PPC Campaign Management Training Course

Duration 5 days 10 modules · 33 contact hours
Level Intermediate Certificate on completion
Who attends Digital Marketing Managers, PPC Specialists and others
Fee from USD 1,100 KSh 95,000 for Kenyan organisations
Where 52 cities + online See dates by city
Next start 16 Nov 2026 Course code SD-DM-057

Before you join: Participants should understand basic digital marketing concepts, including websites, customer journeys, campaign objectives and common metrics such as clicks, impressions and conversions.

Dates & prices

Two start dates a month in every city, and live online on weekdays or weekends. Fees are per participant; classroom fees include tuition, materials, lunch and refreshments, and the certificate.

Suggest a date or city

Showing the next six months. Later dates, other cities and private deliveries for your team are available on request.

Course overview

Paid search and paid social budgets can produce misleading platform results when campaign objectives, conversion tracking, bidding rules and CRM outcomes are disconnected. Marketing teams need to decide which channels deserve investment, how to structure accounts for control, and when to change bids, creative, targeting or landing pages. This requires more than knowing advertising interfaces: it requires a measurement model, commercial judgement and disciplined optimisation.

This five-day PPC Campaign Management Training Course develops the skills to plan, launch, measure and improve multi-channel PPC activity. Participants work with search, Shopping, Performance Max, display, video, Meta and LinkedIn campaign approaches. They connect commercial targets to CPA, ROAS, conversion value and pipeline metrics; build keyword and audience structures; select bidding strategies; manage feeds and creative; diagnose tracking problems; and report performance in terms decision-makers can use.

Instruction combines short practitioner briefings with realistic account scenarios, campaign-planning tasks, reporting reviews, group analysis and optimisation simulations. Participants use structured templates to make channel, budget and measurement decisions, then turn findings into a practical operating plan. Each participant leaves with a reusable multi-channel PPC campaign plan, KPI tree, measurement specification, budget pacing model, optimisation log and reporting framework. The course is available instructor-led in classrooms in 50+ cities or live online. Training runs for five days, 08:30-16:30, with approximately 6.5 contact hours daily, and includes a certificate of completion.

The course suits marketers responsible for paid media performance, agency account teams, digital analysts and commercial managers who need greater control over PPC investment and reporting.

What you will be able to do

  • Design multi-channel PPC campaign structures aligned to funnel stages and commercial objectives
  • Translate revenue and pipeline targets into KPI trees, CPA targets and ROAS rules
  • Configure a measurement specification using GA4 events, Google Tag Manager and conversion actions
  • Build search campaigns using keyword research, match types, negative keywords and responsive search ads
  • Select bidding strategies and budget allocations using unit economics, marginal return and pacing controls
  • Plan Shopping, Performance Max, display, video and paid social campaigns using suitable targeting methods
  • Run hypothesis-led optimisation cycles using segmentation, A/B test principles and change logs
  • Produce executive PPC reports linking media spend to conversions, CRM outcomes and recommendations

Benefits of attending

For you

  • Make defensible channel and budget recommendations using commercial PPC metrics
  • Diagnose weak campaign performance before increasing spend
  • Build a portfolio of reusable campaign-planning and reporting templates
  • Communicate bidding, attribution and measurement limitations clearly to stakeholders
  • Manage agency or internal PPC teams using structured performance reviews

For your organisation

  • Improve budget allocation across search, social, display, video and Shopping activity
  • Reduce wasted spend through negative keywords, exclusions, pacing and policy controls
  • Increase confidence in reported conversions through stronger tracking governance
  • Create consistent campaign naming, launch approval and optimisation routines
  • Link paid media reporting more clearly to pipeline, revenue and margin decisions

Course modules

10 modules over 5 days

Participants can select PPC channels and define campaign objectives against commercial priorities.

  • Paid media roles within acquisition funnels, demand capture and demand creation
  • Platform auction mechanics: bids, quality signals, relevance and expected outcomes
  • Map search, social, display, video and shopping to funnel stages
  • Channel selection matrix using intent, reach, creative format and conversion lag
  • Define paid-media objectives, primary KPIs and supporting diagnostic metrics
  • Governance roles for marketing, sales, analytics, finance and agency teams

Participants can translate business targets into measurable PPC goals and value rules.

