PPCChat | PPC Workloads | 17th September 2024

What is the ideal workload for PPC professionals? Do they have a limit on how many accounts can they manage? What do experts do if they find themselves with an unreasonable workload? These and more questions were discussed during this week’s PPCChat session hosted by Julie F Bacchini.

Q1: What do you think the ideal workload is for a PPC professional – how many accounts can one person reasonably be responsible for and on how many platforms? Do you have a hard limit on how many accounts you will manage at once?

I think we are probably going to get a lot of “it depends” answers here, but that’s fine.  @NeptuneMoon

It truly depends on the nature of the work and scope of the relationship. If the model is lots of little accounts, each account should get 1-2 hours per week of active management. If the model is white glove treatment for a few clients, then no ore than 3-5 so each can get 8-10 hours of active management. @navahhopkins

Yes, even this question gets the usual ‘it depends’ on my team, I have a senior person running a major account with lots going on, a lot of risk of overlap, and a highly dialed in client. My more junior person runs several small accounts that mostly need copy changes during sale periods and regular optimization. Both are accountable for pacing and reporting. Just counting, one person is assigned a lot more than the other, but the other has a huge, high-spend headache to deal with regularly. @JuliaVyse

For me, it is about the total mental load and time required to manage a set of accounts. As both @navahhopkins & @JuliaVyse said that can vary a lot depending on the complexity of the accounts being managed and also how needy or hands-off the client is! @NeptuneMoon

It depends on the amount of active management and how much is going on with the accounts. (So what @NeptuneMoon  just summarized lol) @revaminkoff

Variables would be : Account Management / Customer Service and client Calls. @alimehdimukadam

I’d say complexity is a variable as well. Is this just Google, or Bing as well? is it B2B or B2C? @JuliaVyse

This is where very clearly defining what is included & at what level, as well what is not included is so important in your agreements. @NeptuneMoon

No matter how much/little I’m doing for a specific client, I’ve found that each client requires a certain amount of mental RAM to understand their product/offering/competitors/etc. and how much RAM an individual has is finite, but varies person to person and at different times in life. This is something I think every individual needs to learn about themselves and find a situation that respects it. @robert_brady

For example, one person managing 20 or more Google Ads accounts is too much. But I have also had clients where managing more than 2 accounts would have been too much. @NeptuneMoon

Be reasonably responsible for pure execution within ad platform: The number can go as high as 15-20(Again depending on the model, budget, etc.)The assumption is client servicing & calls are excluded here. @alimehdimukadam

40 plus is crazy. @runnerkik

I think if you have what I’d call a templated approach – you do PPC for a specific niche and can use and reuse strategies across accounts, then you can probably take on more accounts at any one time too. There is a certain efficiency that can happen there. @NeptuneMoon

@runnerkik I managed 63 at one point. @adwordsgirl

140 was my limit. @navahhopkins

It was a freaking nightmare but what a blessing because now I’m able to go through accounts really quickly and take what I need from it. @adwordsgirl

Those days in the trenches really do help you later in life when explaining what’s happening to a team or the client. @JuliaVyse

My highest at one point was in the 90’s. @alimehdimukadam

But this is also why software is my home – nothing empowers helping the most amount of people like saas. @navahhopkins

It’s not official but the unofficial cap at HSM is 15. I tried 20 with one of my analysts and I noticed more errors than usual which told me that 20 may be too many accounts. @adwordsgirl

Very lucky to be in an omni team now. Rather than assigning just search to a stable of experts, we budget our team based on dedicated resources. the work is deeper, and so much better. @JuliaVyse

My simple answer is as much $$$ as you need. These days I try to not have more than 40 hours a week of work though, when possible, just so I can get time with my grandkids. The mental strain with certain brands (require a lot of hand-holding) can make 4 hours seem like 8-10 though. You need to balance the income with the mental stress of the work. We don’t have physical stress like a construction worker or something, but we do have the mental stress, especially if it is a challenging time period where we are not always increasing revenues for the cost. @lchasse

It was kinda fun. Had a schedule where daily first thing would be to manually enter what the account spent yesterday – had a templatized Excel where I would input spends, clicks, conversions And by doing so would find anomalies etc And that excel would have a scorecard/run rate formulas of budget consumed etc etcThis was early agency days now I created a google ads script that does that for me daily and sends alert automatically. @alimehdimukadam

