• Google Ads is king when it comes to PPC campaigns, if you have multiple campaigns on different platforms then a PPC management tool is a great idea
• It’s estimated that 7 million advertisers spent $10.1 billion on PPC campaigns in 2020
• You need a lot from your PPC management software to stay on top of your campaigns and to save you time

PPC marketing is not going away anytime soon. Its ease of use for advertisers means that it’s the most popular option for digital campaigns. With the rise of PPC advertising some enterprising companies have developed PPC campaign software that can monitor different PPC campaigns at once.

Are there many PPC management tools available? 

I’m not going to sugar coat it, yes, there are alot of PPC management tools available. There are about 50 reputable programs that are in the market right now. There is a lot of noise in this space and they all profess to save you time and money. 

For the sake of brevity and everyone’s sanity, I’m going to limit this article to comparing the top three PPC management tools. 

Before the analysis begins, I would like to explore some of the benefits and drawbacks of PPC management software.

However as Google Ads is so easy to use, you may wonder why PPC tools are needed at all. 

What are the benefits of PPC Management tools?

The use of integrated PPC software is a major benefit if you have many campaigns over many different platforms. Marketing professionals especially, benefit from having software that can report different platforms campaigns in the one program. 

Not to mention that many processes usually require manually going in and out of different platforms often and wasting a lot of time. You can also focus on the most important metrics and you won't get bogged down with irrelevant stats. Let’s look at the benefits of PPC management tools. 

1. Saves time

Like, so much time. Going in and out of ad platforms to complete your monthly and quarterly reporting is so time consuming!

2. You can generate the reports in the PPC management tools

Some PPC management services can generate the reports you want with the few clicks of a button. And the best bit? They are beautifully laid out. 

3. Lots of suggestions on how to optimise your campaigns

Many PPC management programs are written to show you how you can advertise smarter and more effectively. It’s like having your own ads manager guru in your pocket. Also you can accept or decline the suggestions so it’s not like you are beholden to them. 

What are the downsides to PPC management software?

1.Cost

Some of the more expensive software such as Wordstream and other software can run from $250 USD per month. And this is on top of SEMRush and other software required for PPC keyword analysis and PPC competitor analysis tools (more on that later). 

Suddenly your monthly expenses can start to look pretty high. It’s not all bad news though, there are some free or very low cost options for you that are still pretty reliable. Opteo is one of them and we will explore this software in more detail. You just need to shop around for an option for your budget. 

2. The analysis isn’t as thorough as you need

A lot of the time, PPC software management records vanity metrics and a couple of others but doesn’t report everything. For more detailed analysis you will need to log into Google Ads to get a better idea.

It is getting there though and we should expect to see more integration soon. 

3. The dashboards and UI aren't always the best

Some software can be very hard to use or navigate to get what you want to see. There has been some progress in this area and many PPC management options now have a beautiful interface that is easy to read. Just make sure you use a free trial if it’s offered. 

Now that we have covered the downsides, let's get on with comparing three major providers in PPC management software.

Opteo vs Optmyzr vs WordStream- Which is best? 

The three options that are chosen are the most frequently used and well known PPC management tools. Let's start with the most well known, Wordstream. 

Wordstream

What ad platforms can run on Wordstream?

Google Ads, Bing Ads and Facebook. 

This software is considered one of the most responsive PPC management tools. You can create, run and optimise your campaigns through this platform. You can integrate your Google Ads, Bing and Facebook ads to all run through your Wordstream account. 

Pros 

• You can also run a social campaign as well as a search campaign through Wordstream. 
• It’s integration is pretty smooth
• You can host a landing page through their service
• They have optimised their UI and services to make reporting a ‘20-minute work week’. It’s a very polished platform. 
• Great for a beginner marketer
• They have a patented Wordstream tag which is great for generating leads

Cons

• Wordstream is costly, it starts at $299 AUD per month. It’s very expensive and while it does offer better integration with platforms such as social platforms, it’s still a very steep price.
• It says it offers a lot for keyword research but it cannot compare to the scope of SEMRush. 
• It’s analysis options are not as good as other tools
• No competitor research

Notes:  Wordstream’s landing page builder is woefully inadequate for the price.