  • Translate commercial targets into media objectives, conversions and value rules
  • SMART campaign objectives linked to pipeline, revenue or qualified leads
  • Build KPI trees from impressions through conversions, revenue and profit
  • Set CPA, ROAS and marginal return targets using unit economics
  • Attribute offline outcomes through CRM stages, imports and conversion values
  • Distinguish leading indicators from outcome metrics during optimisation decisions

Participants can specify and validate measurement for PPC campaign decisions.

  • Design measurement plans covering events, owners, platforms and data destinations
  • GA4 event taxonomy for leads, purchases, micro-conversions and engagement
  • Google Tag Manager triggers, variables and dataLayer validation procedures
  • Configure Google Ads conversion actions, values, counting and attribution settings
  • Consent Mode and privacy requirements affecting conversion measurement quality
  • Diagnose tracking faults with Tag Assistant, GA4 DebugView and test orders

Participants can build search campaign structures that match user intent and landing pages.

  • Construct search campaigns that match query intent, economics and landing pages
  • Keyword research using Search Terms reports, Keyword Planner and Microsoft Ads Intelligence
  • Segment campaigns by product, geography, match type and budget control
  • Apply exact, phrase and broad match with negative keyword governance
  • Write responsive search ads using value propositions, assets and policy checks
  • Build landing-page message match from query, ad and conversion action

Participants can choose bidding methods and manage PPC budgets against profitability constraints.

  • Compare Manual CPC, Maximise Conversions, target CPA and target ROAS
  • Select bid strategies from conversion volume, value quality and data latency
  • Calculate impression share losses from budget, rank and auction competition
  • Allocate spend using marginal CPA, marginal ROAS and response curves
  • Apply shared budgets, seasonality adjustments and bid-strategy learning safeguards
  • Create pacing plans with daily targets, tolerance bands and escalation rules

Participants can plan feed-led and visual PPC campaigns for retail and consideration objectives.

  • Structure Merchant Center feeds using titles, GTINs, attributes and custom labels
  • Segment Shopping products by margin, inventory, seasonality and business priority
  • Performance Max asset groups, audience signals and reporting limitations
  • Display targeting through audiences, placements, topics, exclusions and frequency controls
  • Video campaign formats matched to awareness, consideration and action goals
  • Creative specifications and policy checks for responsive visual advertising assets

Participants can structure paid social campaigns using audience, creative and measurement controls.

  • Map Meta, LinkedIn and other social platforms to buying roles
  • Construct prospecting audiences from first-party data, interests and lookalikes
  • Plan retargeting sequences by site behaviour, recency and product category
  • Develop creative briefs using hooks, proof, offers and call-to-action variants
  • Apply Meta pixel events, Conversions API concepts and audience exclusions
  • Assess LinkedIn lead quality through CRM stages and matched audiences

Participants can run structured optimisation cycles based on evidence and test hypotheses.

  • Read platform reports by device, audience, query, placement and geography
  • Prioritise opportunities using impact, confidence and effort scoring
  • Formulate test hypotheses with a single variable and success criterion
  • Apply A/B test principles, sample considerations and statistical caution
  • Separate creative fatigue, audience saturation, tracking errors and auction shifts
  • Maintain change logs, learning agendas and rollback conditions

Participants can produce PPC reports that connect media activity to commercial outcomes.

  • Design executive dashboards using KPI trees, targets, trends and annotations
  • Calculate CTR, CPC, CVR, CPA, ROAS and incremental contribution
  • Use attribution models while stating their assumptions and decision limits
  • Reconcile platform costs, analytics conversions and CRM revenue records
  • Explain variance against plan through volume, rate, mix and timing
  • Present recommendations with expected impact, owner, timing and measurement method

Participants can establish campaign controls and create a practical 90-day PPC improvement plan.

