You're rushing to get your latest pay-per-click ad campaign live. Keyword research, ad variations, bid adjustments—it never ends! As stressful as PPC management can be, the ROI makes it worthwhile. Studies show that businesses make an average of $2 for every $1 spent on AdWords campaigns. The key is having the right tools to make the process as efficient as possible.
This article will explore the essential features and functionalities of PPC tools, highlighting what to look for at each stage of campaign development. We'll also recommend ten leading PPC management software solutions and provide tips for choosing the right ones for your needs. Leverage the latest automation and AI to take your campaigns to the next level!
To succeed with PPC campaigns, you need more than just basics. The best tools provide actionable insights and recommendations based on robust data analysis. As you evaluate options, look for these core capabilities:
The foundation of any good PPC campaign starts with identifying the right keywords and search queries to target. Your PPC management software should enable thorough keyword discovery. It should add data like search volume, competition levels, and suggested bids. It should also help you pinpoint valuable long-tail variations and uncover negative keywords to avoid irrelevant traffic.
Monitoring and adjusting bids is an ongoing effort. Your PPC monitoring tools should help you optimize your bids to get the most bang for your buck. It should allow you to set rules and automate your bidding based on performance metrics. This can save you a ton of time and help you stay on top of your campaigns.
Gauging your PPC performance relative to competitors is another must for improvement. Leading tools analyze the search performance and paid ad strategies of competitors. Make sure yours examines factors like top keywords and ads, impression share, click-through rates, and more. That way, you can learn from what's working well for others in your space.
Of course, you also need to be able to track the performance of your campaigns. A good PPC tool will give you detailed analytics and reporting.
The best PPC tools should have robust and customizable reporting capabilities, tying everything together. Look for easy-to-interpret reports that can be scheduled and automatically sent to stakeholders. Campaign trends, emerging threats from competitors, budget pacing issues—automated reports keep all interested parties aware of PPC performance.
With an understanding of must-have capabilities, let's explore ten leading options to optimize your PPC campaigns. Each solution offers unique strengths at different stages of the process.
When it comes to PPC benchmarking, Varos leads the industry. But what exactly does "benchmarking" entail for digital ads? Benchmarking enables you to gauge campaign performance against industry standards and competitors.
Well, Varos aggregates data from over 3,000 eCommerce sites to showcase real-time PPC benchmarking intelligence. It displays your ad results right next to competition averages and best practices updated daily.
We use industry-leading data encryption to safely integrate your ads accounts and import performance. User privacy is paramount, which is why we anonymize the data. With Varos, you monitor essential KPIs in context to guide optimization.
For instance, you can discover underperforming KPIs and work on improving them. Let's say you notice a sudden drop in your click-through rate. With Varos, you can easily compare your performance to that of your competitors. You'll see if it's an industry-wide trend or specific to your campaigns.
Varos allows you to answer these questions using hard data instead of guesswork.
In the PPC space, Semrush needs no introduction. Its robust suite strives to support users throughout each campaign stage. Take keyword research. Semrush combines AI and its database of over 25 billion keywords. Use it to uncover semantically related search queries with high conversion potential.
The platform is best known for its Keyword Magic Tool. With it, you can generate tailored suggestions that precisely match your business. Get data on search volume keyword difficulty, and even suggest related keywords you may not have thought of.
Afterward, you can use Semrush's Position Tracking tool to see how your ads perform against your competitors. You can track your visibility in paid search and see how you stack up.
As the name indicates, Optmyzr focuses on optimizing PPC accounts. To do so, it uses automation informed by insights. While powerful, the tool may overwhelm PPC novices. Optmyzr shines best for experienced advertisers managing sophisticated campaigns.
It incorporates proprietary algorithms and intelligence to surface recommendations, spending patterns, and new opportunities that manual analysis could miss. Access in-depth audits and cause-effect charts for a complete diagnosis of account issues. Robust optimization functionality for search, shopping, geo-targeting, bid management, and more.