As a freelancer, I find my max is more of an emotional/brain capacity/energy max than a time max. I’m sitting at about 6 clients right now and it feels extremely doable, but I would probably prefer 3-4 high spending/complex accounts – I really like being a little more integrated into the team, but can only really do that when I am getting paid enough/feel like my time is spacious enough that I have energy to be creative. @MicheleJaeger1

I miss running like 25 accounts, that was fun. @ferkungamaboobo

I’m also a solo freelancer, so I acutely feel the “I could be doing more” mentality — especially when my wife points out that I’m only billing 4-5 hours of work per day. I agree that it’s primarily based on mental load. How much I CAN handle is a very different question from how much I SHOULD handle. But if I get to the point where I feel like I just don’t have the bandwidth to give my clients the amount of attention they need, I know I’ve taken on too much. @ScottOmiller

Q2: What have you done if you find yourself with an unreasonable workload?

Screamed into the void. @navahhopkins

I’m very bad at dealing with stuff like this. My habit is to just push through, but funnily enough when my team gets over-assigned, I’m very good at pushing back on asks and deadlines and getting more help when needed.  @JuliaVyse

I kind of check out and feel overwhelmed. It sucks especially as an employee. Working for myself I make sure that I have a network of other freelancers that I can hire. So for example, I hired out ad copy and loved it! @runnerkik

But in all seriousness, I typically am very upfront with my clients/stakeholders about my bandwidth and I ask them what they’re willing to give up to keep the things they asked for.@navahhopkins

As a consultant, I am lucky to have a fair amount of flexibility. So I have either brought on a trusted person to take some of the work off of me and/or ended engagements when they were too much or not worth the stress. @NeptuneMoon

And when folks aren’t understanding of that I fire them as clients and or leave. @navahhopkins

I’d also like to add that your unreasonable workload definition might shift back and forth over the years. I worked like crazy and then I had a baby, which slowed me down for a while. Then I ramped back up and had family caregiving burst onto the scene. Again, I am thankful to have been able to adjust my workload up and down as I needed to for my life circumstances at that time. @NeptuneMoon

It rarely happens now because of all learnings and timelines communicated in advance. Have automated some bits. Mostly now I let a client know that X deliverable may not happen by Y, and will happen on Z. I’ve found most are amenable and understand. @alimehdimukadam

Setting expectations at the top is a game changer. @JuliaVyse

What Julie said, I am in a stage where 1 or 2 clients are perfect. @runnerkik

Ohhh @alimehdimukadam delivery timelines is a great point! Do yourselves a solid and build in some buffer on your promised delivery timelines. Trust me on this. @NeptuneMoon

I find that the unreasonable workload is generally because of a problematic client, scope creep, or a mismatch in my fee to expectations (and often self-imposed! but it’s all a learning curve). So I try to re-set anyone on the above or work on internal efficiencies, and if none of that works, generally let go of the over-burdening client. @MicheleJaeger1

I created tracking sheets that I would have to input into every single morning so that way I could identify which accounts were currently pacing under for conversions or over for budget etc. So then those accounts would be my focus for the day. I also implemented scripts and heavily relied on them. @adwordsgirl

Yes, learned the hard way, I believe you only learn this after you’ve gone through the overload cycles. @alimehdimukadam

Hired, trained, outsourced, and delegated. Also gotten better about knowing my limits and when to ramp up and ramp down sales. @revaminkoff

First off, I have nobody to blame but myself for getting into a situation with too much on my plate. But dealing with it is hard. Letting a client go reduces my earnings. Keeping them all happy increases my stress. Always looking for the balance and it takes work to maintain it. My biggest advice: be willing to ask for help. Too often I try to muscle through it when someone was more than willing to help (and would have enjoyed doing so) @robert_brady

@NeptuneMoon Yes, I had a colleague, Jennifer, who taught me this in 2022, I would always say Tuesday for example, She would say Wednesday to the client. Was a white-label arrangement. She will say – Always add one day to whenever you think you can complete it by. @alimehdimukadam

I also think if you’re a freelancer, you should build into your contract that you could outsource and then the other thing is no shame in taking hourly I find agencies love it, but filling out the timesheets and working in their systems is time you’re spending and going in and out of their login email and syncing calendars…it becomes a lot and we under bill for it. @runnerkik

