EP318 - The £50 Bid Disaster ft Chris Nightingale

In this episode of PPC Live, host Anu interviews Chris Nightingale, founder of Can-Do Digital Marketing, about a significant mistake early in his PPC career and how he turned it around. Chris shares the story of accidentally increasing bids by £50 instead of 50p, causing massive overspending for a client. He discusses his immediate panic response, how he addressed the situation professionally, and the surprising support he received from his manager.

Key takeaways discussed:

Good management matters - Supportive leadership during crises can turn failures into learning experiencesAsk for forgiveness, not permission - Testing and trying new approaches drives innovation, even with occasional failuresCreate safeguards - Use tools and automation to prevent common mistakes and implement double-checks for high-risk actionsStart testing with smaller budgets - When possible, experiment with lower-budget accounts to minimize financial impactUse AI strategically - AI works best for backend tasks rather than customer-facing content like ad copyFailures aren't discussed enough - The industry focuses on successes while hiding the numerous failures behind themTurn mistakes into long-term wins - Chris built a stronger client relationship by demonstrating accountability and delivering exceptional results in subsequent months

00:00 Introduction to PPC Live The Podcast

01:39 Guest Introduction: Chris Nightingale

03:09 Rock Climbing and PPC: Drawing Parallels

04:24 The Big Mistake: A PPC Blunder

08:11 Turning It Around: Lessons Learned

13:58 Advice for PPC Professionals

18:02 Final Thoughts and Industry Insights

20:56 The Role of AI in PPC

24:47 Conclusion and Upcoming Events

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PPC Live The Podcast (formerly PPCChat Roundup) features weekly conversations with paid search experts sharing their experiences, challenges, and triumphs in the ever-changing digital marketing landscape.

The next ⁠⁠PPC Live event⁠⁠ is on June 26th in Leeds, UK

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