Especially valuable are the budget management components. Benefit from historical spend tracking, pacing alerts, and automated pausing/enabling based on pacing thresholds.
If you want to "spy" on competitors' PPC activities, SpyFu fits the bill. Uncover the keywords and text ads your top rivals use to guide strategy. Analyze what makes their ads successful to inform your approaches.
SpyFu's data encompasses 7 billion Google Ads results across 109 million domains. Search any company to unveil their entire Google presence history—every keyword purchased, ad variation, rank fluctuation—dating back 17 years!
While SpyFu does show you competitor keywords and such, it lacks more advanced benchmarking with KPIs like Varos has. But it's still a valuable tool for getting insights into your competitors' strategies.
Google Ads Editor deserves mention as a free, desktop tool for managing large accounts efficiently. While the Google Ads interface works for fundamental changes, running global edits across campaigns or ad groups in Ads Editor is far simpler. It enables working offline with autosaving functionality to batch upload changes.
Beyond sheer editing speed, Google Ads Editor provides optimization suggestions for things like
Ads Editor is an indispensable asset if you manage an extensive Google Ads presence.
Once you have all your PPC data and results, you'll want to share them with stakeholders. Many PPC analysis tools, such as Varos, have built-in reporting features. But if you want a different tool specifically for reporting, Octoboard is a good option.
Octoboard lets you create customized dashboards and reports to share with clients or team members. Don't have time to build a dashboard from scratch? No problem. They also have templates you can use. Regardless, everything is no-code, so you don't need any technical skills.
Octoboard connects with popular advertising platforms and analytics tools to auto-import the key metrics teams want to evaluate. Have automated reports delivered on any schedule, even when you're away, to keep everyone on the same page.
Sticking with free Google offerings, the Google Keyword Planner provides solid keyword research capabilities. Since it integrates directly with Google Ads, exploring and saving new keywords is straightforward. View monthly searches, competition levels, suggested CPCs, and historical statistics for better forecasting.
Although not as advanced as paid tools, Google Keyword Planner works for basic keyword discovery and analysis needs. It complements other software, providing expanded research.
When it comes time to create your ads, visual appeal is important. Canva offers a user-friendly graphic design solution. With a massive database of professional templates, stock photos, and illustrations, you can quickly build eye-catching promotions across multiple formats.
Think about it — advanced Photoshop and Illustrator skills take time to develop. Yet, anyone can customize great-looking ads in Canva. You can also get started for free. For non-designers, Canva is a must-have.
The easy drag-and-drop interface is perfect for customizing designs and adding text, images, and other elements. If you opt for the paid version, you'll get your money's worth, as you use Canva to create different marketing materials like social media posts or flyers.
If your focus is on Facebook and Instagram advertising, consider Adespresso by Hootsuite. This solution aims to streamline campaign creation and optimization. Its intuitive interface centralizes campaign management. There are also options to A/B tests different ad combinations. You can leverage automation rules to ensure ads stay on track — pause low performers, raise bids for promising content, etc.
Hootsuite also offers a full education hub with detailed guides and courses for running winning campaigns.
Sometimes, you just need a little inspiration to get started with your ad campaigns. Check Facebook's Ad Library, which showcases active and historical ads from almost any brand. Following political transparency controversies, Facebook launched this tool, allowing anyone to inspect ads running on its platform.
You can filter by location, industry, and budget size to analyze high-performing ads relevant to your business. While specific metrics like CTR aren't visible, you can derive ideas from copy, imagery, and video styles used by competitors. Model what resonates with your audience and avoid investing in concepts that flop.
Read our complete guide on using the Facebook Ad Library to improve your ads here.
With so many options, selecting the best PPC tools depends entirely on your situation and needs. Beyond the recommendations here, hundreds of platforms could potentially assist your advertising efforts. As you evaluate possibilities, keep these guidelines in mind:
Before choosing tools, spend time researching all options and reading customer reviews. Reviews offer transparent insights into the pros and cons of actual users. Prioritize tools with solid support and helpful documentation.
