As more businesses turn to digital marketing to reach target audiences, they need specialists to run successful online advertising campaigns. One such professional is the PPC marketer.

PPC (pay-per-click) marketing is an advertising strategy that allows businesses to pay fees only when visitors click on their ads. A PPC specialist runs these campaigns, ensuring they’re aligned with the company’s goals and their audience, and ultimately, that customers will see and feel compelled to click on the ads. 

If you’re looking for a job in a competitive and lucrative industry, then PPC marketing might be the career path for you. PPC professionals in the US earn an average salary of $63,468 annually (as of February 2025), depending on their location and experience.

According to Indeed, the image below shows the cities with the highest pay: 


Highest paying cities for PPC specialists in the United States / Image: Indeed

Does this sound like something you’re interested in? Read on to learn how to become a successful PPC specialist.

1. Learn the Basics of PPC Advertising from Blog Posts 

If you want to become a PPC specialist, you must understand the basics of PPC advertising first. Fortunately for you, we live in a digital age. You can find anything you need online, whether it’s a deep dive into the latest technology trends, a paella recipe post, or the do’s and don’ts of pet ownership. 

Do a quick Google search, and you’ll find blog posts to get you started on your PPC advertising learning journey, too. Our very own ClickGUARD blog, for instance, is a good example. Just make sure the websites are credible. 

But, since you’re already reading about PPC advertising here, let me give you a crash course.

In PPC advertising, marketers bid on keywords or phrases for which they want their ads to appear. When potential clients use those keywords, their ad appears in the ad space on the search engine results page (SERP).

Let’s say your client is a movie streaming app. The keywords you would bid on may include “movie streaming,” “free online streaming,” “Netflix alternative,” and so on. Your ad will appear on the results page whenever users search those terms, and your business will pay a fee every time someone clicks the ad.

See the example below:
Search for the keyword “movie streaming” on Google

The “Sponsored” tag identifies Yidio as a paid search ad. The company pays Google a fee for every person who clicks this ad. 

In addition to search engines, PPC marketing works on social media platforms like YouTube and Facebook.

Generally, PPC specialists plan, create, and optimize PPC marketing campaigns. That entails: 

  • Research: Identify target audiences and brainstorm the best keywords to use
  • SEO (Search Engine Optimization): Bid on key phrases and incorporate them into ad landing pages.
  • Design Ads: Create compelling ads and high-converting landing pages.
  • Analysis: Monitor live campaigns to understand campaign performance and maximize ROI (return on investment).

You must also have creative, analytical, and communication skills and effective time management (if you’re running multiple PPC campaigns). Being familiar with the various PPC platforms, such as Google Ads, Microsoft Ads (formerly known as Bing Ads), and Meta Ads (for Facebook and Instagram), is also key. 

However, these are advanced skills you won’t get by just reading blog posts. That’s why you need to follow our next tip.

2. Enroll in PPC-Related Courses and Certifications

Fortunately, experienced PPC specialists share their knowledge and skills through digital learning platforms, or even on YouTube. Looking at PPC manager resume examples can also give you an idea of the skills and experiences employers look for in this field.

Just search for these online courses and enroll. Note that each major PPC platform offers PPC-related courses, too. After you’ve completed your courses, just get certified for the major platforms:

Google Ads

Google Ads is the largest PPC network, with a market share of 69.04%. It covers search engine result pages, YouTube, Apps, Google Shopping, and the Google Display Network (GDN). To show that you know what it takes to run successful campaigns on the platform, you need several Google Ads certifications. Google offers certification courses for each ad category.

  • Google Ads Measurement: Validates your ability to use Google’s measurement solutions.
  • Google Ads App: Validates your ability to create Google App campaigns.
  • Google Ads Video: Validates your ability to manage YouTube advertising campaigns.
  • Google Shopping Ads: Validates your ability to create Google Shopping campaigns.
  • Google Ads Display: Validates your ability to make effective campaigns using the GDN.
  • Google Ads Search: Validates your ability to create effective Google search advertising campaigns.

These certifications are available through Google’s Skillshop program and are free of charge. You must pass a knowledge exam with a minimum score of 80%, and the certificates are valid for a year.

Another excellent way to learn is to see what successful Google Ads management companies are doing well. Learn from the best. 

Microsoft Ads

Google isn’t the only search platform. There’s Bing, Yahoo, Ecosia, and DuckDuckGo, to name a few. Fortunately, Microsoft powers these search engines. You only need certification in Microsoft Ads to reach niche audiences using these platforms.

Microsoft’s Learning Lab provides three ad certifications:

  • Microsoft Advertising Search: Verifies your understanding of the ad search ecosystem.
  • Microsoft Advertising Native and Display: Verifies your knowledge of native and display advertising and the use of the Microsoft Audience Network.
  • Microsoft Advertising Shopping: Verifies your understanding of product ads.

When you earn all three certifications, you become a Microsoft Advertising Certified Professional and receive a badge to share on LinkedIn. Like Google Ads certification, you must pass with a minimum score of 80%. Courses are free, and certificates are valid for a year.

