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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New role in a thriving digital team with brand new offices. Leading Digital agency in the South-West. Working across AdWords and Bing. One of the leading Paid Search agencies in the South-West is looking for a PPC superstar to join the team. The business has gone from strength to strength and with a brand new home to match their ambitious growth potential, the business is looking for PPC professionals at a range of levels. What youll be doingWith the growth of existing accounts and new business wins, there is a need for either a PPC Manager or Senior PPC Manager to join the team. No two days will be the same as youll experience huge variety in this role with a great split between hands on implementation and consultative client work. Managing a range of client accounts, youll focus on a combination of paid search initiatives depending on the goals set. This will largely focus on driving PPC through AdWords and Bing, however depending on your skillset this can extend to Paid Social and Display / Programmatic. Going into more detail on the day to day, youll speak to clients directly to understand their challenges and gear your campaigns accordingly. Youll plan, set up, and track the success of campaigns to optimise their effectiveness, whilst keeping a close eye on costing / budgets to ensure a positive ROI. Additional tasks include coaching more junior members of the team, and taking an active role in business development. What experience youll need Experienced PPC professional from either agency or client side. Strong understanding of AdWords and Google Analytics. Well organised and possess strong time management skills. Comfortable dealing with stakeholders at a range of levels both internally and externally. Consultative approach with clients to fully understand their challenges and deliver a solution oriented approach. Able to consistently hit deadlines and exceed expectations. What youll get in return for your talentsThere is a competitive salary on offer, so please enquire for more information. Benefits include a generous holiday allowance, pension, life insurance, childcare vouchers, free lunches / breakfasts and regular social events throughout the year. Whats next? Get in touch with Joe to hear more information on this one!
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Multiple sites with different digital challenges. Excellent agency resource to drive success. Fantastic culture with a nice balance of autonomy and support. The Digital Acquisition and Retention Manager is a new role as part of a digital team of 11 people. Although an established market leader, this brand sells across multiple eCommerce sites, creating new opportunities for growth and with it exciting projects for digital marketers to work on. What you'll be doing Each brand presents different challenges, so your role as Digital Acquisition and Retention Manager will require varying strategies to bring about the desired outcomes. This is the best of both worlds - the focus of working as part of a client side business, but with the variety of being able to work on different eCommerce sites.Working alongside Web Development, eCommerce Merchandising and reporting into the Head of Digital, your role will drive the success of paid search and email marketing strategy across the business (Acquisition and Retention). Primary paid search channels are Google Ads and Bing, however there is scope for wider channels (paid social, retargeting etc.) depending on the directions you want to take. There is a significant budget and paid search agency on hand, so this role is more about driving the overarching strategy and bringing the best out of the agency partners. Email Marketing is a key channel to ensure repeat business from the company's existing customer base. Creatives in-house and an outsourced supplier will help you on designing, running and analysing the campaigns end to end. Therefore the role will suit a broader digital professional, looking for an environment with new challenges and the tools to be more strategic in their role. What experience you'll need Digital Marketing experience, ideally from an eCommerce setting however other backgrounds will be considered. Familiar with driving overall strategy for acquisition and retention channels. Confident in putting together strategies for PPC (Google Ads) and Email Marketing, and managing external suppliers to implement these campaigns. Analytical mindset to review campaigns and filter feedback into your overall plans. Ability to work with stakeholders at a range of levels. Passionate about eCommerce. What you'll get in return for your talentsThere is a salary on offer of between £30-35k (potential for higher depending on experience). Benefits include 25 days holiday (with option to buy more), bonus scheme, pension scheme, private medical and life assurance. What's next?Get in touch with Joe to hear the finer details on this one.
