PPC jobs and careers
A career in pay-per-click (PPC) is all about strategic internet advertising. A PPC specialist is responsible for planning and optimising the effectiveness of a paid campaign. The term PPC is often related to Google AdWords or Bing Ads, and advertisers will pay a fee each time their advert is clicked. A specialist in PPC uses their marketing expertise in order to maximise results by getting potential consumers to click-through and convert.
You’ll naturally be abreast of the search sector and the opportunities opening up within the market that will enhance the agency's or your business' offering. Outside of pure PPC, you may also be getting involved in paid social campaigns, display, remarketing, SEO, social media and broader digital marketing as required by the workflow in the team - however, your core focus will remain paid search.
Why consider a career in PPC?
If you’re a strategic thinker that loves helping businesses grow and forming technical campaigns (from writing enticing copy for adverts to pushing the campaign live and monitoring the success), a career in pay-per-click is creative, analytical and systematic. There are a range of paths you can go down, including the agency path, where you could be managing various campaigns for different clients. You could also be based in-house with one focus - growing the business of one brand through effective online paid strategies.
What a career or job in PPC may entail…
This career path can take you down a variety of different routes. Your role may blend more with digital marketing or you could specialise in PPC alone.
As a PPC Executive, you'll manage paid search campaigns on channels such as Google and Bing and social media. Part of your role is to create, optimise, report and to delve into the data and related analytics, to discover what is driving performance.
As a Digital Marketing PPC Specialist, you will work amongst a digital marketing and media team, predominantly on PPC campaigns. You will have a sound knowledge of data and strategy with the ability to drive client campaigns (if you work for an agency) or your business. You'll often manage budgets of various sizes, making sure you get the best for your spend. Across the business you’ll be a sounding board in terms of new strategies and the role paid search plays within the wider digital picture. In terms of hands-on PPC, you’ll work from planning through to implementing, monitoring, optimising and analysing the activity of a campaign.
As a PPC Digital Account Executive, you may be part of an agency team, this role would involve managing various accounts for a wide range of clients. You'll specialise in paid search, biddable media, programmatic and display. You’ll be instrumental in supporting the success of client accounts, ensuring successful digital marketing strategies for your clients. You’ll be comfortable working across commercial, analytical, communication and hands-on PPC based tasks.
As a PPC Specialist, you’ll provide day-to-day management and optimisation of paid search campaigns – to enhance performance in line with ROI targets. Daily PPC optimisations will include, query reports, budget/bid management, ad copy changes and keyword expansions. Competitor research will be key in staying several steps ahead of the competition. You’ll play part in the wider marketing team, ensuring a unified message is portrayed.
Typical role titles include
PPC Specialist
PPC Executive
PPC Assistant
Paid Search Specialist
Digital Marketing PPC Specialist
PPC Account Executive
Head of PPC
Career progression example
PPC Executive
PPC Manager
Head of Paid Search
Salary Benchmarks
At an entry level, junior/graduate PPC Consultants on average will be earning between £18-£25k. At the mid-level you’d be looking to earn £30-£40k and seniors would be looking to earn £50k+.
Is it right for me? The skills it takes...
You should be naturally analytical with great organisational skills, along with the ability to communicate your ideas well and explain them technically.
What qualifications does it take?
You may hold a foundation degree or diploma within a relevant subject such as IT, marketing or mathematics. There are other options to get your foot in the door, such as apprenticeships, online courses and on-the-job training.
