Life at TDR |

Best Job Ever: Paid Digital Advertising

TDR PDA Employee

In this month’s edition of “Best Job Ever,” I sit down with Josh, Kelly, and Tyler — members of our paid digital advertising (PDA) team — to learn more about their life at TDR and why they consider their job to be the “best job ever.”

**Interested in joining our PDA team? It’s your lucky day: Josh, Kelly, and Tyler are looking for an intern to join their team! Learn more and apply for the internship here.**


Caitlin: Hey PDA team! Thanks for taking some time to tell the world why your job is the Best. Job. Ever. So tell me — what are your roles within the PDA team? How would you describe a typical day?

Josh: I’m the VP of Paid Digital. My days are almost always dedicated to looking out for our clients and the team. This involves meetings with clients, discussing and planning strategies, finding new ways to perform and evolve for our clients, and supporting the team with anything they need to excel at their job, whether that be paid search trainings, testing new SEO tools, developing faster and more insightful campaign reporting methods, or discussing new social media advertising betas with our account reps.

Kelly:  I am the director of digital operations. I manage our SEO clients and work with web development to ensure all web clients are set up for success organically and have the appropriate tracking set up per the client’s needs. I also have a hand in the strategy and execution of paid digital campaigns.  My typical day includes a lot of reporting, data analysis and follow ups with both external and internal clients.

Tyler: I’m a senior associate for digital media. I manage all but our largest paid digital accounts — that means optimizing Facebook, Google Ads, LinkedIn, Twitter and more. In addition, I’m obsessed with conversion rates — so I make suggestions and recommendations to other teams on how they can optimize websites and design to get the client the biggest bang for their buck. My day-to-day starts with checking that none of the accounts are on fire, then usually it’s a mix of reporting and projects.


Caitlin: How did you come to work at TDR? How long have you been here?

Josh: Prior to TDR, I worked for a large agency in Boston managing the paid search teams for a wide variety of accounts in industries such as telecom, travel, worldwide shipping, fashion, and e-commerce. After moving back to the Madison area I was recruited by Mason and have been with TDR for about a year and a half.

Kelly: I was recruited to do ad operations for a national client. I just celebrated my 2nd TDR anniversary.

Tyler: I knew a former employee who worked here and put me in touch with Mason. I’ve been at TDR almost 8 months now.


Caitlin: What do you like most about your job? About TDR in general?

Josh: How we as advertisers are constantly being challenged in new ways every day. Digital advertising is evolving rapidly and in order to deliver for our clients we have to keep up and be ahead of the next big change. More importantly, our client’s industries and their customers are also constantly evolving. Together this all creates a never-ending puzzle that fuels my love for this job. Here at TDR we’re given the freedom to lead the industry and our clients wherever is necessary. There are no bounds and the options are limitless for what we can do if we believe that it’s going to deliver the absolute best performance for our clients.

Kelly: The landscape is always changing so there’s never a dull moment.

Tyler: PDA is unique because we can point to our efforts and show the direct impact we’re having in our clients’ businesses. It’s one thing to put an ad in a magazine, but it’s an entirely different story to run an ad on Facebook and be able to say, “For every dollar you put in, you got three back.”


Caitlin: What is the most challenging part of your job?

Josh: Time is always the limiting factor. With things moving so quickly and with only so many hours in the day, we’re always challenged to find the perfect balance between efficiency and quality.

Kelly: Again — the landscape is always changing so there’s never a dull moment.

Tyler: Getting everyone on the same page can be tricky — I can talk CPA all day but if we aren’t all speaking the same language then we won’t get anywhere.


Caitlin: What is the coolest project you’ve worked on, or what project are you most proud of?

Josh: I love showing clients the power of paid digital and opening their eyes to the possibilities. I worked on a test project for an insurance company that turned into a longer-term relationship where we tested a new approach for them that they hadn’t explored with their prior agency. With paid search, display, and Facebook ads we created a holistic strategy that drove over 230% more conversion at a 75.3% lower cost per conversion. More importantly, with proper tracking and reporting they were able to tie these efforts back to earned revenue for the first time. This showed that the paid digital efforts were providing a far higher than expected return on ad spend and resulted in them changing their overall approach to marketing.

Kelly: Working on a three-tiered paid digital strategy for a national water inflatables company.


Caitlin: Which qualities or skills should a future member of your team should possess in order to succeed?

Josh: Passionate and driven. Anyone with those two attributes can learn any digital marketing skill necessary. The most successful team members are constantly pushing themselves forward, learning, and evolving all the time. The best team members do it because they love it.

Kelly: That person should be detail-oriented and be able to take initiative but also willing to ask questions. They should be open to constructive feedback and have a sense of humor. And, they should also have a strong interest in digital marketing,  how the industry is changing, and how digital fits in with a client’s needs holistically.

Tyler: They should be able to switch between the two sides of their brain: analytical to creative, numbers-cruncher to artist, detail-oriented and able to see the big picture.


Caitlin: Awesome, that’s all I’ve got. Thanks PDA team!

Interested in joining the TDR crew as a member of the PDA team? Check out our Careers page for open positions.

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