YES! bill for those admin hours! @JuliaVyse

It is usually my own fault for getting over-extended. Sometimes a client starts to require more of me than they used to as well (new CMO or something like that happens). Having a military background and growing up in a blue-collar family, I usually just push through until I lose a client or something if I am honest. Client turnover happens to us all and eventually, things work out so I am not as buried as I once was.I have also gotten better at identifying if a client is going to take more work than they even think. There are small queues on calls if you pay attention that can be warning signs of a higher maintenance client than what they say they are. @lchasse

@runnerkik ALL time used, even for admin tasks that agency requires, are billable if you are doing hourly. I recommend using a time-tracking software to make it easy. @NeptuneMoon

Eh, when I was at agencies? Curse that I was salary and put in ye olde 60 hour weeks. @ferkungamaboobo

I am all about those billable hours! lol @lchasse

(I know that’s not how salary ACTUALLY works but lol just try making a case to finance) @ferkungamaboobo

We should normalize having conversations with our clients or bosses when they are about to overload us to say something along the lines of “I am happy to add that to my workflow, however that will put me over capacity, what should we remove or reprioritize or reassign to keep me functioning at the highest level we all expect.” Or something like that. @NeptuneMoon

I don’t think the people who have only worked for me realize how much less crazy it is than real agency life and those 60 hour+ weeks, Reid! @revaminkoff

Good, no one should use that as a benchmark. I fought hard to make sure my juniors left the office at 39.5 hours. Most of them listened @ferkungamaboobo

BUT because I was setting the example, some of them read that as what they needed to do. Stuff to learn as a manager. @ferkungamaboobo

Actually have to point out when they respond on teams during a day off. put the phone down folks! it’s off hours. @JuliaVyse

Getting clients on IM tools like slack, teams can be counter productive! @alimehdimukadam

If you are a consultant of freelancer, be sure to outline your standard response times [i.e. we generally respond to emails within 2 business days] and your standard working hours (including time zone!) [i.e. 9:00 AM to 4:00 PM EST] in your contracts. @NeptuneMoon

Q3: Do you have any standard operating procedures (SOPs) in place for setting up and/or managing PPC accounts? If so, generally what is included in yours and if not, why not?

I definitely have a blueprint I follow when setting up new campaigns and a different one for taking over existing campaigns. That is part of knowing what the workload will be, at least in terms of hours needed, for different requests and clients. Having a solid discovery process is also key! @NeptuneMoon

We use a standard SOW to determine what the account may need, and keep in constant communication with clients to manage changes, updates, new needs, new products, and new directions. @JuliaVyse

Yes, there is a setup/onboarding fee for new accounts that require tracking, etc. Timeline communication for response times, reporting cadence, new campaign live times. @alimehdimukadam

I have a standard account set up as well and my audit follows an SOP as well. @runnerkik

And by discovery process I mean how you dig into a client’s needs & goals if it is new PPC work or how you dig into existing accounts + clients needs and goals. Getting the information you need to properly scope work is critical. @NeptuneMoon

Which @NeptuneMoon said discovery is key as it can raise issues upfront.  I had one yesterday where the lead asked me for a 2 hour audit and wanted me to charge less and it was an “emergency” for leads and they were spending 60 K a month. He told me because his account wasn’t working he couldn’t afford to spend on an audit and then promised me if I did the audit he would pay me later.  Bad fit. @runnerkik

I do although lately it feels like it has to change a lot during the course of the year. Keeping your own processes in order takes a lot of time sometimes. @lchasse

Also, my fee was 2k which is cheap, the account was a huge mess too… but if you’re gonna treat people like that…you miss out on experts. Clearly there is no SOP there. @runnerkik

So they were willing to keep spending $60k that month on accounts not performing but not spend to get that performance back on track. Truly mystifying. @NeptuneMoon

I’m trying to work over my SOPs/SOWs right now to include payment terms, delivery expectations, and communication methods. I would LOVE to see examples or templates from other freelancers if they’re willing to share. @ScottOmiller

Q4: How do you handle a client or stakeholder adding to your current workload? Particularly if what they want to add will push you past your reasonable limit?

