{"id":23338,"date":"2024-02-01T00:13:30","date_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:43:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/?p=23338"},"modified":"2024-02-01T00:13:32","modified_gmt":"2024-01-31T18:43:32","slug":"ppcchat-burnout-when-you-just-dont-enjoy-ppc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.karooya.com\/blog\/ppcchat-burnout-when-you-just-dont-enjoy-ppc\/","title":{"rendered":"PPCChat | Burnout & When You Just Don\u2019t Enjoy PPC | 30th January 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

In the lives of PPCers, they all go through phases when they don\u2019t love their jobs and this week’s PPCChat session was based on the same. Host Julie F Bacchini<\/a> shed light on the time when they felt a lack of enjoyment in their PPC work, Is there a particular part of PPC that tends to make them feel more burnt out and more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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Q1: How long have you been working in PPC? And are you in-house, agency or freelancer\/consultant?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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17 years, one-man consultant at the moment but have owned an agency in the past. @Pete_Bowen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

16-18 years, depending on how to categorize SEO writing. All agency, all the time! Occasional consulting, but not much. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2012 – 12 years now. Consultant\/Agency. @alimehdimukadam<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been in marketing since before the internet, and in PPC since it began, so 20 ish years. Been a consultant that whole time. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

18 years now. Have an agency the last 7 years. Also worked in-house at brand, NGOs and even vendor side. Kinda done it all at this point. @duanebrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I am pretty fresh at 2 years and working at an agency the whole time. @AliRussell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

14 years, mostly agency, now freelance, everything from big-picture to specific implementations. @ferkungamaboobo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I started with Google Ads not long after Google started having ads. So since 2002. (It’s almost to the point where I can say to the Google support reps: I’ve been using Google Ads for longer than you’ve been alive LOL) @EronCohen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been working in Google Ads for 8 years now, always at an agency! @AmyLytle<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Love that we have so many different levels and types of experience here in the chat today! @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have been in the PPC industry for a little over 6 years. I have worked from small to large agencies and with big brands. Since the beginning of Covid, I started more seriously with freelancing and now I want to turn it into something more, like a Micro-Agency or Consultancy. I still love working on the account, so I can\u2019t see myself outsourcing the work to others. @slobodanjelisavac<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 years at an agency, all facets of digital, heavy focus on paid search. 3 years in-house as head of marketing, but I roll the sleeves up for demand generation. @BryceLiggins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 years, starting within agencies, now a solo venture. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve been working in the PPC field for the past 6 years. I currently work in-house, for the last 3 years. @DianaAlinaAldea<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

10 years in PPC now, was agency-side until June 2023, freelancing along the way over the last 5-6 years as well. @kytaylor88<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

5.5 years on the agency side. @ChristineZirnheld<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 2008. I am currently working with a tech company – i have worked in-house, agency and freelanced as well. @TheMarketingAnu<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Started working in marketing in 2005. Got into PPC in 2009. In-house up until early 2019 and full time freelancer ever since then. @Austin_Dillman<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Been doing Google Ads for 20+ years!I started in-house eCommerce in 2003. Started freelancing in 2008\/2009 and ultimately morphed into a micro-agency. @MenachemAni<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