Meta Ads

Meta is the final boss of social media advertising. The company includes Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger. Its official program is Meta Blueprint and offers two certification levels: Associate and Professional.

You can earn the following seven Meta certifications:

  • Meta Certified Digital Marketing Associate: Measures ad management competency across Meta platforms.
  • Meta Certified Community Manager: Measures online community management competency.
  • Meta Certified Media Planning Professional: Measures competency in designing marketing plans.
  • Meta Certified Media Buying Professional: Measures campaign management competency.
  • Meta Certified Creative Strategy Professional: Measures mobile ad competency.
  • Meta Certified Marketing Science Professional: Measures data, insight, and measurement competencies.
  • Meta Certified Spark Creator: Measures content creation competency. 

The courses and study materials are free. However, each certification exam costs up to $150, depending on the certification. As a general tip, if you’re on a shoestring budget, focus on one certification at a time. You can try to get certified for the others later.

3. Know Copywriting

In addition to specific PPC platform competencies, you need to learn about copywriting. Ad copy is what convinces readers to take action. Most ad formats have limited space, and you must grab people’s attention and persuade them to click on your ad in as few words as possible.

Check out this excellent display ad from Apple:

Source

The ad copy uses three words and replaces letters with product emojis to highlight the versatility of Apple’s gift card.

You can take online courses to learn about copywriting principles. But, of course, nothing will sharpen your skills more than putting them into practice. So, make sure to rewrite some ads to improve your copywriting skills. 

Besides the ads themselves, you may need to learn copywriting for sales and landing pages. That’s because, as a PPC specialist, it is critical to ensure the landing pages for your ads are optimized for conversions, an essential part of increasing the ROI of your PPC campaigns. A good landing page builder will help you create a stunning landing page, but it’s your copywriting skills that’ll make all the difference in whether users convert.

4. Familiarize Yourself with Essential PPC Tools

Besides taking the appropriate courses, you should become familiar with essential PPC tools. They help you automate and manage your PPC campaigns. 

Here are some types of tools you’ll want to know how to use:

  • Keyword Research: Identify the best keywords (e.g., Google Keyword Planner).
  • Competitor research: Analyze your competitors’ strategies (e.g., SEMrush).
  • Ad creation: Design compelling content (e.g., Google Ads Editor).
  • Campaign management: Automate and optimize ad digital marketing campaigns (e.g., Marin Software).
  • Analysis: Monitor and measure ad success (e.g., Google Analytics).

Another type of tool that is getting more and more important is the click fraud protection tool. Click fraud—when bots or bad actors repeatedly click on your ads to drain your budget—is a growing issue in PPC. Without protection, you could be wasting a significant portion of your ad spend on fraudulent clicks that will never convert. ClickGUARD helps prevent this by filtering out invalid traffic, ensuring your budget is spent on real potential customers. 

Learn more about it by visiting our special What Is Click Fraud page.

There are digital solutions for each stage of the PPC process. The right tools will make a big difference to your PPC campaign management. 

5. Gain Practical Experience

So far, we have talked about the importance of understanding theoretical principles if you want to become a successful PPC specialist. But all this theory can only get you so far. You need to know how to apply it in real life. So, here’s another tip on how to become a PPC specialist: Gain practical experience.

There are a couple of ways you can apply everything you’ve learned (PPC basics and advanced principles, copywriting, PPC tools) in real scenarios. An internship at a PPC marketing agency is a good place to start and get initial exposure. As your skills grow, you can slowly start reaching out to potential clients and attending relevant events where you can interact with other PPC specialists and potential clients. 

Share your digital business card during these events, and be intentional about staying in touch with your network. This guide shows how to create a digital business card. These cards are valuable for networking as they make it easy to share contact details and track how people interact with them. 

You can also tap into professional networks and find a mentor who can give you practical advice on PPC campaigns or whom you can even shadow. Next, as your skills get even better, consider offering coaching services to clients through an online coaching platform. This approach will not only allow you to apply your skills but also to refine them by teaching others. 

As you grow in confidence and competence, you’ll be ready to tackle more significant client projects or step into a full-time PPC specialist role.

6. Stay Updated

The digital marketing industry is constantly changing. New technologies and changing customer behavior mean marketers must always stay updated with the latest digital marketing industry trends.

Following PPC and digital marketing publications like Wordstream, PPC Hero, Adcore, Digital Marketing Institute, and of course, our own social media profiles (here’s our LinkedIn profile) will help you stay updated with what’s new in the industry. 

Conclusion

A career in PPC marketing can be promising and lucrative. The job outlook for PPC professionals is positive, with the expansion of digital media creating demand for online advertising. PPC marketing specialists help businesses run paid digital campaigns to create brand awareness, generate leads, and drive sales.

In this article, we outlined how to become a PPC specialist. To recap, here are the six tips:

  • Learn the basics of PPC marketing from blog posts
  • Take PPC courses and get relevant PPC certifications
  • Master copywriting
  • Familiarize yourself with PPC tools
  • Gain practical experience
  • Stay up to date with the latest trends

Follow these steps to build a successful digital marketing career. Good luck!