiliate

    Sam's Club

    • Affiliate, influencer and performance marketing for membership acquisition and eComm
    • Managed hundreds of third-party partner touchpoints and vendor relationships
    • Managed retail media campaigns with a focus on performance-based optimization across CPA, CPC, CPL and CPM metrics
    AwarenessAcquisitionConversion
  3. 2020 – 2023Bentonville, AR

    Marketing Manager, Membership Acquisition

    Sam's Club

    • Started as an MBA marketing intern and was promoted to Marketing Manager in 10 weeks
    • Gifted Membership program activations
    • Multi-channel acquisition: email, CRM, paid social, direct mail
    • Acquisition campaigns for new category launches
    Acquisition

Completed work

My Work

The work I'm proudest of, with the numbers to back it up!

From Legacy to Lifecycle: Rebuilding CA's Lead Journey in Zoho CRM

The Why: CA's member acquisition team was managing leads in Engage Pro, a legacy system with no lead scoring, no automated follow-ups or marketing automation and no way to tag channels or track UTM parameters. Moving to Zoho CRM was the chance to rethink how a prospect becomes a member and streamline the processes behind it.

  • Designed seven nurture tracks across membership, aquatics, the ice rink, racquet sports and group training, each with its own entry point and cadence.
  • Built the strategy and reference documents that guided the rollout: a leadership-ready project plan covering five integrations, data migration and training, plus build specs and process maps.
  • Built the lead scoring model and the email and SMS nurture sequences that follow up with prospects automatically. 

Zoho CRM Build: By the Numbers

16Lead workflowsspecced across 4 automation lanes
7Nurture tracksmapped to real moments of interest
82 daysMembership track10 email + text touchpoints
5Integrationsplanned with data migration and training

Status: Anticipated go-live date is November 1.

From Zero to Live: CA's TikTok Launch Strategy

The Why: CA had an awareness gap. People recognized the name but didn't know what it offered or why it mattered. As Columbia, MD grows daily, the existing channels weren't telling that story. I made the case for TikTok as a top-of-funnel brand play, set reportable targets and launched the channel on July 1, 2026 as a 90-day test window.

  • Developed the channel strategy: four content pillars, cross-platform distribution across TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, a seasonal content calendar and KPI benchmarks anchored to existing social platforms
  • Led day-to-day TikTok operations, managing a small cross-functional team of internal colleagues and interns while delegating strategy and production responsibilities
  • Reported weekly on channel and content performance against established KPIs and 90-day test benchmarks. 

90-Day Test: Results

724Followers118% of the 610 goal
4,551Profile views290% of plan
251%Engagement per postvs. plan
543Sharesin the first 90 days

Outcome: Leadership approved TikTok as a permanent channel.

Sam's Club's 40th Birthday: Owning the Affiliate Channel

The Why: Sam's Club's 40th anniversary was a compelling acquisition moment. A limited-time membership offer at $10 lowered the barrier for first-time members significantly. My role was to support the campaign by promoting the offer alongside a curated product selection to drive conversions during the promotional window.

  • Activated and managed 50+ publishers across newsletter affiliates, deal sites, card-linked offers, influencer networks, individual affiliate influencers and display ads. 
  • Curated a targeted product list for the promotional window, prioritizing high-ticket items with an elevated commission structure to incentivize affiliate performance.
  • Wrote and distributed a newsletter brief to affiliate publishers covering the curated item list and the 40th anniversary membership offer.
  • Reported on channel performance throughout the campaign, tracking GMV, clicks, membership sign-ups and online orders. 

40th Anniversary Promo: Results

$14M+GMVduring the promo window
5.3MClicksacross 50+ publishers
300KOnline ordersduring the promo window
171KSign-upsat the $10 offer

Top channel: Affiliate was the top-performing channel of the promotion, driving the most sign-ups and GMV.

Recognition: Golden Link Award finalist for Best Use of Data-Driven Marketing and Best Affiliate & Publisher, Rakuten Optimism '24.

MBA Internship Project: Bringing Sam's Club to Campus

The Why: Sam's Club had a pipeline problem: its loyal base was aging out, and it was time to attract the next generation. I was asked to build an acquisition strategy aimed at young adults and college students.

  • Proposed a Sam's Club campus roadshow: outdoor pop-up activations near colleges built to show students why a membership is worth it.
  • Designed the experience with exclusive food samples, coupons, merch, giveaways and sweepstakes, plus a bonus offer for students who joined and downloaded the app on the spot.
  • Partnered cross-functionally to plan a national rollout, worked with outside vendors on activation mock-ups and built the budget and strategy.
  • Recommended a student membership tier as an entry point for the next generation of members.

Outcome: Presented the strategy to senior leadership and earned a full-time offer with Sam's Club.

Teardowns & playbooks

Strategy Lab

Teardown

Walmart+ vs. Amazon Prime

AcquisitionConversionNurture
The setup

Prime costs $139 a year and sells speed and entertainment. Walmart+ costs $98 and sells everyday savings: free delivery on $35+ orders, 10¢ off a gallon of gas and a streaming pick of Paramount+ or Peacock.

