Jon Crowe

Paid Media Director

FORJ Digital • Fulltime

Oct 2020 - Present • 5 yrs 11 mos

As Co-Founder and Digital Growth Strategist at FORJ Digital, I lead high-performance Paid Media and Google Ads strategies designed to convert digital traffic into predictable business outcomes. Bringing over 20 years of industry experience, I partnered with scaling brands to optimise ad spend, streamline channel strategy, and drive measurable ROI. **Key Responsibilities & Deliverables:** - Strategic Paid Media Planning: Designing and executing full-funnel PPC strategies across Google Search, Performance Max (PMax), Shopping, and Social channels aligned strictly with bottom-line targets. - Hands-On Campaign Management: Managing account structures, continuous bid optimisation, negative keyword curation, and creative ad copy testing to minimise wasted spend. - Conversion & Performance Analytics: Analysing campaign data continuously to refine audience targeting, improve quality scores, and maximise client acquisition efficiency. - Scale-Up Partner: Advising growing businesses on how to deploy capital effectively in paid channels, cutting out vanity metrics to focus strictly on profit margins and lifetime value. **Core Focus:** Google Ads Strategy, Performance Max (PMax), ROI Optimisation, Budget Management, Cross-Channel Paid Media, Conversion Rate Strategy.

PPC Commercial Director & International PPC Director

Croud • Fulltime

Aug 2014 - Sep 2020 • 6 yrs 1 mo

Spearheaded the UK PPC channel and international search operations at Croud, managing a team of 45+ search professionals and overseeing over £6M in channel turnover. Led multi-market paid search accounts for enterprise clients including Netflix and International Workspace Group (IWG). **Key Achievements & Impact:** - Award-Winning Campaign Execution: Won The Drum Search Award for Best Professional Services PPC Campaign through strategic management of IWG's global search presence. - Global Scale Strategy: Grew international PPC operations from a £370k turnover to £3M+, expanding IWG from 9 initial test markets to managing paid search across 120+ international markets. - Inventory-Driven Bidding: Architected advanced search strategies integrating real-time client inventory data directly into Google Ads bidding models for automated, dynamic updates. - Google Partnership & Maturity Framework: Co-developed a Paid Search Maturity Framework alongside Google to help enterprise brands leverage 1st-party business data and automated bidding. - High-Impact Launches: Created innovative search campaigns supporting major global media launches, such as Netflix original series (e.g., Better Call Saul) integrated with wider offline campaigns. **Core Focus:** Global Google Ads Management, Enterprise PPC Strategy, Automated Bidding Models, 1st-Party Data Integration, Team Leadership.

UK Country Manager & Account Director

Artefact • Fulltime

Mar 2011 - Jul 2014 • 3 yrs 4 mos

Served as UK Country Manager for NetBooster (leading 75+ staff and £18M+ turnover) prior to acquisition by Artefact and strategic lead for all Paid Search clients, including high-profile accounts like Confused.com, Opodo.co.uk, and Carnival Corporation (P&O Cruises, Cunard). **Key Achievements & Impact:** - Offline Data Integration: Collaborated with Confused.com to integrate offline sales and conversion data directly into Paid Search campaigns, vastly improving audience profiling and true ROI optimisation. - Operational Efficiency: Redesigned daily PPC operational workflows, cutting repetitive search management tasks from 4 hours a day down to 30 minutes, allowing for deeper strategic analysis. - Large-Scale Team Management: Led a dedicated team of up to 15 paid search managers and executives overseeing £15M+ in paid search turnover. - Business Restructuring: Re-engineered agency operations and sales structures to focus on performance delivery, significantly improving client retention and profitability. **Core Focus:** Advanced PPC Strategy, Offline Data Tracking, Conversion Path Optimisation, Account Restructuring, Enterprise Account Management.