Price-per-click (PPC) automation is a great boon for CMOs, Marketing Managers and advertisers alike.
It not only helps to finish the job more efficiently but also to scale up their ad campaigns at a massive rate.
A survey done in 2013 indicated that although several other cost-effective options such as search optimization are available, PPC remains the favourite option for 70% of business owners.
Another major highlight of PPC is that results are almost immediate.
In today’s world internet technology is changing at a rapid pace and not to mention the frequent updates in the search algorithm. As Google introduces new features and algorithms, marketers must continuously adapt to the changing scenario and modify their PPC strategies which take both time and effort.
PPC campaigns that are strategically placed can drive more traffic, customers and leads almost instantly.
PPC automation definition
In simple terms, it refers to automating your PPC campaigns.
PPC automation technology helps marketers and advertisers to follow the trends within paid search without having to reinvent their advertising strategy every time. Studies have shown an increasing trend in which more businesses are investing in PPC automation technology.
In a study conducted by Statista, In 2019, 135 billion US dollars were spent in PPC advertising.
Just imagine how much spend is lost in countless hours of tiresome manual optimization.
Clearly, it would be preferable to automate the unnecessary, redundant tasks, rather than wasting your talent and productive hours.
PPC Automation tools
When it comes to PPC automation, tools can be divided into three main areas of automation:
- Bid management- Based on how often you win placements and how much you spend on the ad.
- Campaign management- Based on how you structure your ad campaigns.
- Feed management- Based on how information about the products are uploaded to Google Merchant Center
1. PPC Campaign and Bid Management solutions
PPC Campaign solutions not only automate the campaigns but also allow an enhanced method of targeting and segmentation. Let us take a closer look at some of the leading PPC campaigns and bid tools.
1.1 Adaplo
This is available for both Shopify and Magento platforms. Adaplo helps marketers to gain more traction in sales and revenue by automating ad campaign management.
This one of a kind platform supports Google Ads and Facebook campaigns as well. Adaplo creates a granular account structure with SKU-level bidding and targeting. Uts predictive bidding feature acts as an added advantage to bid intelligently.
1.2 Adobe Advertising Cloud
This is an all-inclusive platform which is liked by advertisers and marketers alike. Adobe advertising cloud is formed by the merger of video ad platform TubeMogul and Adobe Media Optimizer.
This platform includes dynamic creative optimization(DCO), which can constantly adapt according to the varying demands of the audiences and their intent.
The unique portfolio optimization of Adobe is powered by automated bid adjustments and predictive analytics which are updated every single hour.
For someone who is looking for an end to end platform to manage everything regarding digital advertising across multiple platforms and territories, Adobe advertising cloud is a great asset.
1.3 Kenshoo
This is another enterprise-level management tool that is most liked by small scale advertisers. This platform is equipped with a range of solutions such as model-based or rules-based bidding, A/B testing and advanced reporting.
Advertisers can easily manage the products ads and product groups through Kenshoo UI.
The Kenshoo platform can help the advertisers to know the effectiveness of their campaign by real-time tracking and reporting the performance of specific ad campaigns.
1.4 Marin
This is another robust and easy to use PPC management tool. Marin enables the user to set up bids based on a variety of different events, say for example video views, submission of contract forms etc.
This user-friendly tool is easy to manage and navigate and provides the advertisers with a set of tools to increase their paid search performance. Marian is able to integrate and align several different platforms in just a single shot such as Facebook, Google, Amazon etc.
Another fantastic feature of this tool is that it analyses feedback from social media campaigns and makes use of mobile advertising to reach out to a vast population through the medium of smartphones.
2.Feed automation
This is crucial for the success of Google shopping campaigns. If you want multiple services from a single platform, it is wiser to use this all in one tool. Feed automation tools are most likely to be suited for large companies who are on the lookout for unique solutions for specialized tasks.
On the other hand, for small players, a Magento or Shopify plugin could provide all the requirements when it comes to feedback.
