I’ll admit it, when I first started at Disruptive Advertising, I had little-to-no idea how to improve a conversion rate for a client—let alone what the heck CPC even meant. I was hired as a graphic designer and—being fresh out of school—I was ready to design!

However, I’ve since learned a ton about how to not only boost a company’s online presence, but to also actually get them the leads they need to grow their business.

Having a design degree supplied me with the initial building blocks for my job, but learning how to use those skills to generate profit for our clients has given me a great appreciation and respect for the complex and dynamic field of digital marketing.

Getting great results takes a lot of work! That being said, I’ve discovered that there are 3 tricks to developing the skills you need to succeed in this industry.

At Disruptive, we call those who go above and beyond “rockstars.” Now, I don’t necessarily consider myself an expert on becoming a hair-twirling, ax guitar-wielding PPC master, but I have learned a few things along the way from working at a successful (and rapidly growing) rockstar PPC agency.

1. Never Stop Learning

It’s human nature to think we have all the answers. Case in point, I’m a big Gwen Stefani fan and the other day I was arguing with someone over the lyrics to Gwen’s “Sweet Escape.” I was adamant that I knew the lyrics by heart, which worked well until someone did an online lyric check. Yikes. Turned out I was way off.

Assuming you have all the answers rarely works out well. In my case, it not only reduced my credibility as a Gwen Stefani fan, it showed that I didn’t even take the time to do a 5-second Google search! Not great for the street cred.

If you want to become a PPC Rockstar, you need to be willing to learn.

For me, I’ve learned a ton from coworkers who specialize in certain industries, personally attending conferences (our whole design team just got back from a fantastic conversion conference in Las Vegas), and reading lots of blogs (like ours!). As a designer, I have found that browsing design blogs for inspiration keeps me from settling into repetitive landing page design habits and gives me great ideas for ways to spice things up.

So basically: Check yourself before you wreck yourself.

2. Branch Out

Aside from not being a know-it-all and accepting that it’s okay to not have all of the answers all of the time, what’s next? Well, another helpful trick I’ve learned at Disruptive is to look for ways to branch out in your job duties.

As a designer, I’ve had many great opportunities to not only use my skills with the Adobe Creative Suite in creating videos like this, but to also design conversion-focused landing pages and ads for clients. Landing page and ad design requires a lot of thought about what works for the client and their customers, which isn’t always the same as what I would normally design for myself.

In order to fully maximize my clients’ conversion rate potential, I have to research effective copy-writing practices, attractive form layouts and many other aspects of conversion-focused design. Expanding my skill set this way has helped me create effective pages that have produced real, tangible results for clients. For example, a tech support company I recently worked with improved their conversion rate by over 24% by testing two of our landing pages!

Learning from different areas of a company will not only increase your personal value, but also helps your company as a whole. While the design team here at Disruptive is primarily focused on building landing pages and image ads, we also learn and share with our Account Strategists and Sales teams in order to more fully aid our clients.

Understanding how multiple aspects of the business work is incredibly helpful. For example, there have been times when I’ve been on a call with a client that thought they only needed landing page design help. Partway through the call, it quickly becomes clear that, yes, they do need landing page help—but they’re also interested in our full-service PPC model. Knowing what to say in situations like this has helped our company get new business without having to drag other team members away from their responsibilities.

In short: When you diversify your skill set, you increase your personal value and benefit your company.

3. Be A Team Player

While it’s crucial to wear multiple hats and increase personal value, you won’t get far without being a team player, especially if you work for a smaller company where employee relationships mean everything to the organization’s growth. At Disruptive, it’s fantastic to work with a group of people who all get along and bring great opinions and skills to the table.

In the design team alone, we all have unique skills and strengths which allow us as a group to accomplish every task quickly and efficiently. If there’s one thing I’ve learned from my time so far at Disruptive, it’s that having a strong team coupled with a fun and creative atmosphere increases productivity and makes everyone willing to help others.

To put it simply, there’s no “I” in team.

Summing It Up

These 3 tricks won’t make you a rockstar overnight, but they definitely make you a valuable addition to any company. Since I’ve worked at Disruptive, I’ve learned from some of the best minds in digital marketing about what works and what doesn’t in pay-per-click advertising and conversion rate optimization.

In addition, I’ve had my fair share of failures, and there will be many more to come. However, I’ve also seen many successes and improvements for clients that let me know I’m doing something right and that I’m learning every day how to truly help others grow their businesses.

Becoming a rockstar in any field takes time and the ability to learn from your mistakes, which means you have to be willing to take risks and continually try new things. Fortunately, if you’re willing to admit you don’t know everything, diversify your skill set and be a team player, you’ll be a rockstar in no time.

Now that I’ve shared 3 potential ways of reaching that next step on the ladder to success, I’m curious to know what you think! Share your ideas in the comments section below.