Ameet Khabra
was nominated anonymously in July of 2021.
How long have you been working in PPC?
I started working in pay-per-click almost 12 years ago.
How did you get started in PPC?
There were a couple events leading up to it, I was still in university at that time and we had one 3 hour class where we covered all of online marketing which included emails, content, social and paid. At that time, I was also volunteering for an organization where I got a lot of hands-on experience in event planning.
A little while after, at 19, I decided I wanted to start my own event planning company and started using Google Ads to help sell some tickets. The rest is history!
If you went to college, what did you study? If not college, do you have any other degrees or certifications?
Initially I was going to school for business administration with a minor in entrepreneurial leadership but I very quickly realized that I hated micro and macro economics so I transferred to the marketing program because it allowed for the most credits to transfer over 😅
Now have a diploma in marketing management along with another diploma in audio engineering and sound production.
What was your first job that involved PPC?
The first job that involved PCC outside of me running ads for my own events was what I consider to be my first “big kid” job.
I went from managing about $500 a month to 4.3 million dollars annually, basically overnight.
I had started with about 35 accounts and at the end of my relationship with that company, I was managing 62.
What is your current position and how long have you been in it?
I currently own an online marketing agency that specializes in pay per click advertising called Hop Skip Media.
I started freelancing in 2014 and Incorporated the business in 2017. We moved to the new name last year in September.
We are currently a team of 9, so my role has transitioned from being in the accounts every single day to being support for our analysts.
I review account performance every week and check in on everyone daily to ensure that our accounts are being managed to the best of our ability.
What kinds of things do you currently handle or manage in PPC?
As for platforms, we mainly work within Google, Facebook and Instagram. We have started to do a little bit of LinkedIn advertising as well which has been very fun to learn.
We also handle all conversion tracking. I’m a big fan of Google Tag Manager and insist on installing it on every client’s website.
Has your career path had any hiccups or nontraditional aspects that you’d like to share?
I think being in the line of work that we are in, it’s always challenging.
Platforms make their updates which affect us greatly and then we have to figure out how to navigate through all of it.
Sometimes clients can be a little difficult and navigating through that relationship can be interesting.
Largest hiccup in my professional and personal career was in 2016 when I essentially lost everything.
One bad client left me no choice but to file a lawsuit against them and that really affected how I saw myself as an analyst. I really did lose faith in myself.
The months moving forward from the lawsuit filing were not ideal. I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression then I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes and then my ex-boyfriend and I broke up and I had to leave the house that he and I purchased. A few other things happened, but, to say the least, it was not a great time.
What are you most proud of in your PPC career?
Honestly, everything but I think surviving 2016 was my biggest accomplishment in my career.
I close up shop for about 8 months and had no intention of coming back.
I thankfully had a lot of friends who sat me down, looked me square in the eye and said “this is not who you are.”
Evidently, it was something that I needed to hear and be reminded of. I’m not someone who backs down from a fight and I’m thankful that they all reminded me of that.
What, if anything, do you wish you could “do over” in your PPC career?
If I’m being 100% frank, putting in more processes into the agency.
I never really thought we were ever going to grow to this size but I’m so grateful that we have.
One thing that I didn’t do well to prepare for this growth was putting in processes and creating SOPs.
There’s something that we’re working on right now but it feels more reactive than proactive. So if I could do anything over, that would be it.
If you could give advice to someone either considering or just starting out in PPC, what would that be?
Don’t be afraid to ask questions from your peers.
I remember when I had started working in PPC, I was terrified to ask anyone a question out of fear of being looked at as an idiot.
I was so incredibly wrong.
The PPC community, is one of the most beautiful communities I’ve ever been part of. Everyone is always so happy and eager to help.
We all truly want to see each other succeed.
Are you interested in speaking opportunities? If so, what topics are your jam?
Yes! I really enjoy speaking to people about PPC and seeing that little spark in their eye when they finally understand a concept.
I really really enjoy teaching people beginners content. People have told me that I somehow make it all makes sense (honestly, I have no idea how I do it 🤣).
I also really enjoy being part of someone’s journey into paid advertising.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Nope!
Where can people find you to connect (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)?
Twitter: @ameetkhabra
Instagram: https://instagram.com/adwordsgirl
LinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/adwordsgirl