Performance Marketing Manager - SEM & Contextual

Performance Marketing Manager - SEM & Contextual

Ranked 6X by Inc. 5000 as one of the fastest-growing companies in America, and certified by Great Places to Work, Excel™ specializes in digital advertising and performance marketing, playing a pivotal role in connecting consumers with insurance brands,  partner with large strategic brands such as insurance carriers, brokers, and agencies, supplying them with high quality prospects looking for their services. This involves owning and operating top-rated insurance websites that we promote via paid search marketing driving the highest-intent consumers looking to acquire an insurance plan to meet their needs.

• Vision: Acquiring great customers should be simple.
• Mission: Helping insurance brands acquire the right customers at scale.

At Excel™ we believe remote working is an important way to enable people to achieve their best work while maximizing time efficiency and personal freedom. Our culture is based on team-based performance that is highly aligned but loosely coupled, extreme ownership, growth mindset, curiosity, personal accountability, and we flourish because of the creativity and input from our team members. As an agile and innovative company, we are always looking for our next high performer to help transform the future!

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.

The Performance Marketing Manager drives our mission by crafting and executing data‑driven, SEM‑focused campaigns across Google Ads and contextual networks such as Media Alpha, Sure Hits, and Delty. This role focuses on identifying new growth opportunities to enhance campaign performance and profitability. The ideal candidate will be responsible for launching and optimizing Google Ads campaigns — primarily Search, plus Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Display/You Tube — with Microsoft (Bing) Ads as a secondary search engine and ongoing buying across contextual networks, all while growing account spend against margin and lead‑quality targets and following best practices in campaign setup and structure.

• Successfully launch and optimize Google Ads campaigns across Search, Performance Max, Demand Gen, and Display/You Tube — 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…