Interview With Alex (Freelance Performance Marketing-specialist)

1) Where were you born and raised? Also tell us something unique about yourself.

I grew up in a little town in the eastern part of the Netherlands. After a semester in the U.S., I lived in Nijmegen, then Tilburg, and finally settled in the historic city of Den Bosch. I'm a husband and dad to two little ones; my eldest is two and my youngest is just six months.

Even though my job usually has me sitting at a desk inside, I really enjoy being outside in my free time, whether that's riding my bike, going for walks, or working out in the great outdoors.

2) What got you interested in marketing and what was your journey?

My fascination with marketing began back in high school, where I was always on the lookout for new business ideas. The thing that draws me to marketing is its special mix of dealing with numbers, understanding human behavior, strategizing, and being creative.

Plus, I realized I had a talent for the numerical and strategic aspects. This interest only deepened when I attended a local business school. Following that, I pursued a Master's in Marketing Management, where I got to delve into the basics of marketing psychology and statistics.

3) What skills and industry do you specialize in?

I primarily collaborate with retail and travel businesses, focusing on improving their product / accommodation feeds through both conventional feed management tools and the innovative AI tool, Google FeedGen.

Additionally, I enjoy developing intricate strategies that focus on maximizing profit margins.

4) What is your best soft skill?

My top soft skill lies in my passion for PPC, where I eagerly seek out the latest updates and strategies and connect with fellow professionals in the field. Furthermore, I'm self-taught and easily adapt to learning new tools and strategies on my own.

5) What softwares and tools do you use regularly?

In addition to the usual Google tools, I primarily use AdAchieve , a PPC software tool I've been utilizing for about 6 years. It's instrumental for feed-based search ads, feed management, margin optimization, and gaining insights on search terms.

Apart from Adchieve, I also use Google FeedGen to enhance Google Shopping feeds through AI optimization.

6) What are your goals for the next year and into the future?

My goal is to grow my company without decreasing my work-life balance and without attracting the wrong types of clients. I hope to establish a more scalebale business model by growing my Google FeedGen solutions.

7) What has been the hardest thing you dealt with in your career path?

The biggest challenge is striking the right balance between work and life. In PPC, there is always more to do. More optimizations, deeper analysis, more communication etc.

This has become even more crucial for me as a dad to two young kids. Fortunately, working from home makes things a bit easier, saving both time and energy.

8) What is the biggest mistake you made that you want others to avoid?

The greatest oversight is not remembering to always anticipate the unexpected. Thus, it's essential to have proper alerts set up and ensure they reach you, even on your days off. While you might not be able to address an issue right away, you can at least inform the appropriate individuals.

9) Who are your favorite people in the industry that you follow?

Too many people to name haha. As I mostly work in the retail space I love to follow other Ecommerce specialist like Mike Ryan and Kirk Williams . For scripting I follow Nils Rooijmans and Mike Rhodes ?? . For PPC news I follow Adriaan Dekker and ??? Yoann Ferrand .

10) Who has had the biggest influence on your career to date?

Mark van Werven , the founder and owner of Adchieve, played a significant role in my career development. Although he hasn't written PPC books or frequently spoken in public, making him less familiar to the wider audience, his influence on me has been profound. He taught me advanced PPC strategies and possesses a remarkable blend of expertise in both business strategy and digital marketing.

11) What has been your favorite course that you taken and why?

My favorite course was Market Assessment during my Marketing Management Master. It thought me how to apply advanced statistics in business decision making. This has stuck with me and I still apply the techniques I learned during my professional career as PPC marketer.

12) What would you tell yourself or someone who is just starting out in marketing?

Connect with the right people and hold on to a test and learn mindset. Nowadays there is a lot of great content online that you can watch or read entirely free. Make use of this and do not forget communication is key. You can apply the best solutions out there but without great communication with your client or manager this will not be noticed.

13) If the entire world was listening to you, what would you have to say?

If the whole world was listening, I'd say it's really important to try and understand each other. Before we judge or make choices, let's think about what others are going through. We should all be kind, respect one another, and be open to different ideas.

This way, we can tackle big problems like unfairness, hurting the planet, and conflicts. I'd tell everyone to value everyone's differences, aim for fairness, and help each other out to make a better world where everyone can live peacefully. Small acts of kindness can make a big difference, and they can spread further than we might think.

14) Where can we find you?

In the digital world you can find me on LinkedIn, in real life you can find me in my home office in Den Bosch, at PPC conferences or in the outdoors!