"Allison is an exceptional VP of Marketing who combines strategic insight, technical savvy, and strong leadership. She consistently stays ahead of eCommerce trends, leveraging emerging technologies and innovative marketing strategies to drive measurable growth. Her commitment to testing, learning, and optimizing every aspect of the customer journey sets her apart. Just as impressive is her ability to lead with empathy and clarity—building high-performing, empowered teams and fostering a culture of accountability and collaboration." Brad Farmer, President @ Paper Mart
Building Customer Retention, Brand Loyalty, and Charitable Programs
How Paper Mart Built a High-Engagement Rewards Program
Paper Mart, like many ecommerce brands, had long relied on site-wide promotions and discounts to drive traffic and sales. While effective in the short term, these tactics often led to margin erosion and didn’t foster long-term customer relationships. We needed a more sustainable, loyalty-driven growth strategy that would reward engagement—not just spending.
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Action:
We replaced our traditional rebate-based loyalty structure with a points-based rewards program, designed to encourage behavior, engagement, and brand advocacy. We focused on shifting the conversation from “Here’s 15% off” to “Earn rewards for your next purchase.”
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Result:
✅ Grew from a limited rebate program to 200,000+ active rewards members
✅ 70% of new customers now opt in at checkout
✅ Reduced dependence on broad promotions by offering earned, personalized rewards
✅ Significantly increased engagement through non-purchase actions (reviews, referrals, social shares)
✅ Fostered deeper loyalty with repeat buyers returning to engage—not just discount shop
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Building an Instagram Community from scratch with #MyPaperMart
My goal was to turn our Instagram into a meaningful, scalable community channel that could both represent our brand and deepen relationships with customers—without a large content production budget.
Action:
We launched a branded hashtag: #MyPaperMart.
I built a system around user-generated content (UGC), encouraging customers to tag us and use the hashtag for a chance to be featured. With limited in-house resources, we focused on showcasing what our customers were already creating—beautiful product photos, creative packaging, and handmade crafts.
We posted consistently 2–3 times per week, actively engaged in comments, and reshared authentic content from small businesses and creators.
During the pandemic, we went a step further—amplifying posts about donations and community outreach using our products, while contributing our own product donations to hospitals and nonprofits.
Result:
✅ Grew our Instagram following to over 41,000 engaged users
✅ #MyPaperMart now generates dozens of daily organic mentions
✅ Built a self-sustaining content pipeline through UGC
✅ Strengthened customer loyalty and brand sentiment during a critical time
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Creating a Giving-Back Program at Paper Mart
When I stepped into my role at Paper Mart, we had a strong sense of community—but no structured way to give back to the people and causes that mattered most to us.
That changed when we made giving back a core part of our brand strategy. What began as a few good deeds became a pillar of our brand values—proving that giving back isn’t just good PR; it’s good business, good leadership, and good humanity.
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