Boosting PPC Health With Zach Shah

Zach Shah is Brafton’s Director of PPC, and he knows a thing or two about non-traditional pathways. But as someone who loves adventure and isn’t afraid to take on new challenges, he has embraced every twist and turn along the way, landing in a role where curiosity, strategy and experimentation collide. 

Today, he channels that same energy into building high-performing paid media content, helping clients strengthen their PPC health through smart optimization, data-driven decisions and a constant drive to improve what’s working (and fix what isn’t).

We caught up with Zach to learn about his trek to Brafton and discover what sets great PPC work apart from the rest. 

A Day in the Life of a Director of PPC

Zach started working at Brafton in 2025 as our Director of PPC, quickly becoming a pivotal part of successful paid digital marketing efforts. Because there’s no “average” day in the advertising world, he does a wide range of tasks that help keep the PPC globe spinning. One of his main roles is managing the PPC team of six paid ad maestros and ensuring they always have the support and resources they need to succeed. 

The other side of his job consists of working alongside the content marketing strategists and account managers to solve client problems and manage project deliverables. He hops on calls, sends countless emails and ultimately serves as the bridge between his and the other departments. He’s also quick to notice efficiency issues that could be improved within the PPC department, creating templates, processes and frameworks that take the burden off his team and help them do their jobs more confidently.

“I love how we have all these project management tools, like Atlas,” he added. “Being a remote agency, you have to be organized and everyone has to work together — especially since we’re a global team. At the same time, everyone really gives each other a lot of autonomy. There’s a really healthy attitude toward both motivation and work-life balance.” 

And because PPC is often the most misunderstood sector of marketing, he loves talking with other teams, answering questions and learning about and introducing new technologies that can improve life at Brafton as a whole. 

BB: Before Brafton

The Zach that we know now is an expert in his field, but he wasn’t always set on PPC. In fact, he originally studied medical science. Before being introduced to PPC, he helped at a hospital, shadowing doctors and continuing his pursuit of a career in the medical field. After he got his degree, he decided he didn’t want to take this path anymore, instead pursuing a non-medical science path. 

This led him to get his master’s in biochemical engineering, which he would use to eventually create pharmaceuticals and vaccines. He worked in this industry for a while, but he realized he only loved studying the materials, not working with them. 

Thus began his journey away from medicine and into the realm of advertising. At the time, he had a friend who was raving about their ad tech job. Zach was intrigued by being able to use both technical and practical skills, tied with creative ones. His first job in this space was at an internet company called MoneySupermarket.com, a big comparison website based in the UK. In this role, he worked with the digital and data tech team, which supported the PPC team, which was an easier transition since it was still extremely technical and scratched his science itch. 

“I meet a lot of people in PPC, and many don’t have marketing degrees,” he said. “I met people who have mathematics degrees, PhDs and English degrees. But people in PPC rarely come from marketing backgrounds.”

His exposure to the PPC team grew his interest in it, eventually pushing him to fully make the switch to this line of work. Why? He loved the practicality of the job, applying data, mixing creativity and then seeing real-life results. 

“It’s actually the reason, back when I was interested in medicine, that I wanted to be a surgeon or a dentist as opposed to a physician. Your actions can get direct results,” he said. “Similarly, the optimizations you enact in PPC and the levers you pull deliver instant results. Then, you can continue doing what you’re doing or adjust as necessary.”

Over his career, he’s continued to strive for great results, using both data analysis and creative thinking to push all the right buttons. 

After he became intrigued by PPC work, he worked as a PPC executive at an agency in London — where he was born and raised — for a year. Very quickly, he jumped up into a managerial position as a PPC manager, since he took to the field well and saw progress within that period. 

“In medicine, you can’t really jump positions; you have to do things by time,” he said. “With PPC and marketing, it’s a meritocracy where, if you do well, you will progress. I was very inspired and motivated by that.”

After a while, he started his own agency and consultancy with a colleague, with the hope of having it be a crash course in all areas of business. This gave him a backstage view into getting clients, doing administrative work and running the finances. He then moved his capabilities to a startup based in London and New York, where he headed the PPC department. This position gave him his first introduction to the North American market, giving him the chance to travel back and forth between the two locations. 

His final position before starting at Brafton was as the head of PPC at John Ayling and Associates, London’s oldest independent agency. During his six-year tenure, he worked on several projects that he’s extremely proud of. One of the projects he considers his biggest accomplishment was for the National Health Service (NHS). During the pandemic, the NHS needed volunteers to assist with tasks that the staff and front-line workers no longer had the bandwidth to do on their own. The company had just 12 hours to launch a campaign ahead of the Minister of Health’s announcement of the initiative it was designed to support. He and the team worked tirelessly that day to communicate with Google about using protected keywords like “COVID” and “NHS,” organize the paid ad campaigns and get it done within the allotted timeline. 

“We managed to come together and launch the campaign,” he said. “When the Minister of Health made the announcement on TV, our ads were live and we saw this massive spike. We also ended up getting triple the number of volunteers needed.”

After many successful campaigns similar to this, Zach was ready for a change, which brought him to Brafton — and the rest is history. 

Zach’s PPC Tips for Success

Successful PPC isn’t about guesswork; it’s about listening to what the data is telling you and using every resource at your disposal. Zach emphasizes staying curious, testing often and letting performance insights guide smarter decisions that drive real results:

• Look at the data — it tells a story: Dive beyond the surface-level metrics to uncover trends, audience behavior and opportunities for optimization. Your performance data can reveal what’s working, what isn’t and where to double down. 
• Don’t be afraid to use all the tools: From automation features to analytics platforms, leverage every tool available to streamline workflows, refine targeting and maximize ROI. The right tech stack can turn okay campaigns into excellent ones. 

And for Fun? You’ll Find Zach Outside

While his job is fully digital, he’s an outdoorsman at heart. Once he logs off for the day — or over his lunch when he has the chance — Zach loves indoor and outdoor rock climbing, mountaineering, ice climbing, hiking and cycling. 

“I can cycle for ages and ages,” he joked. He and his wife now live in Vancouver, Canada, giving him plenty of places to explore all that Mother Nature has to offer. 

And while he does less of it now, for most of his life, he’s done jujutsu and martial arts. “It’s still very close to my heart, and the discipline and community from martial arts are very nice.” He even says he used to be able to do the splits — pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. 

His interest that might surprise you? He’s fascinated by geology. Similar to data, rocks tell a story, with mountains displaying layer upon layer of varying types of sediment. While he doesn’t have a huge collection, he has uncovered some fossils that he says are his best finds to date. 

At his time at Brafton so far, Zach has become a solid rock for the PPC team, ensuring they can create paid ad campaigns for clients that exceed expectations. If you have the pleasure of meeting with Zach, be sure to pick his brain about all things PPC — or ask for some facts about mountaineering if you’re so inclined. He’d be happy to chat about either!