Who is Joe Fino?

I’m a geek. And I’m fine with that.

Being a geek is cool now, probably because geeks like me are behind most of the interesting things happening online. I’m Joe Fino, a digital experience and strategy leader based in Bel Air, Maryland, working across the Baltimore and Washington, DC corridor.

Like a lot of 80s kids I got pulled into video games, and at 11 I cared more about how they worked than how to win. Learning to program in BASIC on a Commodore VIC-20 turned into 25 years of building digital work for brands like BMW, Lincoln Center, Under Armour, Disney, Capital One, and Wells Fargo.

Joe Fino, Digital Experience & Strategy Leader, Baltimore, MD
Today, as Principal of Unexpected Creative, I lead digital strategy and digital experience for clients across real estate, healthcare, education, finance, and the arts. I own the work end to end: information architecture, UX and conversion, web development, and the platform decisions underneath.

Most of what gets sold as digital growth is rented, the paid reach that disappears the day the budget stops. I build the kind a brand owns: the audience, the site, and the funnel that keep working. Strategy is only worth something when it ships, so I lead the teams and stay hands-on in the build.

That is the through line of 25 years in agencies and on the brand side: clear digital strategy, strong user experience, and the execution to back it up.

  • Technologist
  • Designer
  • Developer
  • Beer Geek

Digital Experience and Strategy Expertise

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UX & Conversion

Before I build anything, I learn the business and the audience. Through user research, information architecture, and testing, I design user experiences that move people toward a goal and lift conversion. No cookie-cutter templates, every solution is built around how real users actually behave.

Brand Identity

Your brand is not your logo. It is how people feel when they connect with you, and what they think of when they think of you. I help companies define that, check whether brand perception matches reality, and get back on track when it does not.

Web Design & Development

Web development covers everything that goes into a site: strategy, design, code, content, and testing. I build sites that are fast, accessible, search-engine friendly, and easy to use, and that connect people to the brand. I work hands-on and lead the developers who ship the rest.

Digital Strategy

One part art, one part data. I work with organizations to turn digital into a measurable business advantage: clear goals, the right platforms, and a roadmap that ships. Strategy that earns its keep, not a deck that sits on a shelf.

Social Media

I help brands build an audience they own instead of renting reach that vanishes when the budget stops. Targeted social media strategy, consistent across channels, centered on the brand experience and tied to real engagement.

Marketing Technology

The work only counts if you can measure it. I implement and manage the marketing technology underneath digital programs: analytics with GA4, tag management, CRM and HubSpot, automation, and the reporting that shows what is actually working.

How I Work

I start with discovery, not design. I learn the business, the audience, and the goal, then map the digital strategy and information architecture before a single page is designed. From there I lead UX, web development, and the platform and marketing-technology decisions underneath, and I measure what ships. That is how a website stops being a brochure and starts doing a job.

Let’s Start Something new. Say Hello!

If you’re ready to make a bold move because what you are doing isn’t working, I can help.
Use this contact form to send me an email and let’s get the conversation started today.