Performance Marketing Manager - SEM & Contextual

About the role

Are you a dynamic, data-driven Performance Marketing Manager with a track record of driving growth and strong lead-gen ROI across paid search and contextual networks, seeking your next opportunity in media buying? Join a team of A-level players and work remotely to propel growth in the Insurance industry. At Excel, we help insurance brands acquire the right customers at scale.

Qualifications

• 3-5 Years of experience in lead generation and performance marketing.
• Proven experience in performance marketing, with a strong track record of launching and optimizing Google Ads campaigns (Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Display/YouTube); experience with Microsoft (Bing) Ads and contextual networks a plus.
• Hands-on experience growing paid search account spend to budget and margin targets while maintaining lead quality.
• Working knowledge of keyword research and composition, match types, negative keywords, SKAG/STAG ad group structure, Quality Score management, audience targeting, Smart Bidding, and Performance Max asset groups.
• Excellent analytical and research skills, with the ability to make data-driven decisions.
• Strong understanding of funnel mechanics and revenue generation.
• Experience with competitor and auction-insights analysis to inform keyword and bidding strategy.
• Proficiency in campaign reporting and analysis tools, including Tableau.
• Strong collaborative skills and ability to work with cross-functional teams.
• Ability to achieve or exceed targets and complete quarterly goals.
• Excellent communication skills and ability to provide insightful data and creative ideas.

Key responsibilities

• Successfully launch and optimize Google Ads campaigns across Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Display/YouTube — with Microsoft (Bing) Ads as a secondary search engine and contextual networks as a core channel.
• Leverage analytics and research to uncover actionable insights, drive optimizations, and continuously improve campaign performance.
• Develop and execute performance marketing strategies that improve lead quality and drive leads, clicks, and calls.
• Implement marketing strategies to increase profits, aligning with broader company goals and growth targets.
• Grow account spend while consistently meeting margin and profitability targets — scaling budgets only where unit economics and lead quality hold.
• Identify trends and opportunities across ad platforms and reporting to drive measurable gains in campaign efficiency and conversions.
• Understand funnel mechanics and how changes impact growth and revenue generation.
• Conduct competitor, keyword, and search-term research to expand account coverage and provide ideas to the Media Team.
• Expand accounts through effective keyword targeting, match-type and negative-keyword strategy, and tightly themed ad group structure.
• Optimize audiences, bids, and budgets across Google Ads and contextual networks to improve lead quality and efficiency.
• Proactively test and adopt new Google Ads features — including AI Max and Smart Bidding Exploration — along with contextual-network tools, to stay ahead in a fast-evolving paid search landscape.
• Set and manage monthly core and experimental budget allocation.
• Achieve or exceed monthly targets and quarterly company goals.
• Actively participate in meetings, collaborating with team members to provide insightful data and creative ideas.
• Create and analyze campaign reports on ad channels and Tableau for informed campaign optimizations.
• Provide guidance and support to other team members, helping them achieve goals and stay on track with objectives.
• Work collaboratively with cross-functional teams to achieve performance metrics and goals by improving creative iteration and lead monetization.