PPC in the UK vs South Africa: Roles & Salary Differences

PPC is a global marketing strategy, but its applications and functions can vary from one country to the next. For PPC professionals looking for new roles, being aware of these differences is vital to ensuring you end up in the role you expected. 

In this post, we’re going to take a closer look at how PPC roles can vary, paying particular attention to South Africa and the UK. If you’re based in one and looking for a job in the other, or you’re a hiring manager looking to recruit from the international market, then the following information should keep you on the right track. 

Understanding the UK PPC Market

The UK’s PPC market is massive. It’s comfortably the largest in Europe and among the largest in the world. In fact, the UK spends more than twice as much on advertising as Germany, Europe’s next biggest spender.

Unlike in other countries, you’ll find PPC campaigns in the UK for all types of sectors and industries. e-Commerce, retail (brick-and-mortar stores with an online presence), brand awareness campaigns, and performance campaigns all feature prominently.

UK PPC campaigns run across a wide range of platforms. Google leads the way, but billions of pounds are also spent on Bing and social media PPC advertising, particularly on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. If you can run a PPC campaign on it, the UK has a significant presence. The UK marketing industry is always looking forward, which is why platforms like TikTok can suddenly become major PPC players in a relatively short time.

In all, you can think of the UK as a PPC specialist. The digital infrastructure, budgets, and specialised skills and tools are all there, making it one of the most advanced advertising markets on the planet. 

Understanding PPC in South Africa

PPC South Africa campaigns function a little differently from those in the UK, for a number of reasons. 

First, there’s the intention behind campaigns. In the UK, virtually all online (and many offline) businesses invest in PPC campaigns to drive potential customers to make a purchase.

In South Africa, PPC campaigns are used to target customers at different phases of their buying journey. Rather than encouraging a person to make a purchase, PPC campaigns typically focus on lead generation: say, getting a potential customer to request a quote, fill out a form, or submit an inquiry. Particularly popular in the financial services, education, telecoms, and property sectors, PPC campaigns lay the groundwork for sales. PPC campaigns drive lead generation, and a human employee then closes the sale.

This is mostly down to market maturity. While the UK is one of the world’s most advanced digital markets, South Africa’s market is still developing. As such, there is currently a limited number of large-scale eCommerce platforms. In addition, the majority of South Africans still prefer to shop offline, which means there is less incentive to invest in a consumer-focused PPC campaign. 

PPC Career Progression in the UK and South Africa

Working as a PPC professional in both the UK and South Africa can be lucrative, with both countries providing opportunities for career growth. However, how they provide those growth opportunities differs.

The UK: Standardised Career Development

In the UK, there’s a standardised career development pathway for PPC professionals. 

PPC Executive

This is the entry-level position for PPC professionals. These roles involve researching keywords, setting up campaigns, and adjusting bids. The role is supervised by a more senior team member.

PPC Senior Executives

PPC Specialists have more independence and freedom to run campaigns on their own. By this stage, they’ve likely also specialised in one particular type of account (for example, Google Ads or Facebook Ads).

Senior PPC Manager / Paid Media Manager

PPC Managers are responsible for the marketing budget, developing strategy, and supervising the work of more junior team members (such as the two roles listed above).

PPC Team Lead Manager

This is a leadership position that oversees PPC campaigns across all channels and the rest of the team. 

Head of Performance

The Head of Performance is a senior leadership role responsible for defining and owning the overall paid media and performance marketing strategy. At this level, the focus shifts away from day-to-day campaign management and toward commercial impact, forecasting, and cross-functional alignment.

South Africa: Less Standardised Career Development

PPC job titles in South Africa differ a little. They’re less standardised and broader. In the UK, PPC professionals tend to work exclusively with PPC. In South Africa, they can wear many different marketing hats.

Also, note that the PPC executive's meaning is mostly non-existent in South Africa. The role is entry-level in the UK, which can be confusing in South Africa because the title suggests a more senior role. 

PPC Salaries, Cost of Living, and Real Earning Power

While headline PPC salaries in South Africa appear significantly lower than those in the UK, this comparison becomes far more nuanced once cost of living and seniority are taken into account.

In many cases, the cost of living in South Africa is 40–45% lower than in the UK, particularly outside major city centres. As PPC professionals progress into senior and leadership roles, this gap narrows considerably. At the Lead, Manager, and Head of Performance levels, South African professionals can often achieve real purchasing power equal to or greater than that of their UK counterparts. This effect is amplified by the fact that senior PPC roles increasingly operate remotely or in hybrid environments. At this level, compensation is driven less by geography and more by commercial impact, retention, and performance outcomes.

In practical terms, once a PPC professional reaches a leadership or specialist level, South African talent is often cost-efficient rather than “cheap” delivering comparable performance with lower overheads and stronger long-term retention.

How Skill Focus Differs in UK and South Africa PPC Roles

While the broad skills required for PPC roles in the UK and South Africa are the same, the two markets require slightly different specialist skills.

In the UK, PPC roles require the ability to manage campaigns across multiple platforms, understand attribution, experiment with different strategies, and demonstrate return on investment.
In South Africa, the goal is to get high-quality leads (rather than just quantity) into the sales funnel. Campaigns must also integrate with CRMs for tracking. The key metric is cost-per-lead, which is the cost to generate a qualified lead.

Talent Quality, Retention, and International Experience

One factor often missing from UK vs South Africa salary comparisons is the quality of candidates and their retention.

Many South African PPC professionals have worked on international accounts throughout their careers, frequently managing UK, European, US, or Australian clients. This exposure builds strong communication skills, platform fluency, and an understanding of global performance benchmarks. By contrast, many UK-based PPC professionals have worked only in the domestic UK market.

From an employer’s perspective, retention is another key difference. South African PPC professionals typically demonstrate longer average tenure, particularly in senior roles, where stability and continuity are critical to performance. In contrast, the UK PPC market is highly competitive, with frequent job movement driven by salary inflation and agency churn.

For hiring managers, this often means a simple trade-off: lower attrition and global experience versus higher local salary pressure.

Increasingly, agencies and in-house teams are choosing to hire the best available candidate, regardless of location, especially where face-to-face client contact is minimal, and performance outcomes are strong.

Client Perception and Offshore Teams

A common concern when hiring internationally is whether clients will push back on offshore or remote teams. In practice, this is far less of an issue than many expect.

Across performance-led agencies, client satisfaction is driven by results, communication, and consistency, not geography. When expectations are clearly set and performance is strong, offshore PPC teams, including those based in South Africa, are rarely challenged by clients.

In fact, many agencies report preparing objection-handling responses for offshore hiring, only to find that client resistance never materialises once performance improvements are delivered.

Looking for your next PPC role in the UK or South Africa? Show hiring managers your expertise and regional experience with ClickTrain today.