What works

Prime feels like more bang for your buck. Free shipping with no order minimum on eligible items, a long list of benefits and an app and customer experience that are ahead of Walmart+. Its six-month free trial for young adults brings shoppers in early in their lifecycle and life stage, so the Prime habit forms before they ever pay.

Walmart+'s strength is everyday savings like gas and grocery delivery, but those take longer to add up.

Where it leaks

Walmart+ hasn't answered the question its own members ask: "Why pay for this when I already have Prime?" It also loses people during the trial. Thirty days isn't long enough for savings that build week by week to prove their worth, while Prime gives young adults six months to discover everything it offers.

What I'd test

A cross-branded membership with Sam's Club. Sam's Club members look a lot like Walmart shoppers (similar, not identical), and Walmart already owns both brands. A minimum viable test would offer existing Sam's Club members a bundled or discounted path into Walmart+, so each membership base feeds the other. I'd measure opt-in rate, trial-to-paid conversion and renewal against standard Walmart+ sign-ups.

Teardown

Sephora Beauty Insider

How a free loyalty program feels like a membership!

ConversionNurture
The setup

Beauty Insider is free to join. Spend $350 in a year to reach VIB and $1,000 to reach Rouge. Points turn into $10 of Beauty Insider Cash at 500 points, Rewards Bazaar products and a $100 Rouge Reward at 2,500 points.

What works

Points promotions that change behavior. Limited-time multipliers, like 3x points on select brands or for a set window, get me to spend a little more or try something new. They also work as an acquisition hook, since you have to join Beauty Insider to cash in. Add free samples, birthday gifts and perfume sampler sets that come with a voucher for a full-size bottle, and trying something new feels low-risk.

The program also builds community. Reviews live on the site, and members wear their VIB or Rouge status like a badge of honor. It works a lot like a card-linked offer: the reward is tied to the person, not a one-time coupon, so investing in yourself feels rewarding.

Where it leaks

Every shopper gets the same entry offer, no matter where they came from. Someone who discovers Sephora on TikTok Shop earns no points and no status credit there, so the channel reaching new beauty shoppers isn't connected to the program built to keep them.

What I'd test

Channel-specific join offers matched to each channel's goal. Double points for TikTok Shop buyers who join Beauty Insider after their first purchase. 3x points for joining through the app, to drive downloads and app adoption along with new members. I'd measure join rate, second purchase and app activity by entry channel.

Playbook

The Affiliate Promo Playbook

How I ran affiliate for Sam's Club's 40th Birthday, where it drove more sign-ups and GMV than any other channel!

AcquisitionConversion
  1. Lock the offer and the goal. Decide the goal and then set the promo window, KPIs and pacing targets before outreach starts.
  2. Build the publisher mix. Balance reach and intent across newsletters, deal sites, card-linked offers, influencer networks and display, and lock placements early.
  3. Curate the selection. Pick a short product list that pairs with the offer theme. Favor high-ticket items with elevated commission so publishers want to feature them.
  4. Brief publishers like partners. Send one clear brief with the offer, dates, product list, approved copy, creative and tracking links.
  5. Optimize every day. Track clicks, conversion, GMV and sign-ups by publisher, then shift commission and placements toward what's performing.
  6. Recap and keep the learnings. Report results against goal and save what worked by publisher and product for the next promo.

See it in action in My Work: Sam's Club's 40th Birthday.

Platforms & Skills

The tools I reach for and how well I know them!

Campaign Strategy & Planning

  • Go-to-Market Planning
  • Budget & ROI Forecasting
  • Audience Segmentation

Acquisition & Affiliate Marketing

  • Rakuten
  • Publisher Networks
  • Card-Linked Offers
  • Creator & Influencer Partnerships
  • Promotion & Offer Strategy
  • Referral Programs
  • Email
  • Direct Mail

Lifecycle & CRM Automation

  • Zoho CRM
  • Zoho Marketing Automation
  • SMS-Magic
  • Lead Scoring
  • Mailchimp

Performance Media & Analytics

  • Meta Ads Manager
  • Google Ads
  • Retail Media
  • Sam's Club Creator
  • Walmart Connect
  • Adobe Analytics
  • Tableau
  • UTM Tracking
  • Agency Management
  • A/B Testing

Social & Content Strategy

  • TikTok
  • Reels
  • Sprout Social
  • Shorts
  • Canva
  • Buffer
  • Meta
  • CapCut

Leadership & Operations

  • Stakeholder Reporting
  • Vendor Management
  • Intern Management
  • Cohort Leader
  • Adobe Workfront
  • Monday.com
  • Notion

Let's talk

Let's talk growth!

I'm always up for conversations about membership, lifecycle, partnerships and growth marketing, whether it's a new opportunity or just swapping notes on a campaign. My inbox is open.

Email lindseyamaris96@gmail.com