2.1 Channel Pilot
This is a cloud-based platform which provides multichannel solutions for agencies, brands and online shops. With this tool, products are placed automatically on thousands of online platforms across the globe in a single shot.
This tool is equipped with a wide range of possibilities for optimization, which guarantees superior quality product data.
2.2 Heraldbee
This platform helps to automate Google shopping campaigns. For an eCommerce store owner, creating a Google shopping campaign is simple and easy through Hearaldbee. This platform not only automatically creates an account on Google Merchant Centre and Google Ads, but also connects with them.
2.3 Channable
This app is specifically designed to ensure better data feeds. The data feeds can be exported to different channels and can be optimized based on the required purpose.
2.4 Whoop!
This platform helps to create a granular campaign structure to ensure peak efficiency of ad spends on Google shopping. Whoop! helps the user to keep a track on return rates, margin performance through an open algorithm and supports a flexible campaign.
The machine learning algorithm is smart enough to analyze the correlations in performance over 400 different channels. It exactly predicts what bid each item needs to meet to ensure the marketing goals.
2.5 Lengow
This platform allows the online retailer to distribute, manage and maximize their product visibility on almost all online channels around the globe such as social media, search engines, retargeting, sponsored links, affiliate platforms etc.
How to choose the best PPC automation tool
Choosing the right PPC automation tool is a tricky situation. Here we have to consider a lot of factors such as:
- Nature of the business
- Marketing strategy
- Size of the job in hand
- Amount of advertising budget etc.
PPC software applications are versatile and can be suited for varying applications, irrespective of whether you have a big or small business.
The golden key in deciding the right automation software is to understand your business requirements.
The beauty of automation software is that it relieves the marketer from repetitive tasks and helps him to have a look at the bigger picture and establish his marketing goals. Take a note of the following:
- Ensure the automation tool frees time for you to make strategic decisions.
- Make sure that the design and operational landscape of the tools are in alignment with your strategies.
- Compare your product portfolio with the automation tools.
- Do keep in mind to ensure flexible engagement with your products.
- Make sure that the tool helps you to optimize the bidding process.
Benefits of PPC Automation
1. Improved Efficiency
PPc automation helps marketers to craft accurate and precise campaigns based on their unique business goals.
By employing automated machine learning technology to analyze huge chunks of your data, it can help to uncover the essentials required to target your audiences in a more effective and cost-efficient way,
With automated forecasts, advertisers can gain significant insights on how to improve the performance of their campaigns.
Through real-time data-driven forecasting, digital marketers can analyze the impact of their strategy changes, and effective decisions can be implemented with ease.
PPC automation can also help in bidding with higher accuracy and better profitability.
2.Helps to save cost
An active form of bidding helps to reduce the amount of ad spend.
Through advanced bid algorithm technology, marketers can analyze the value of each keyword in meeting their advertising goals. This helps to ensure that unnecessary spending on advertising can be avoided at any cost.
Anomaly detection helps to stop the complication before it has a chance to hurt the performance of the campaign, targeting or keywords.
3.Improved growth opportunities
The good thing about automated PPC technology is that it allows you to invest more time and expenses in exploring new audiences and marketing platforms, instead of wasting it on improving the performance.
AI and machine learning technology will help to gain constant insights to improve the ad performance, and it gives much better results than from a whole team of data scientists.
PPC automation helps to generate reports that enable you to make a strategic decision
Bottom Line
Technology is changing at a rapid pace. More advertisers and marketers are moving towards PPC automation.
Automation can help you with in-depth analysis of vast chunks of data at a speed unimaginable to humans, saving you a considerable amount of time to focus on more productive activities for the clients.
As search engine algorithms continue to scale up and undergo changes, PPC automation tools are also changing at a rapid pace. In the near future, we could expect the PPC tools to function better and more efficiently.
One thing is guaranteed. PPC automation is the future of paid search.