A Week in the Life of a Paid Search Expert

Guest Blog by Paid Search Analyst, Connor Jackson

Have you ever wondered about a 'Day in the Life' of a Paid Search Expert? Our senior Paid Search expert, Connor Jackson, gives some insight into what a week in the life of a Paid Search analyst entails.

Monday - 8:00 AM: Setting up for Success

Two major key factors of being a great Paid Search Analyst are preparation and dedication to your craft. On most Monday mornings, I get to the office early to give myself time to set up, get an extra cup of coffee, and set up my work stations to tackle the day. I plug in my laptop, set up both of my monitors, throw on a playlist to get my focus steady, and open all the tools I’ll need to tackle any challenge that may arise. One of my favorite parts of my job is getting to use some of the industry's most advanced tools and technologies, like Marchex and Google SA360. Utilizing these advanced tools allows me to make necessary adjustments in real-time, and makes deep-diving into my campaigns to find improvements a breeze.

Tuesday - 9:00 AM: Quality Campaigns Assured

Before diving into my tasks for the day or projects I need to oversee, I do a check of all my clients, as part of my daily quality assurance. I carefully comb through each account to make sure everything is working properly and that we are getting the most out of our campaigns. On this particular QA inspection, I found that our competitors have started spending more than us on a top-selling model, and so I immediately run downstairs and alert my Account Manager. We strategize about how and where we can add in the budget to increase our competitiveness and position for those keywords. Once I ensure that all campaigns are performing at the max return on investment, I hit the ground running with deep diving into my portfolio. After logging all my findings and changes from my notes into our Portal, I crush through the rest of my projects and tasks to make for a successful Tuesday! 

Wednesday - 3:00 PM: Our Clients Come First

Wednesday starts off similarly, but today I have a couple of client meetings, so I make sure to plan my day around them and begin preparing. When speaking with a client, we have to be prepared for any questions, so I gather all of the data necessary to support my findings. Then, I run down the hall and meet with the members of the Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Social Media, and Creative Teams to better align with our client's goals. After I knock out an awesome client call, I tackle a few more important tasks for the morning before heading to lunch. Typically, I like to bring my lunch so I can stay focused and don’t lose my momentum, but today, I decided on going to Lit Pizza and carpooled with some of my work friends. I finished out the day strong by assisting a teammate with a targeting issue for one of our most competitive legal clients. It was another great day on the books!

Thursday- 7:00 AM: Key Accounts Come With Key Responsibilities

My Thursday starts off with an urgent call from Hendrick Automotive Group's Paid Media Expert before I even get to the office. He needs my help finding opportunities in our Paid Search campaigns after discovering some opportunities for growth during our daily market data review sessions. When our clients call and need my help, it's 911! I push my other tasks back for the day and get down to business. I carefully begin deep-diving each store he mentioned to find even the smallest opportunities to improve. Using our state-of-the-art Portal, I am able to find some unique opportunities and quickly send them up to their analyst. He lets me know that this should really help the stores and after a quick sigh of relief, I am back to grinding! 

Friday - 3:00 PM: Perks of The Job

The rest of the week is pretty smooth sailing, having tackled the most important obstacles at the beginning of this week - keeping our clients happy. The second half of my week results in a few strategy meetings and some adjustments to my campaigns, but nothing I can’t handle. It's days like today I'm happy to be back in the office getting things done. I get an email from Bo around lunchtime letting us know we’re getting a half-day today, just because! Now that's a treat. I stick around for a couple of hours after everyone leaves just to make sure I have everything taken care of before heading out. I leave the office knowing I crushed another week on the job!