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Fast-growth eCommerce brand. Established team to integrate into, with strong processes in place. Great culture and a brilliant working environment. This premium, well-established brand is looking for a PPC Executive to come in and help drive their PPC offering. The team has been hugely successful in driving eCommerce in recent years and the PPC Executive will take charge of paid channels as part of a broader team.What you’ll be doingReporting into the PPC manager, you’ll be responsible for all PPC/Paid channels in-house including Adwords, Bing and Social (mainly Facebook), with tools including Google Analytics. You’ll use this feedback to work alongside the manager and help shape the paid search strategy, becoming an integral part of your day to day as experience in this area grows. Given this role is working as part of a wider team, you will assist with reporting to other senior members in the business (such as the Head of eCommerce), and look to understand the wider impact of PPC across other channels. What experience you’ll need Hands-on PPC experience, from either an agency or client side. Ideally, experience working on high profile, complex paid search campaigns. Worked across Google Ads, Bing Ads and Apple Search (Apple search is a bonus!) Exposure to reporting tools such as Data Studio or Tableau. Analytical approach to breakdown customer data and draw inferences to tweak your campaigns. Able to work well as part of a team and coordinate with other internal stakeholders. What you’ll get in return for your talentsThere is a competitive salary on offer for this one. Usual benefits included as well as other perks! The offices have a huge amount to offer as well, regular social events and a fantastic culture. It’s an environment the team loves working in!What’s next? Please get in touch with Marlie with a CV to hear more information.
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Data and insight driven role. Drive marketing performance across digital channels. Leadership opportunities. A large, national organisation based in central Bristol is seeking a passionate Digital Marketer with a strong interest in data driven insights to drive the performance of their digital marketing. This is a newly-created role in the business, directly reporting into the CMO, with the purpose of helping the business achieve further growth through their online channels. What you’ll be doing This is a fantastic opportunity for a talented and driven Digital Marketer with a strong interest in data driven insights. At its core this role is all about managing, optimizing and driving the efficiency of multiple channels including but not limited to: SEO, PPC, Aggregators, Job Boards, Social and Display, using data insights to ultimately drive the generation of inbound job applications. You will be leading and motivating a growing team as well as managing external agencies to deliver against key targets.You’ll use analytics tools to monitor channel performance and make informed decisions to optimise future activity, allocating budget where appropriate. As always, you’ll need to keep up to date with the latest trends and best practices in digital marketing and maintain effective relationships with both internal and external stakeholders. What experience you’ll need to apply A proven marketer with experience in a similar digital marketing role.. Demonstrable experience leading and managing SEO/SEM, marketing database, and/or programmatic display advertising campaigns. Proficient using website analytics tools. (e.g., Google Analytics) Highly analytical thinker, data driven and passionate about using insights to inform decisions. Ability to build and maintain strong relationships with media owners and agencies. Experience managing social media – Facebook and Linkedin prefereable. Have managed / coached others in a digital marketing team. Hard-working and proactive in nature. What you’ll get in return for your experience A salary of £34-37k is on offer, alongside a generous performance related bonus of up to 20%. The company also offers structured development programmes and additional benefits, such as a Perks at Work scheme. What's next?This is a crucial role so please get in touch ASAP with your CV.
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A great chance to join the best agency of its kind and learn from the best in the industry. You'll be delivering best-in-class digital advertising campaigns across programmatic. Proper commitment to training and personal development, with a cracking agency culture to boot.Good news, one of the regions and UKs finest digital media and advertising agencies is growing! Opening its doors to the driven, bright and analytical, this is a great opportunity for a digital-savvy programmatic candidate to step into a new role. What you'll be doingSpecialising in digital campaigns across programmatic - youll be working amongst a growing team (2 people and counting) as part of a wider established setup. Youll be instrumental in supporting the success of client accounts, ensuring successful digital marketing strategies are delivered from the outset. With already an exciting number of accounts in this space, its a great time to be joining a growing proposition that you can shape and make your own. This will see you enjoy working closely with a variety of clients across numerous industries on a local, national and international basis. Youll have both client facing as well as digital campaign management responsibilities - so youll be as comfortable using softer communication and relationship building skills as you will be with the harder analytical and numerical skills. There is also a chance for broader elements such as coaching more junior members of the team and pitching for new business. What experience you'll need You'll have previous experience working on display / programmatic campaigns built up within an agency environment (although inhouse experience should be fine). Strong understanding of the mechanics of successful programmatic campaigns and a desire to develop your skills and become a true expert. Exposure to DoubleClick, digital media planning or DSPs / the broader world of AdOps (ad operations) would do you well. Well organised and possess strong time management skills. Comfortable dealing with stakeholders at a range of levels both internally and externally. Consultative approach with clients to fully understand their challenges and deliver a solution oriented approach. What you'll get in return for your talentsSalary will be based on experience, (please enquire for more information), in addition to a bonus structure, a great working environment and the opportunity to play a key role in a thriving business. This is an agency that really invests in its own - amongst other market leading training opportunities you can expect team away days to Google HQ, international team holidays and full ownership of your own career progression.What's next?Please get in touch with Joe with a CV to run through the full details.
