Carlton Kim

About Carlton Kim

Growth marketing leader and paid search expert, managing total spend of $580M, across 19 years of experience.Excels in performance marketing, data analysis, strategy, and management. Proven record of driving high impact on top line revenue, profitability and customer acquisition. Team player who is willing to share the stage or step up to the mic alone. Fosters a productive work environment by building meaningful relationships with colleagues and stakeholders.

Experience

1. Senior Director, Paid Search

   The Zebra

   Oct 2025 — Present · Austin, TX, US

   GM for a profitable $100M+ business within a business. SEM is the major channel for revenue and customer acquisition, and is run by a lean and mean team of two. → Reports to Chief Growth Officer→ Manage P&L, daily operations, and revenue optimization→ Create and execute search vision through optimization and testing → Scale program through evolving, value-based bidding strategy→ Manage one direct report and external partnerships→ Build AI solutions for asset creation (images, videos and landing pages) and agents for data analysis and task automation→ Collaborate with internal Data Science team and third parties to build a lead scoring program to scale customer acquisition across all paid channels→ Support Finance on budgeting and forecasting→ Support Commercialization team with technical commentary, analyses, and client strategyHighlights:→ Transformed program from historical loss leader, to highest revenue channel, at a profit→ Set records for highest revenue and most customers acquired for all marketing channels→ Achieved all 2025 goals in Q3→ Increased 2025 budget by 50%, by exceeding revenue and profitability targets in 2024→ Reduced operational expenses by over 70% by bringing operations and expertise in-house→ Joined Google\'s LCS category for the first time in the company\'s history in 2025→ Earned Google\'s exclusive Forward Labs access for the Executive teamLeadership philosophy: → Achieve operational excellence through processes that promote positive decision making→ Knowledge density over headcount

Education

• University of Washington

  Communication, Media Studies

  1999 — 2004

• University of Washington

  Business Administration, Marketing

  1999 — 2004

Skills

• Copywriting
• Mobile Devices
• Pay Per Click (Ppc)
• Crm
• Mobile Marketing
• Mobile Search
• SEO
• Word Press
• Data Analysis
• Html
• Online Advertising
• Web Analytics
• Remarketing
• Digital Marketing
• Call Analytics
• Words with Friends
• Analytics
• Lolcats
• Leadership
• Online Marketing
• Sem
• Google Analytics
• Photoshop
• Ivr Optimization
• Marketing Strategy
• Search Engine Marketing (Sem)
• Css
• Display Advertising
• Google Adwords
• Email Marketing
• Strategy
• Management
• Mobile Advertising
• Microsoft Excel
• Long Division
• Advertising
• Lead Generation
• Ppc
• Call Advertising
• Marketing