On episode 331 of PPC Live The Podcast, I had an enlightening conversation with Dale Olorenshaw, the Head of Paid Media and Search at StrategiQ. Dale shared a painful yet invaluable experience involving a high-budget test campaign and a critical oversight that taught him powerful lessons.
The costly tale centered around a test campaign with a £15,000 budget. While the campaign saw impressive clicks and engagement, it surprisingly yielded almost no conversions. A month later, the client pointed out that all traffic was directed to the wrong landing page, never reaching the newly built dedicated test page.
Several internal missteps led to this error. Dale bypassed the internal QA process by managing the campaign solo. He shrugged off instincts that flagged something was amiss and, due to seemingly normal top-line metrics, he overlooked a deeper dive into conversion discrepancies. The most humbling moment was realizing the client discovered the oversight first.
Although initial panic ensued, Dale refrained from sending a hasty, emotional response. Instead, he acknowledged the issue, paused to clear his mind, and waited to gather all the facts. The following morning, he approached his account director with full transparency and honesty, declaring, “I’ve messed up.”
StrategiQ stood firmly behind Dale, focusing on solutions rather than blame. They managed to recover part of the wasted budget, provided extra work at no additional cost, and offered discounted fees for the next project phase. Once relaunched correctly, the client relationship remained intact.
This experience profoundly impacted Dale’s professional approach. He now adheres strictly to QA processes, trusts his instincts when numbers seem off, and promotes team accountability with second opinions and checks, acknowledging that seniority doesn’t shield from human errors.
Dale also highlighted a common PPC issue he continues to observe: the overcrowding of Responsive Search Ads. Google’s push for numerous headlines and descriptions can saturate ads with small budgets, leading to insufficient data for meaningful insights. His advice is to streamline assets for clarity and quality.
For Dale, discussing mistakes openly is crucial. He argues that the PPC community needs to normalize these conversations since newcomers may only witness success stories online and equate mistakes with incompetence. Sharing real experiences shows that growth often springs from problem-solving.
In closing, Dale offers leadership advice on fostering a supportive culture. Encouraging honesty, removing blame, and focusing on collective problem-solving ensures that mistakes are seen as learning opportunities rather than failures.
If there’s one takeaway, let it be this: Don’t react impulsively, stay honest, and treat client funds with the utmost care as if they were your own.
Inspired by this post on Search Engine Land.
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