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Respected agency with a global reach. Thriving team with exciting client-base. Vibrant and friendly working environment. A creative communications agency is looking for a Digital Media Executive/ Manager, specialising in Paid Social marketing., to build on what is already an established area of excellence within the industry. You will work as part of an existing media planning and buying team working to implement, optimise and manage global media campaigns to deliver the best possible campaign results for their clients. What you’ll be doing You will be responsible for the day-to-day management of global social media campaigns, working closely with the media planning and buying team. You’ll product reports to analyse the performance of the campaigns and promotions, closely monitoring KPIs to ensure they are all reached, and developing recommendations to improve them. What’s more, you will support the development of targeting strategies across various social channels, keeping informed on latest developments in the field and communicating these to the wider team. What experience you’ll need to apply Experience in multi-channel paid social media advertising You’ll be capable of analysing data to draw conclusions on campaign performance and improvements. Strong planning and analytical skills. Strong organisational and prioritisation skills. Excellent written and verbal communication skills. Experience working in a fast-paced environment, with the ability to work under pressure and meet tight deadlines. Ability to thrive in a team. What you’ll get in return for your experience A salary of £25-32k is on offer, in addition to some great company benefits. (Please enquire for more info.) What's next?Send through your CV to Rina ASAP to be considered.
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Established business with exciting growth plans. Opportunity to build a team of paid media specialists. Part-remote, part-office based working options This is a rare opportunity to flex your biddable media expertise, analytical ability and commercial acumen within a high-performing and expanding team. What you’ll be doing My client is looking for an outstanding biddable media specialist to play a leading role within their Marketing team. Initially, the role will be both hands-on and strategic: you’ll manage a portfolio of sites across a wide range of industries, for which you’ll plan and implement innovative paid campaigns, including PPC, Paid Social & Display. As the Biddable Media expert within the organisation, you’ll take the reins on optimising paid campaigns to increase their reach, all the while ensuring they remain cutting-edge and deliver a positive ROI. Continuous analysis of campaign performance using analytics tools is an essential part of this role, in addition to providing regular reports to the senior team on a weekly basis. What’s also exciting about this opportunity is the commitment to develop and grow the use of biddable media within the organisation. This means you’ll be able to take an active part in the rapid expansion of the company, including building a team, and supporting with overarching business activities as required. What experience you’ll need to apply Significant experience delivering successful biddable media campaigns across a range of channels, including PPC, Paid Social and Display (re-targeting). Naturally data-driven with the ability to use a range of analytics tools. Able to examine and draw insights from conversion data to optimise campaigns. Excellent commercial acumen and a performance-driven nature. Good understanding of online media buying platforms and processes. Resilient mind-set and able to see the bigger picture. Independent and self-motivated, but able to work well in a team. What you’ll get in return for your experience Salary offered is dependent upon experience, but you can expect between £40-50k, as well as flexible working options. What's next?Please send your CV to Rina for consideration.
Marketing case studies
Evolution Power Tools
Tracking down top talent outside the beaten track
- Evolution Power Tools are a fast growing International business expanding their market presence at pace.
- In need of a Paid Search Specialist ADLIB were approached to support in tracking down a marketing specialist that was proving an elusive skill set to find.
- The business location and specialism of paid search meant that there was a small candidate pool within which to source candidates.
- Through an integrated talent attraction campaign, headhunting and tapping into our existing networks we successful sourced and matched them with exactly what they were seeking within 4 weeks.
“ADLIB used their digital marketing expertise and network to source an amazing candidate quickly. This was such a smooth process down to ADLIB's knowledge and proactive nature.”
Oliver Woodland, HR Adviser at Evolution Power Tools Limited
Outlaw
Tracking down a perfect skill and cultural fit
- Outlaw are a new, progressive agency, specializing in branding and packing, in the heart of Bristol.
- They approached us to help them find a Senior Account Manager to come in and help establish their client services offering.
- The specialism of the agency as well as the fact that they were newly established and fast growing meant it was really important to find the right candidate for the role- not only based on experience but also culture.
- Tapping into our extensive network of agency professionals, we were able to find Outlaw’s perfect SAM. She perfectly met their requirements and is set to achieve amazing things there.
"ADLIB took the time to really get to know Outlaw, coming to meet us and getting under the skin of what we’re about. This meant we were able to meet great candidates and make a fantastic hire really swiftly."
Elissa O’Brien, Strategy Director at Outlaw.
