Tim Jensen was nominated for a PPC spotlight in January of 2022.
How long have you been working in PPC?
12 years.
How did you get started in PPC?
Shortly after graduating from college, I got a job at a small full-service agency. Within a couple months, the person previously handling PPC left, and I was thrown head-first into learning and effectively taking over all PPC management for clients. While I had some guidance from one of the managers at the agency who had some experience in PPC, I learned much of what I did on-the-spot through actual client management and quickly discovered various resources such as the major search blogs and the Twitter PPC community for help. Looking back, the amount of responsibility I was given to have free rein in accounts was a little dangerous, but it was an amazing way to learn!
If you went to college, what did you study? If not college, do you have any other degrees or certifications?
I received a degree in Mass Media with a focus on journalism. I’ve found my background in communication theory as well as writing to be immensely helpful in day-to-day work.
What was your first job that involved PPC?
My first job involving PPC was at the agency where I started right out of college. I was managing accounts for car dealerships, which meant dealing with a lot of high-pressure monthly sales numbers but also entailed a decent amount of overlap between types of campaigns being run, with every client being in the same industry.
What is your current position and how long have you been in it?
I work as a Campaign Manager at Clix Marketing. I’ve been in this position for around four and a half years.
What kinds of things do you currently handle or manage in PPC?
My current job entails a mix of both overseeing client communication/reporting in addition to hands-on management of accounts. While I work with a variety of industries, my current mix of clients skews toward the B2B end of the spectrum, particularly the SaaS niche.
Has your career path had any hiccups or nontraditional aspects that you’d like to share?
One interesting tidbit is that I briefly worked as a proofreader while in college, spending many hours scouring through everything from textbooks to trade publications. This experience certainly helped to develop an attention to detail in any work that I approach.
What are you most proud of in your PPC career?
I love when I have the opportunity to partner with a client who really “gets” marketing and be a part of their team in helping them see success. In particular, I’ve had the chance to run PPC for a few businesses who were starting from the ground up and saw them grow to the point of recognizable brands and, in some cases, being acquired.
What, if anything, do you wish you could “do over” in your PPC career?
I would definitely have gotten more thorough training in Excel earlier on in my career. I waited too long to learn how to create a pivot table!
If you could give advice to someone either considering or just starting out in PPC, what would that be?
The technical ins-and-outs of running campaigns are important to know, but focus on understanding the big picture of marketing, and learn to write well. Writing skills are necessary across the board for day-to-day client communication, reporting, and internal comms.
Are you interested in speaking opportunities? If so, what topics are your jam?
Yes, I’m particularly up for speaking about Google Tag Manager, analytics-related topics, and B2B PPC.
Anything else you’d like to share?
I’m grateful to the PPC community for the culture of free knowledge sharing that’s been built up over the years! I owe my career to what I’ve learned from others in the industry as we’ve bantered back and forth about PPC topics.
Where can people find you to connect (Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.)?
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/timothyjjensen/
Twitter: @timothyjjensen