Interview With Katie Silvester (PPC Manager)

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

I was born in a small town in England, about 30 miles from London. Although I moved around when I was younger, I've been in the town I live in now for over 15 years. It's a quiet, rural town and I find it very peaceful which helps me to relax after busy working days.

Something unique about me is I learnt to Belly dance whilst at university, and I also play guitar and piano as a hobby. I am also a keen writer and won a writing competition when I was in my first year of university, and was published in Which? Magazine.

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

I actually fell into marketing by chance but am very glad I did. I left university with an English Language degree and wanted to go and teach English abroad to second language learners, but didn't have the money at the time to fund the qualification.

I decided to put my CV online after graduation and I received a call about a copywriter role in a marketing agency which I decided to interview for. Luckily I got the job and slowly worked my way up from being a Copywriter/Content Executive writing content for Amazon detail pages, to owning client accounts and running Amazon Advertising. I then become a PPC Executive and I'm now a PPC Manager at my current agency, Melody, and have been here for nearly 3 years now, but I now have nearly 5 years total digital marketing experience.

3) What skills and industry do you specialize in?

I specialise in Amazon Advertising as my main area of knowledge and experience, but also have experience with running Google ads, Facebook and LinkedIn ads, as well as TikTok advertising. This includes, campaign planning and creation, management and optimisation, as well as reporting and finance management.

As part of my role, I am now also more involved in the account management side of things so am slowly expanding my skillset that way too.

4) What is your best soft skill?

I like to think I'm very willing to learn and adaptable, which has luckily enabled me to progress into other areas of work I might not have initially planned to or thought of. I also like to think I'm a team player and support others where I can.

5) What softwares and tools do you use regularly?

For day to day general account management: Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Docs, OneNote.

For campaign management: MerchantSpring, AdBadger.

For market research and campaign planning: Helium10.

I use the Amazon Advertising platform daily too for my job.

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

I want to continue developing my skillset on the account management front, as well as expand my day to day ads management into more channels where possible to gain additional experience of those.

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

I think I've been quite fortunate and haven't hard too many hardships over the years I've been working in the digital marketing field. I think the only moment that really springs to mind was joining an agency for my first full time role after being a 21 year old graduate with no experience whatsoever of Amazon or marketing. I had to learn quickly and adapt, and luckily I was able to and it got me to where I am now.

Once I changed my mindset to believing in myself and my ability, it all changed how I felt about the situation and saw it less as a challenge but more of an opportunity :)

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

The biggest mistake I've made is not asking enough questions! I believe asking questions is one of the best ways to learn and we should never be afraid to do so!

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

There are a lot of great people who I admire and learn from, but a few key ones are below:

Martin Heubel

Joe Shelerud

Jeffrey Cohen

Elizabeth Greene

Stephanie Scrocco

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

My colleagues over the years, without a doubt. They have been there through the highs and lows of it all, and have taught me a lot. I wouldn't be where I am today without the guidance, support and mentorship from them. They are all extremely knowledgeable and I owe a lot of my successes to them.

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

The Fundamentals of Digital Marketing hosted by Google Skillshop. I took it early on in my career and it really helped me to understand a lot of the basic fundamentals of the digital marketing industry.

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

I would say firstly to enjoy it all but just to never be afraid to ask questions when you need to, keep an open mind and be prepared to learn and be adaptable. I would also say to try and learn as much as possible via online courses or similar, so you can try and learn the basics before jumping head first into marketing (although this isn't necessary).

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

There are so many things that spring to mind but I think the most important ones I'd say are:

- Life is too short to worry about things that you can't change

- Remember to always be kind because you never know what other people are going through

- Be true to yourself and not what you feel everyone else wants you to be

- Spend time with your loved ones whenever you can, because time is precious

- Don't take life too seriously, and enjoy the crazy ride of it all!

14) Where can we find you?

You can find me on LinkedIn.