Dario Zannoni was nominated for a PPC spotlight profile in March of 2022.
How long have you been working in PPC?
I have been working in PPC since 2010, so 12 years now.
How did you get started in PPC?
I learned PPC by directly managing an account and at the same time studying as much as possible. (Online courses like the ones from Google were very useful at the beginning).
If you went to college, what did you study? If not college, do you have any other degrees or certifications?
I studied Aerospace Engineering at the University of Bologna, Italy.
What was your first job that involved PPC?
My first real job after I came to Japan was as sales staff for a company selling used cars to overseas buyers via internet. Nobody in the company was really able to follow the Web Marketing area of the business, I was interested so my boss gave me the job.
Things went well and for the following 9 years I was in charge of all the web marketing activities, starting with PPC, but also including SEO, website development, social media, etc. The position was challenging and interesting: customers in over 100 countries and speaking 4 languages, with a good budget and freedom to experiment.
What is your current position and how long have you been in it?
I work as a Marketing Consultant at ASUE Inc., a web marketing Agency in Nagoya, Japan. I have been working here for 1 year.
What kinds of things do you currently handle or manage in PPC?
I take care of the web advertisement accounts for our clients. I do all of the standard things including planning, account management, communication and monthly reporting. I am specialized in advertising for EC, but also follow accounts targeting leads. I also try to help to increase the PPC and marketing knowledge of the company’s staff, capturing news and ideas from the PPC world and sharing them with my colleagues.
Has your career path had any hiccups or nontraditional aspects that you’d like to share?
Well, I think that the nontraditional aspect of my career is that I am an Italian guy, working in a Japanese agency serving mostly Japanese clients. I need to work and communicate in the local language and it is really not easy sometimes (my colleagues and clients are really kind and forgiving).
What are you most proud of in your PPC career?
I am proud of the work I have done as in house marketer: we were the first in our business category to use feeds and customized ads on Google and Facebook. The results were extremely positive.
I am also proud of being a foreigner working in PPC in Japan (there are not many of us).
What, if anything, do you wish you could “do over” in your PPC career?
Nothing, really. I consider myself lucky in having such an interesting profession.
If you could give advice to someone either considering or just starting out in PPC, what would that be?
I really believe that continuous study and learning is a really important aspect of this profession because society and technology continuously change and the tools and systems that we use change even faster. So, my suggestion is to keep learning and to never stop.
Are you interested in speaking opportunities? If so, what topics are your jam?
I am interested in speaking opportunities although time zone difference might make things difficult. I am in love with dynamic and feed-based web advertisement. I could speak and discuss about technical things forever.
Anything else you’d like to share?
Well, I live in Japan and some areas of web advertising for this country can be quite different (Yahoo Ads are still a thing and cannot be ignored!). So, if anybody needs any info or help about web advertisement in Japan, please feel free to contact me!
Where can people find you to connect (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)?
Twitter: @DarioZannoni
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dariozannoni/