  • Build account structures and naming conventions for reliable governance
  • Create launch checklists covering URLs, tracking, budgets, policy and approvals
  • Apply platform policy reviews for claims, targeting, data and brand safety
  • Set agency or internal-team routines for briefs, approvals and reporting
  • Document incident responses for overspend, disapprovals, tracking loss and fraud
  • Draft a 90-day optimisation roadmap with priorities, owners and review dates

Exercises and examples are adapted to each cohort's sectors and roles.

What you take back to work

  1. Multi-channel PPC campaign plan
  2. PPC KPI tree template
  3. Conversion measurement specification
  4. Budget pacing and bid-control model
  5. Optimisation hypothesis and change-log template
  6. Executive PPC reporting framework

Who should attend

  • Digital Marketing Managers — need accountable control of multi-channel paid media investment
  • PPC Specialists — need stronger planning, bidding, measurement and optimisation methods
  • Paid Media Executives — need practical campaign management skills beyond platform administration
  • Agency Account Managers — need to explain PPC performance and recommendations to clients
  • Marketing Analysts — need to connect advertising data with analytics and CRM outcomes
  • Commercial and E-commerce Managers — need to assess paid media decisions against revenue and margin

Skills and tools covered

PPC campaign planningConversion measurementSearch advertisingPaid social advertisingBid managementPerformance reporting

Tools and standards

Google Ads, Google Analytics 4, Google Tag Manager, Meta Ads Manager

How the course runs

Training methodology

The course uses short instructor briefings followed by account-based case work, group analysis, platform-style reporting reviews and campaign decision simulations. Participants interpret search queries, audience data, feed issues, bidding results and CRM outcomes before choosing actions. Guided discussions compare alternative channel, measurement and budget choices. Trainers use practical templates throughout, allowing participants to adapt a campaign plan, reporting structure and 90-day improvement roadmap to their own products, markets and approval processes.

Requirements and prerequisites

Participants should understand basic digital marketing concepts, including websites, customer journeys, campaign objectives and common metrics such as clicks, impressions and conversions. Some exposure to Google Ads, Meta Ads Manager or another advertising platform is useful, whether as a campaign user, analyst, manager or agency client. Participants should be comfortable working with spreadsheets and interpreting simple performance data. Prior coding, advanced analytics, web development, graphic design or formal marketing qualifications are not required. The course does not assume participants have access to a live advertising account.

A typical training day

08:30 – 10:30First session
10:30 – 10:45Refreshment break
10:45 – 12:30Second session
12:30 – 13:30Lunch and networking
13:30 – 15:00Third session
15:00 – 15:15Refreshment break
15:15 – 16:30Workshop and daily review

Live online deliveries follow the same structure in East Africa Time, with shorter screen blocks and longer breaks.

What the fee includes

  • Instruction by a practitioner facilitator
  • Full course workbook and materials
  • Exercise files, templates and case studies
  • Refreshments and lunch on classroom deliveries
  • Certificate of completion
  • Post-course application plan

Frequently asked questions

Participants should understand basic digital marketing metrics and have some familiarity with online advertising or marketing reporting. Advanced Google Ads, analytics, coding and design skills are not required.

Bring a laptop for live online delivery and, where possible, examples of current campaigns, reports or business targets. Access to an active advertising account is not required, and confidential information can be removed before use.

It is designed for marketers, PPC specialists, paid media executives, agency account managers, analysts and commercial managers. It is most useful for people who influence campaign budgets, performance reporting or optimisation decisions.

The course covers Google Ads search, Shopping, Performance Max, display and video, while also addressing Meta, LinkedIn and multi-channel budget decisions. It focuses on commercial measurement, governance and reporting rather than platform features alone.

Participants can use the campaign plan, KPI tree, measurement specification, pacing model and reporting framework with current accounts. The 90-day roadmap helps prioritise immediate fixes, tests and operating controls.

Each day runs from 08:30 to 16:30 and provides approximately 6.5 contact hours. Time is divided between practitioner briefings, campaign cases, reporting analysis, group work, simulations and individual application planning.

Questions about this course?

Ask about dates, fees, group bookings or running it for your team. Our training team replies by email.

Ask on WhatsApp info@skillsetdevelopment.com

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