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International footprint. Thriving B2C operation with high-end product range. Excellent team structure and hands-on exposure. This business has a key focus on quality which is reflected in their premium kitchenware products. A brand that has been around for over 200 years, their success online has brought about the requirement for a Digital Marketing Executive to join the team. Working across a range of channels youll be responsible for the eCommerce operation, social media and relevant brand sites. What you'll be doingWorking as part of a broader team and reporting into the Digital Marketing Manager, your role will span a number of areas including Paid Search (PPC and Display), content management online (product descriptions, how to guides, etc.), Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Email Marketing and Social Media management. A pretty comprehensive list, so the team understand if you have strengths in some areas over others that need upskilling. A key area will also be the use of analytical tools (Google Analytics) to understand the performance of each channel and feed this into your overall strategy. Youll also work closely with the broader marketing team (branding / offline) to ensure that the voice of the brand is consistent. What experience you'll need Experience working on digital marketing for a B2C brand. Really looking for hands-on skills here rather than management through an agency. Key areas of experience need to be PPC, with a focus on email marketing and SEO. Additional experience across content management, conversion rate optimisation and affiliates will also help massively but are not must-haves. Able to multi-task and manage time efficiently when working on multiple channels. Ability to work closely with internal stakeholders to drive efficient workflow and promote a positive culture. Strong numeracy and analytical skills. Intermediate to advance Excel skills. What you'll get in return for your talentsThere is a competitive salary on offer here of up to £30k depending on relevant experience to the above channels. Might also be a chance to get involved in some travel abroad 3-4 times a year to attend relevant digital workshops. Great that the team are keen to help drive education across the marketing team. What's next? Please get in touch with Marlie to learn more about this role.
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New role in a growing team. Market leader within their field. Significant budgets on paid search side. This market leader remains at the cutting edge of paid search strategy with the tools and investment to boot. There is a significant monthly budget (and we mean significant) to work at the scale that few other businesses in South Wales offer. Scope here for a PPC Executive to Senior PPC Executive level, so please enquire for more information. What you’ll be doing Given their size, business model and recent investment, this is a hugely exciting time for a Paid Search professional to be joining the business. Aside from being able to learn and develop your skills with some of the brightest digital talent, the importance of PPC within the business means you’ll be working on projects with strong budgets in place. In turn, allowing you to work at an impressive scale and see some amazing results. As this is an in-house team, you’ll be working hands on across Google Ads and Bing. Your day to day will involve planning, implementation, monitoring, analysis and reporting to key stakeholders within the business. Liaising with others in the digital marketing team will ensure there is a consistent approach across all channels. What experience you’ll need PPC experience from either an agency or client side setting. Google Ads experience is key, however having worked with Bing would be a real plus. Comfortable analysing large data sets and working with Google Analytics. Structured and methodical way of working with a strong attention to detail. Genuine passion for paid search and keeping up to date with the latest trends. Exposure to Paid Social and/or Display would be beneficial.What you’ll get in return for your talentsThere is a competitive salary on offer of between £25-34k, however please still get in touch if your expectations are a touch higher. Benefits include a generous pension scheme, bonus scheme, healthcare and more. What’s next? Drop Joe a line to hear the finer details on this one.
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No.1 eCommerce brand in their field. Broad and strategic Digital Marketing role. Significant budgets and a chance to work at amazing scale. This is a hugely exciting opportunity with a leading retailer in the space. As highlighted above, they are a market leader in their field which means significant investment into eCommerce to ensure they keep driving growth in the right direction. The Digital Marketing Manager will work across a broad number of channels to align the digital strategy to the overarching goals of the business. What you'll be doingReporting into the Head of Digital, you will work with the internal team and agency resource to deliver against the goals set from your overarching strategy. This is a highly strategic role where you’ll use your experience and insight into customer behaviour to align set targets to the wider goals of the business. We’re looking for a senior candidate here who is used to working with large budgets, managing agencies and being a leader in digital acquisition. There are a range of channels at your disposal here including Paid Search / Shopping, SEO, Affiliates, and Display / Retargeting / Programmatic. Working alongside the broader marketing team will help to make sure there is a joined up marketing strategy, and the messaging is consistent across all channels. You’ll also liaise with various partners and remain up to date with cutting-edge trends, bringing these into the business where you spot opportunities to drive growth. What experience you'll need Digital Marketing experience for an eCommerce / retail brand. Leadership experience to coach / develop others and comfortable managing external agencies. Broad channel experience across SEO, Paid Search, Affiliates and Display / Retargeting. Confident liaising with a range of stakeholders internally and externally. Passion for digital / eCommerce and creating the best possible customer experience. What you'll get in return for your talentsThere is a competitive salary on offer, so please get in touch for more information. There’s a fantastic culture here too with a raft of benefits, available on request. What's next?Drop Joe a line to hear more information on the role.