Pricing varies substantially across tools, with some offering paid plans only and others free versions. Factor total costs into selection decisions and avoid choices outside budget limitations. Some tools levy extra fees for access to more advanced features.
Not all tools are created equal when it comes to capabilities. Refer back to the functionality checklist earlier and match prospective tools against must-haves for each campaign stage. Confirm platforms collect the data you need and provide the level of customizable reporting your team requires.
Take advantage of free trials and demo options so you can judge tools firsthand. While reviews help, hands-on experience is vital for determining whether the interface, analytics, and automation meet expectations. Test thoroughly before committing.
Check ratings and reviews related to available training and customer support. No matter how skilled you become with PPC, questions or software bugs will arise. Ensure your tools provide sufficient educational materials and responsive assistance when needed.
Artificial intelligence advances rapidly across industries, including digital marketing. Essentially, AI refers to marketing technologies that can learn, improve, and make decisions independently based on data patterns.
PPC automation tools provide these critical benefits for PPC success:
Adoption of these innovations isn't about replacing human oversight but rather enhancing it. Skilled PPC managers still craft overall campaign strategies and fine-tune tactics based on business goals. Still, AI and automation save massive amounts of time previously spent on routine optimization tasks.
Stay proactive, learning about the latest automation options and how competitors integrate them.
Managing profitable PPC campaigns requires juggling many moving parts. Between research, daily monitoring, reporting, and optimization, it's a lot to handle. Modern tools that streamline these responsibilities are imperative for lasting success.
Each of the 10 highlighted tools can build on the strengths of Google Ads to connect insights with actions. We especially recommend Varos and its unmatched benchmarking capabilities giving context to your performance based on real-world industry standards.
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Bottom line: I’m recommending Varos to you all because it’s FREE (for now) and it’s already added a ton of value for myself and my clients.Check it out 👇
I would definitely recommend checking out Varos. With Varos you can easily see how your peers are performing, for free. You get insights into not only TikTok Ads benchmarks, but also similar data for Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and more. #VarosAmbassador
Varos allows thousands merchants to upload anonymize marketing data across meta and google and aggregating it to show what the average is across different categories and ad spend
With varos.com, I can see exactly how our performance across channels stacks up against our competitors in our space.
Compare your ad performance to benchmarks of companies just like yours, anonymously.
I would've killed for this tool years ago and now it's here and oh it's free. Amazing.
I've been seeing some content about @Varos_com so we decided to check it out.
One underrated feature of theirs is the Shopify Benchmarking, which is FREE btw.
Literally impossible to access this data anywhere else. Check out what we're seeing at @my_obvi 👇
I'm loving what @Varos_com is doing with providing much more relevant benchmarks for #ecommerce... especially since it shows that we are absolutely DOMINATING @Elumynt on #facebookads!
This is in the Baby and Children vertical.#fbads #ppcchat #retail #dtc
Bottom line: I’m recommending Varos to you all because it’s FREE (for now) and it’s already added a ton of value for myself and my clients.Check it out 👇
I would definitely recommend checking out Varos. With Varos you can easily see how your peers are performing, for free. You get insights into not only TikTok Ads benchmarks, but also similar data for Facebook Ads, Google Ads, and more. #VarosAmbassador
Varos allows thousands merchants to upload anonymize marketing data across meta and google and aggregating it to show what the average is across different categories and ad spend
With varos.com, I can see exactly how our performance across channels stacks up against our competitors in our space.
Compare your ad performance to benchmarks of companies just like yours, anonymously.
I would've killed for this tool years ago and now it's here and oh it's free. Amazing.
I've been seeing some content about @Varos_com so we decided to check it out.
One underrated feature of theirs is the Shopify Benchmarking, which is FREE btw.
Literally impossible to access this data anywhere else. Check out what we're seeing at @my_obvi 👇
I'm loving what @Varos_com is doing with providing much more relevant benchmarks for #ecommerce... especially since it shows that we are absolutely DOMINATING @Elumynt on #facebookads!
This is in the Baby and Children vertical.#fbads #ppcchat #retail #dtc
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