Source: One Egg

I would expect better options for $299 a month. There are much cheaper ways to create a landing page than to use Wordstream’s service. In terms of unique features the Wordstream Tag is of some benefit. 

Let’s move on to Optmyzr…

Optmyzr

What ad platforms can run on Optmyzr?

Google Ads, Bing Ads, Amazon and can perform analysis on organic Facebook but not Facebook Ads at this stage.

Pros 

• Created by ex-Google employees who know PPC campaign reporting
• Saves you a lot of time with reporting and it considered a very accurate tool for said reporting
• Has a ‘One Click’ optimisation tool if your campaign requires a boost. 
• Many ad agencies would enjoy seamlessly flipping between accounts. 
• Great UI experience and is easy to read
• Produces beautifully displayed reports for marketing reporting to clients.
• Analysis is in depth 
• Can run Amazon ads on the platform

Cons

• The metrics are surface or vanity metrics. More detailed analysis will require logging into individual platforms. 
• Keyword research is very limited
• No competitor research option
• Price is still very expensive, lowest is $416 USD but it can be $208 with a subscription
• Not suitable for small business as its geared towards ad agencies with multiple accounts

Notes: While Optmyzr does offer more accuracy in its reporting, I didn’t see anything that could justify its huge price tag. A pro account costs $665 USD. The benefits of the pro account were features such as personalised training videos and you can have up to 50 accounts. It doesn't deliver great value for money, in my opinion.   

And now our final contender is Opteo!

Opteo

What ad platforms can run on Opteo?

Google Ads 

Pros

• Intuitive and clear UI/UX design
• Gives advice and recommendations for user to accept or reject
• Analysis is clear and easy to look at
• Decent analysis
• Good for small business or businesses with uncomplicated campaigns
• Great for keyword research
• Great cost benefit at starting at $95 AUD per month
• Gives landing page and performance error alerts
• Can integrate with Slack
• Highest cost subscription allows for unlimited accounts

Cons

• Analysis is not as good as Optmyzr and you will need to use your Google Analytics for more than vanity metrics. 
• No support for Google shopping campaigns so would need to rely on Google Ads 
• Tracking isn’t as good as compared to Optmyzr and Wordstream 
• Not suited for large marketing companies with complex campaigns and experienced staff who will want more 'deep data'
• Biggest subscription can cost up to $800 AUD a month
• No competitor research

Notes: 

Opteo has thought more about the user experience than the other platforms in this article. For $97 a month you won’t get every feature that Wordstream and Optmyzer, however, you actually shouldn't for that price. So you actually get what you pay for. When it comes to managing your campaign there is little difference between using Opteo or Adwords. 

However for a small business there is far more value for money in Opteo than other programs. 

And there must be something to what Opteo offers as some of the largest companies in the world use it such as Spotify, JC Penny, Domino’s and Xero. 

Final Verdict?

Be aware that the services for any software you choose won’t be perfect but they will save you time. All of these tools leave something to be desired with analysis, a lot of deeper research wasn’t available through these tools.

The best future PPC management tool will need to offer in-depth analysis, all social accounts as well as Amazon, Bing and Google, while also factoring in UX/UI principles.  I believe then they will be truly worth what they charge per month, in my opinion. And there's no reason why we can’t get there eventually.

Recommendations

None of the PPC management tools can replace Google Analytics and SEMRush entirely so you will have to factor these into your budget and analysis methods. 

 Also, none of the PPC tools mentioned offered any competitor research so you will still need Ad Clarity as well. So your budget can run up quite quickly with these programs. 

Lastly, I wanted to raise the issue that due to the proliferation of PPC management tools getting an unbiased opinion is hard. Many companies have information pages that look like blogs, so make sure you check the source before you decide to take the information seriously.

When looking for great software to manage your PPC campaigns, do plenty of research. Ask for opinions and help of marketing vendors, speak to other business owners on SavvySME  and read plenty of unbiased blogs (like this one!). 

Make sure you check that what you're reading isn’t directly or indirectly written with a financial agreement attached to it. Even if it is, that's ok, just take the opinion with a grain of salt. A great PPC tool should save you time and make things easier for you.