Being a consultant, any time a client wants to add to my workload a contract scope discussion ensues. Make this your habit if you are a consultant, freelancer or agency! @NeptuneMoon

Oh man, flashbacks to Gov Vaccine campaigns, and further back to a US health insurer…
We tend to do what we can within the week, and book an SOW/compensation conversation. Most of the time clients are happy to get more support and understand the budget realities of extra hands. In cases where they can’t afford that ideal approach, we talk about scaling back, or adjusting what is expected. Not easy, but very worthwhile. @JuliaVyse

As I said in an earlier question, if you are about to be over your reasonable capacity, speak up! Do not set the expectation that you can be dumped on with more and more work without more compensation or other work being removed from your plate. It is so, so hard to regain that ground once you cede it. @NeptuneMoon

Public safety in particular was rough because the ‘we’re not curing cancer’ trope didn’t work. We came together on how they need to approve work and be there with us. They don’t want to be working till 9 on Friday night any more than we do, so how do we build in expectations and go from there. @JuliaVyse

I am still polishing my skills on ‘how to not take up additional work beyond scope’We share access to PM tools with the client so they can see the existing work and stay updated on the progress. (This deters them to make an urgent request) the work gets added to the list for a future date. @alimehdimukadam

@NeptuneMoon so true about gaining ground once ceded, I lost a client once very early on due to additional work that I had agreed to take up on beyond scope, and it got delayed due to a third-party dependency. @alimehdimukadam

@alimehdimukadam  I found it just took practice and also being very matter-of-fact about it helped. Many clients don’t realize when they are asking for out-of-scope items. So it helps them and you when you politely point it out and discuss options. @NeptuneMoon

I will ad here too that you can also CHOOSE to to additional work without charging more, but you should always make sure the client knows you are waiving what should be a fee. So the value is stated and you can charge if the asks get more frequent, etc. @NeptuneMoon

Yea, there are some who realize it beforehand and mention upfront about charges/time and thank you. Then there are some who take it for granted and assume it’s their right. @alimehdimukadam

I give the benefit of the doubt, unless a client shows themselves to be inconsiderate, that they are used to dealing with employees. And they can change things up for employees. Most are very receptive to the discussion when you bring it up. Those who are not are showing you something you need to pay attention to too. @NeptuneMoon

Did that for a client last month, added a line item for the extra work and then added a discount to waive it off in the invoice (subtle hint from my side). @alimehdimukadam

I am just honest. I had to do this a couple weeks ago. A client wanted to expand to some other channels (FB, LI, etc…) so I just told them this was outside what our initial agreement was for and I would need to charge them for that extra work. They were fine with it, so no big deal. This is why having an agreement is important that you both agree on when you begin. We have 1 call a week, 1 weekly report, etc… Anything that changes your agreement, you can just discuss the extra workload and what that will mean for your billing. If you are hourly, it is even easier. One month you did 20 hours and with the new things they want you to do it took 30 for the month. @lchasse

I generally bill on a monthly retainer which is based on an expected number of hours dedicated to working on their account with the understanding that hours worked will ebb and flow depending on the month/season. If the scope of work changes significantly, it’s time to have a discussion with the client about their retainer reflecting that change going forward. If they want that much more of your time, it puts you in a place to charge a premium. @ScottOmiller

I avoid this by having a clearly defined scope of work from the start. I should know the workload upfront and that’s taken into account in my retainer. If they’re asking for a bunch of out-of-scope work, I provide an estimate of hours or a flat project rate and have them to agree to it in writing. @Austin_Dillman

PPCChat Participants

• Julie F Bacchini @NeptuneMoon
• Navah Hopkins @navahhopkins
• Julia Vyse @JuliaVyse
• Reva Minkoff @revaminkoff
• Ali Mehdi Mukadam @alimehdimukadam
• Robert Brady @robert_brady
• Sarah Stemen @runnerkik
• Ameet Khabra @adwordsgirl
• Lawrence Chasse @lchasse
• Michele Jaeger @MicheleJaeger1
• Reid Thomas @ferkungamaboobo
• Scott Ostermiller @ScottOmiller
• Austin D @Austin_Dillman

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• CPC Growth Trends in Google Paid Search, Shopping Ads, & Text Ads (2020-2024)
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• Write Google Ads Copy Like a Ninja: Your FAQ Handbook

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