22 years – since 2002!  @beyondthepaid<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Started in 2006. Done the in-house thing, owned an agency, worked for a couple agencies, now more of a one-man band. @robert_brady<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many years general marketing, 10 years PPC, currently in-house, have previously worked at an agency and freelanced. @lindsaycasey<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Q2: Have you ever felt burned out or had a period where you just were not enjoying PPC for a while?Did anything in particular lead up to the burnout or lack of enjoyment feelings?<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n
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Absolutely! I have felt burnt out, out of my depth, like I’ve ‘lost my touch’ and other times I’ve felt invigorated and ready for something new. It happens and it’s not a nice feeling, but very normal. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes! Mostly because of the specific agency I was working in, but after my mentor there passed away, being the only person at my company that knew anything about running ads was really isolating and I was second-guessing whether I was doing anything right. @AmyLytle<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have, several times over the years. The first time was when Google suspended every account under our MCC because one of my clients added something called \u201cGoogle Money Tree\u201d to their website. It took 3 months for them to resolve the situation. @Pete_Bowen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have felt both, for sure! Burnout when I was just working too much and had poor work\/life boundaries. An overbearing client can kick you over into burnout too! Definitely had period where I was not enjoying the work over the years too. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-living in Australia in 2012 felt like a time I was a little lost and unsure what do to. More recently, during the pandemic, I was working so much that I don\u2019t even know if I was burned out or not. I did just sleep a lot and try to get more morning yoga time. @duanebrown<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ll say as well, I def had burnout feelings during lockdowns. The last few years have been rough, and on good days I felt like I was helping. on bad days I felt like I was just cluttering up the internet with ads. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Real burnout in the agency world in 2020. My role shifted to convincing clients to not cancel contracts and turn off spend. Tough time for sure! @BryceLiggins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Have definitely felt burnout in client-facing roles. When I was at a former company, many people were at >120% capacity but leadership was resistant to hiring my people to balance the workload. And taking time off meant I had to work longer hours the week before and week after my time off. @kytaylor88<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019ve felt it more recently too because sometimes it feels like an endless struggle against Google and with clients self-sabotaging. @Pete_Bowen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For me, great clients help to avoid burnout. It’s when clients create demands out of scope, under-appreciate work, or fail to (try to) see eye-to-eye that I find motivation suffers.It’s rarely the work itself that contributes in my experience. There are endless mini “problems” to solve in-platform that keep things fun and interesting. Even platform changes create an opportunity to critically think and adapt strategies. @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So this might not be the scope of the question, but the thing that made me “burn out” was always a management thing rather than a doing-the-work thing. Agency sales goals driving client strategy, sending good traffic to bad creative, it’s-always-been-done-that-ways, not getting compensated…. all sorts of causes, none of which have to do with the work-work. @ferkungamaboobo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@AmyLytle<\/a> That’s a good callout. Having advocates, both in-company and client-side can be vital to mental health at work, @teabeeshell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pace of change in the last few years, coupled with covid and everything since that began has made it easier to feel burnt out or isolated or just plain tired. It\u2019s not just you. @NeptuneMoon<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, this was especially after I worked for a large client that was spending $300-$400k a month with unique set of challenges. After their contract ended and they went in-house, for a while working on smaller clients with a $3-5k budget and having weekly meetings etc, felt extremely disengaging. Enjoyed the boom, was working 14-15 hours across different time zones but ultimately got burned out & health suffered. Took a short break to reset.  This was mid 2022. @alimehdimukadam<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@ferkungamaboobo<\/a> It sounds like those are all things you can\u2019t control which I understand is a common reason for mental health issues like stress, depression and burnout. @Pete_Bowen<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yeah. I find myself advocating for my team a lot, and that sometimes doesn’t leave room for me. Very appreciative that I work for a company with lots of support. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I definitely felt it – but while I was working in various agencies for others. As soon as I changed the surrounding area, switched to full remote near my family, it doesn\u2019t bother me at all. Probably, a person has to find what he likes the most and what he likes the most, and if he can adapt the work he does to that, such pressure is not felt. I speak from my personal experience. @slobodanjelisavac<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I was just starting out I had some clients that were borderline scams\u2014taking advantage of people. Those cause burnout quick. It feels better to get to tell those opportunities \u201cno\u201d these days.@BryceLiggins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My happiness is 100% dependent on who my clients are at the time and how much I’m enjoying collaborating with my team. If my client has the right goals, money to spend, and proper tracking in place I am usually happy. @ChristineZirnheld<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I for sure have experienced burnout and felt a lack of enjoyment from PPC. I find myself asking \u201cwhat\u2019s the point\u201d both when I\u2019m overwhelmed with work and when I don\u2019t have enough work to do. It can be hard for me to land in that sweet spot as agency work is so up and down at times. It can be a rollercoaster of emotions. @alexnicoll93<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I worked in a client services role doing consulting work, our sales team was very hit-or-miss. Bad clients paying little money but being constant thorns in my side. @teabeeshell<\/a> you mentioned it, good clients can make heavier workloads easier to manage. @kytaylor88<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I have low moments when I feel under appreciated, when a lot is asked, and a lot is offered from my side, full capacity and over time, but it is never enough. @DianaAlinaAldea<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I feel though… idk… “bad clients” are largely more institutional failures than a client being “bad.” @ferkungamaboobo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

We have a smaller team at work and have tried to add more employees but doesn’t always work. We continue to get more and more accounts and responsibilities but not added benefit to us. Additionally, feels like our team often gets overlooked in the agency. SEO is always going to be king but appreciation for the SEM team goes a long way, perhaps because its so rare. @AliRussell<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@kytaylor88<\/a> what’s that old saying? the 4k clients want weekly checkins and monthly in-depth reporting, the 1M clients want to know what’s up quarterly over lunch. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I find it’s a lot about appreciation and being reasonable. Like I can’t force your budget to change, but I can work hard with what you’ve got and be realistic with goals. As long as you see the work we’re doing and appreciate us, we’re pretty good. @JuliaVyse<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@JuliaVyse<\/a> Give me the 1M clients all day! @BryceLiggins<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I think too, a $4K client is spending a lot more percentage of revenue than a $1MM client. So yeah, it’s less important to the agency, but more important to the client. Same with websites – if you shrug at $10K for a website, that’s because it’s not your whole marketing budget for a quarter. @ferkungamaboobo<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

@ferkungamaboobo<\/a> I define “bad clients” in a few concrete ways:<\/p>\n\n\n\n