How to Get Promoted in 14 Months (A 5-Step Strategy)

Most entry-level PPC professionals think getting your head down and completing every assigned task is enough. But, to earn a promotion and a higher salary, you must start operating at the level you want to be promoted into.

I was promoted after just 14 months. I did it by proving that I had initiative and could fix important problems without being asked. If you want to know how you can do the same, read on! Below are the five steps I took to convince senior leadership I was ready for the next level.

Step 1: Understand The Landscape

You must know what matters to everyone around you – managers, directors, and the client. This helps you deliver value that is directly visible to decision-makers.

A. Identify Stakeholder Pain Points

Instead of just completing tasks, always ask for context to understand the strategic why:

• “What’s the context around this task? Which business results will it help drive?”
• “Why do we complete X task in Y way, what’s the rationale?”

B. Map Your Skills to the Next Role

Ask your manager for the job specification for the role you want. This is your holy grail. Review the specification bi-weekly and list examples where you’ve demonstrated those required skills. This exercise instantly identifies the gaps you can fill and allows you to map your current performance against the required leadership level.

Step 2: Strategic Diagnosis and Alignment

It’s not enough to spot a technical flaw; you must frame it strategically to show management you understand the wider business impact.

Framing the Issue Strategically

Identify gaps, then frame the negative impact of not fixing them. For example, relying on broad match alone leads to:

• Higher CPCs: Less efficient costs, especially for campaigns on target impression share bid strategies where you only need to maintain IS on exact brand core terms.
• Reduced Conversion Rate (CvR): Missing the high-intent, high-quality traffic exact match provides.

Gaining Manager Alignment

Demonstrate strategic thought by linking the fix to the business context before you begin. Below are examples of conversations I initiated:

“We’re missing exact keywords in the account. I understand that, in theory, exact match gives us better spend efficiency through higher conversion rates and tighter control. This level of control is particularly important for businesses like ours that operate with tight budgets, so I believe it needs rectifying.”

“Since I have strong skills in process creation, I’m confident I can lead this project. Do you agree this risk is worth prioritising, and should I proceed with planning the fix?”

Step 3: Execute, Standardise, and Quantify

This step is about demonstrating the ability to fix existing problems and establish a proper, standardised approach across the team to prevent them recurring. 

Leading Standardisation

Once you’ve got the green light from your manager, you can proceed with creating the solution to the problem. For the keyword match type issue, I created a process for identifying missing keywords, shared this with five other executives, and was on hand to answer questions around the task. When you’re fixing problems, ensure you’re using these prompts:

1. Objective: Why am I fixing this issue? What’s the result this will achieve?
2. Resources needed: How much time, people, and tools do you need to fix the issue?
3. Training: Will anyone need training? Will we need process documentation or live training?
4. Results: How will I quantify the results and determine success?

This ensures you’re organised, and if you are, you’re more likely to deliver error-free work on time. Directors and managers appreciate this because it means they can rely on you. 

Quantify Your Results (The Final Proof)

Directors promote based on quantifiable value. If you are a junior, you often won’t know the exact dollar impact, so you must enlist your manager to provide the official figure.

How to ask the manager for the numbers:

1. State the strategic principle: “Through the match type remediation, I know we secured higher intent and tighter targeting, which should create a positive trend in our conversion rates.”
2. Ask for valuation: “Could you help me look at the data and put a specific cost savings figure to the project’s financial value, so I can accurately document this in my portfolio?”

An example from my portfolio is: “I automated an ad creation task, explicitly reducing the time required from 45 minutes to 15 minutes.”

Step 4: Expand Your Scope

You must show your manager you are a fast learner, constantly evolving, and ready for larger challenges.

• Upskilling: Actively gain new platform certifications (e.g., SA360, data visualisation,  JavaScript) and share this with your manager.
• Expand Scope: Ask to shadow a senior leader on complex, high-impact tasks. If no opportunities exist, think of ways to make work higher-quality or faster. You’ll be able to initiate your own projects to use as leverage. 
• Train Peers: Offer to train junior staff or peers. This demonstrates leadership and deep subject matter expertise, proving your skills already warrant the higher title. I delivered Excel training and created process documentation to help processes run smoothly. This was one of the things my team appreciated most. 

Step 5: Formally Express Interest

You’ve built the proof; now, formally transition the promotion conversation from “if” to “when.”

Timing the Conversation

Aim to schedule the promotion conversation around 7 months in. Your goal is not to ask for a promotion, but to present the data that shows you are already operating at the next level. Doing so shows your manager that you’re eager for the role and you’re not sitting on your hands!

The Promotion Mapping Exercise

This is where your portfolio work pays off:

1. Take the job specification for the role you want.
2. Go through the requirements line-by-line.
3. Next to each requirement, insert a specific, quantified example from your portfolio (e.g., Requirement: Leads cross-channel strategy. My evidence: Led integration of PMAX and YouTube campaigns, resulting in a 12% CPA reduction over Q3.).

This mapping exercise allows you to walk into your 1-on-1 with confidence, turning a simple request into a data-backed discussion about when the title and compensation will formally align with the value you are already delivering.

Conclusion

Getting put forward for a promotion isn’t about luck. It’s about being visibly strategic in the value you deliver and meticulously documenting the impact of that value. By building this portfolio, you create an undeniable case for your promotion.