Interview with Stacey Pledge

It’s a pleasure to introduce our next brilliant Women in PPC expert, Stacey Pledge. Stacey has been working in the digital marketing space for over 10 years. She is the managing director and PPC specialist at Pledge Consultancy. Please welcome her fantastic PPC career story 🌼

 

 

Share the story of how you first got into PPC?

My first taste of PPC was in 2005. I was running my own bookkeeping business and started using Google AdWords to advertise my services. I quickly learned the hard (and expensive) lesson of what happens if you do not run a campaign correctly and gave up for a few years.

It wasn’t until 2010, after first learning web design and SEO, I had a second (more educated) try at PPC, this time on behalf of paying clients. Once I understood how Pay Per Click worked, I quickly preferred and excelled with this advertising channel and, in 2016, decided to focus on developing my core expertise in PPC.

What was the proudest moment of your PPC career?

A few moments come to mind, but the proudest so far was at the start of the recent pandemic. My clients were understandably worried and unsure of what to do regarding PPC advertising, and most were wanting to turn it off completely.

I managed to get them to either hold on while we listen for the data’s signals and adjust accordingly or slow down and put in a more automated approach to see them through the unknown. I am proud that I trusted my process, became flexible, and helped my clients hold their nerve in a difficult time – an approach that worked out for them, with some achieving their best results to date!

Do you struggle with maintaining a healthy work-life balance?

Not so much anymore no. I have in the past which was really stressful and not fun – So I do take care to protect my evenings and weekends for family and self-care. The only thing I have not mastered yet is to take a whole week off but I am working on it!

Have you ever experienced any problems or challenges as a PPC because you’re a woman?

Nothing that stands out as inherently bad or a challenge. However, I remember a conversation years ago with a CEO of a Marketing Agency I white-labeled for. He referred to me as their PPC “Chick” and feeling that the use of that term was pretty unprofessional – but equally, I think he might have been trying to be using what he thought was a cool term in front of clients – who knows.
I would say that it has been a challenge to meet other women in PPC so I am really grateful to Eve for inviting me to join this group so I can learn more and share my experiences.

Have you ever had any advantages or benefits as a PPC because you’re a woman?

None that I am aware of.

Are there any differences in how you’re treated as a female by clients?

I have not seen any stark differences to date.

Has a client ever underestimated you because you’re a woman?

No, not that I have ever been made aware of by a client.

If you could wave a magic wand and change something in the PPC world, what would it be?

I would change the growing lack of data transparency I feel is happening with PPC platforms. I agree there has to be user privacy and protection but as someone who uses data (as well as creativity) to help their clients, it would be nice to have a balance and be in possession of all the facts (aka search terms).

What about being a PPC do you enjoy the most?

When I am testing a theory/hypothesis/experiments, I am always looking for new ways to improve a campaign and squeeze a bit more performance, and I do get a little buzz when it works, and the client gets great results.