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Working across a number of varied accounts. Highly specialised market-leader. Brand new offices in the centre of Bristol. This thriving agency has been based in the heart of Bristol for over 10 years. A recent move to new offices has allowed them to accommodate a growing team across all areas, with Paid Search being a key focus for the business. What you'll be doingThis agency has a massive USP in they focus on one market area, but youll enjoy the variety of working with both ambitious SMEs and large organisations looking to drive their growth to the next level. The business structure is also highly conducive to you focusing on optimising PPC campaigns, while being able to speak to clients directly and allow this to shape your strategy (dedicated Account Managers to each client. To give some more detail on the day to day, you will be responsible for managing PPC campaigns end to end (primarily AdWords but also Bing where appropriate). Being able to work directly with the clients will allow you to understand their goals and shape overall strategy, which will lead into a cycle of implementation, website reviews, Google Analytics reporting and feed back into your client updates and overall strategy. Further to this process for new clients, the focus on existing client accounts will include keyword management, campaign structuring, targeting, bid management and budget control. An additional focus will be keeping up to date with the latest developments in paid search, and an awareness of key competitors / market challenges in this space. What experience you'll need Experience managing PPC campaigns hands on (AdWords and Bing), ideally agency side but client side candidates will also be considered. Additional knowledge across Paid Social would be a real plus. Well-versed with various paid search tools including Google Analytics and Tag Manager. Excellent organisational and time management skills to manage multiple client campaigns with varying budgets. Confident speaking to clients directly and offering recommendations to paid search strategy based on their overarching goals. Interest in attending workshops, networking events and training programmes. What you'll get in return for your talentsThere is a competitive salary on offer of £30-45k depending on experience. Please still get in touch if your expectations are a touch higher, as more senior applications will be considered. Benefits include a generous holiday allowance, pension scheme, cycle to work and also paid working days to volunteer with a chosen charity throughout the year. What's next? Drop Joe a note to organise a call to discuss the role in more detail.
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Highly-successful Financial Services business. Innovative digital marketing strategy. Located in central Bristol. This is an exciting opportunity to join one of the most innovative, respected and fastest growing financial services companies on the FTSE100. Biddable media is the cornerstone of their growth strategy and they have an opening for an ambitious, enthusiastic specialist to join their digital marketing team and help them continue delivering effective performance across their biddable media channels.What you’ll be doing A passion for paid search is essential, as you will be analysing and optimising multi-million pound campaigns on a daily basis. In addition to PPC, you will get the opportunity to work across all biddable media channels with a team of in-house experts, including paid social, display, native and content networks.Numerical and analytical skills must be strong; you must enjoy getting stuck into detailed results to identify opportunities to improve performance while exceeding targets. This business prides itself on generating the best results possible. This involves continuously testing all areas of activity including, but is not limited to, targeting, creative, platforms and landing pages. You will work with a range of stakeholders including the in-house analytics team who can help you dissect the data, and the design team in order to generate engaging and attention grabbing creative for a variety of platforms.In order to hit growth targets over the next 5 years, the business is investing heavily in paid media, so you will be able to use cutting edge technology and targeting tools to get the best results.What experience you’ll need to apply Experience within a large brand or agency, implementing paid search/ PPC campaigns. Ability to use web analytics tools to monitor performance. Strong numerical and analytical skills. Self-starter and able to meet strict deadlines. Excellent communication skills – both verbal and written.What you’ll get in return for your experience A competitive salary of up to £32k is on offer, alongside a stream of lovely benefits. Please enquire for further details.What's next?Send through your CV and get in touch with Rina for more information.
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.
“Joe used his digital marketing expertise and network to source an amazing candidate quickly. This was such a smooth process down to Joe'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.
