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Change is expected within any growing company – and this year VitalStorm experienced its share of significant change. In addition to growing departmentally, our workforce also expanded, adding new faces and new skill sets to forward our momentum. A more recent change that reflects our commitment to promoting from within has already proven to be a beneficial one. As two long-time PPC Team Leads found new opportunities outside the company, three seasoned Campaign Managers transitioned into the open leadership roles. Exceptional department growth necessitated an additional Team Leader to help with the ongoing expansion, which swiftly resulted in positive change within PPC account management. We spoke with new Team Leads Andrew Brenden, Rebecca Bruce and Thao Nguyen about their new roles and their plans for the department in the coming year.

All of you were seasoned veterans of the VitalStorm PPC Department before being promoted to Team Lead. How did that help inform the way you approached your new position?

Andrew:

Understanding the responsibilities, frustrations and workload of our team helped a lot. But honestly, being able to follow in the footsteps of our previous Team Leads, Nena & Neelie was a huge benefit. Rather than starting from the ground up, we were able to work from the foundation they laid out in our team’s culture and work ethic.

Rebecca:

It’s been really nice to move into the Team Lead position already having a relationship with the people on our team and having knowledge about what their daily workload and responsibilities are like.

Thao:

My previous Team Lead, Nena, was a great mentor and leader. She was a great resource and helped train us into our new position. The experience I gained as a Campaign Manager allowed me to understand the current workload as well as the challenges our team faces in the department.  

What aspects of the position were you most excited about taking on?

Andrew:

I love to see people go from not understanding our strategy to giving insights on how to improve it. That “aha! light bulb” moment is something that never gets old to witness and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be a part of my team members’ growth.

Rebecca:

The most exciting part for me is being able to work with my team on optimizing and troubleshooting their accounts. It’s really encouraging to see how much they care about our clients and how well they work together to find solutions. I’ve found that I’m really growing in my ability as a Campaign Manager just by seeing how my team members manage their accounts.

Thao:

I look forward to meeting with my individual team to brainstorm solutions to solve problems. Not all problems can be solved in one session, but I want to encourage creative thinking in the department. If a team member has an idea, I want to hear it and explore its potential. In addition, I enjoy collaborating with Andrew and Rebecca to develop and implement new strategies internally and externally. All three of us has something different to bring to the table and I am excited to see what the future will bring to our department.

Have you made any significant changes to the department since moving into management? What are the plans for the coming year?

Andrew:

I think it would be arrogant for me to say I made any significant changes. Really, any change that has been implemented in the PPC Department has been the result of a team effort between Thao, Rebecca, myself and the rest of the PPC Department. I’m loving the camaraderie we have right now and because of that I’m excited about our future. 2018 is going to be a year where we dive into new markets & strategies and while that might mean challenges lay ahead of us, I am confident that our team will be able to develop the right solutions/strategies to help our clients, department & VitalStorm grow.

Rebecca:

One of the new things we’ve implemented is having a weekly meeting with our individual teams. For quite a while I avoided scheduling meetings with my team because I didn’t want to clutter their schedules with something if it wasn’t absolutely necessary. However, after getting feedback from my team I’ve realized that they have a desire to collaborate on their accounts and those meetings are one way we can block out time to accomplish that. It’s also very rewarding for me to be able to check in with my team and have more interaction with them than we do when we’re all working independently at our own desks.

In the coming year I think the PPC team is going to experience quite a bit of growth in our current strategies as well as developing new strategies and ideas to combat a constantly changing market.

Thao:

According to VitalStorm’s co-owner Jeff Light, “Critical success factor #1 is hiring.” Within two months into the new position, we managed to hire 3 new Internet Marketing Specialists. I’m excited for our growing team and I believe having a positive team chemistry is important. As of right now, the PPC department is the largest department here at VitalStorm and we are still growing! Next year, I want to focus on advertising on different networks provided by Google. We’re expanding into the Display Network and my goal is to tailor our campaigns to match or exceed our client’s business goals.

If you would like to learn more about how Andrew, Rebecca and Thao can help your business grow through our PPC services, give us a call today at 877-311-5695.