1. To be weird
Straight to the point, PPC people are a little weird. Maybe it is the long hours. Perhaps it is the fact that our results are thrown in our face near-real time. It could even be that the weirdo’s are naturally attracted to the hybrid of marketer/IT person that PPC management requires. Either way, we’re a weird bunch and I wouldn’t change it for the world.
2. To be accountable for everything
If you hear someone at a bar apologize because someone else spilled a drink, that may be attributed to this one time that they bumped into someone else at a party and while that person didn’t spill their drink they could somehow be related, then that person may be a PPC manager. PPC people love to be accountable and to understand the butterfly effect of their actions/efforts. This includes when things go well, when things go bad, and even when search engines make changes that hurt results and/or makes it harder to manage accounts.
3. To always be available
Super glad that most of us do not dangle our phones from our belts. But that could be because they are usually glued to our ears. A life in PPC is a life committed to being the person that gets called all hours of the day when something goes wrong, or even when something goes right.
4. To love pictures of baby animals
Seriously, what is this about? Soooo many kitty/puppy pictures in presentations and blogs and through emails and hanging in pods…
5. To learn faster, better, more, than pretty much anyone in the history of anything
Okay, maybe those in medicine are forced to keep learning as much but seriously, is there any other industry where new engines, platforms, tools, features, strategies AND tactics come out every month if not every week? Glutton for punishment, the PPC manager absolutely has chosen a life of continuous learning and adapting.
6. To be suspicious
PPC managers, especially on the agency side, are caught between those that want to drive profitability (the client or boss) and those that want to drive advertising spend (the engines and platforms). The PPC manager has made a choice to live in the thin gray area between the two. Always tearing apart the motives of both sides and then combining them back together in a way that drives value for all sides.
7. To always carry a bit of stress
Talk to a PPC pro and they’ll tell you that there’s always just a little stress. There is always something to do, always a client that needs something done, always a project to complete, or a blog post to write. The best of the best, learn to take everything in stride and focus on what they can control.
