10+ best PPC tools marketers are using to measure their ad performance

For years, marketers have been using the power of PPC marketing to promote a business, products, or services.

And it’s not a surprise; you can have impressive results with the right PPC strategies and targeting the right audience. But performing keyword research, copywriting, bid management, a/b test, and developing creative ideas while ensuring your ads will be visually appealing AND reach the right people can be overwhelming. That’s where PPC management tools can come in handy.

Although we use tools at Dashthis to improve our PPC (maybe you even found us by clicking on one of our ads!), we also asked some partners, specialists, and marketers to help us come up with an exhaustive list. Let’s dive in.

• What are PPC tools
• - Why are PPC tools essential to marketers
• Best PPC tools to improve your marketing campaigns 

What are PPC tools

PPC management software and tools allow marketers to create better, manage and analyze digital advertising. There are many PPC tools; some will help you with analytics, bid management, competitor research, keyword tracking, and overall optimization of ads. But they all share the same objective: to make marketers save time and money while improving the ROI of PPC ads.

Why are PPC tools essential to marketers?

Whether you’re using Amazon, Microsoft, Google search engine, Bing ads, social media, or other advertising platforms, it’s crucial to be equipped with tools to help optimize the ROI. These tools can be an investment into knowing your target audience better, gaining knowledge of their behavior, and having better overall campaign management.

Best PPC tools to improve your digital marketing campaigns

We had help from marketers and online advertising specialists to create this list of great PPC tools. Some are analysis tools, some specialize in ad copy, and others are automation tools. Regardless, we’re convinced you’ll find your match.

1. Google Keyword Planner

The right keywords can get your ad in front of the right customers, and Google Ads Keyword Planner is one of the most popular tools for marketers.

Ravi Davda, CEO of Rockstar Marketing, often uses Google Keyword Planner. “Once I'm in Google Keyword Planner, I usually use the 'Discover new keywords' option. You can either type in your domain URL, or you can type in some seed keywords, and the tool does the rest. Once you have this, a list is generated, usually long. You get tons of information, such as the average monthly searches, competitors’ keywords, monthly or yearly changes, and more. Of course, every business is different, but I usually look for PPC keywords with low to medium competition, considering the estimated cost for top-of-the-page bids.”

2. SEMrush

SEO tools can be great for PPC purposes, primarily the SEO keyword research tool. They provide keyword ideas, search volume, and the average CPC for a certain location. This gives marketers great insights into competitors’ marketing strategies.

3. Google Ads Editor

Nicola Carmyllie at Eloquent Agency says: “I use Google Ads. I love the way that you can set up ad groups and campaigns, as well as set your daily ad budget. You can also set up negative keywords, which is a great way to avoid spending money on google search terms that aren't relevant to your business. I also like the tracking feature, which allows me to see how much revenue my ads generate daily.”

4. Google Analytics

Google Analytics is a free tool that tracks real-time crucial performance metrics about your Google Ads campaigns, engagement from your audience, and landing pages. Tracking events and goals is the perfect tool that can be used alongside others for a better in-depth overview of your marketing ad performance.

“For tracking conversion rates, I use Google Analytics. This can be integrated with AdWords to see which keywords are driving conversions in your account. You can also set up goals to track how well your ads are doing on their own—for example, if someone clicks on your ad but doesn't buy anything on your site within 14 days after clicking on the ad (assuming they've been tagged in some way by your site).” says Nina Neuschuetz - Marketing Manager at BOSTONtec.

5. Spyfu

Will Yang, head of growth at Instrumentl, told us: “SpyFu is a tool that I have found incredibly useful for my PPC campaigns. It provides me with deep insights into the level of competition in any given market, what keywords are most likely to convert and how much they cost. Comparing different markets has also been incredibly helpful in determining where to focus my efforts.

The best thing about SpyFu is that it allows you to look at historical data for keywords, which can provide insight into how other companies have performed with their paid search campaigns. You can also see where your competitors get their traffic and what keywords they use. This can be incredibly useful to figure out what's working for them so you can replicate it in your campaigns.”

6. Adalysis

Ryder Meehan from Upgrow says: “Our agency uses Adalysis daily for 40 Google Ads clients with over $15M in ad spend annually. It has many features to streamline workflow and automate optimizations. One of my favorites is the Google Display Network, allowing you to exclude all mobile apps in one click and easily filter out questionable placements that waste spending. Another key feature is their automated audit which checks your entire account multiple times daily to identify and notify you of issues like broken URLs, budget limits, disapproved ads, and 50+ more.“

7. Adespresso

There are tons of online marketing tools available, and Justin Thomas from JourneyEngine agrees with us. “There are several great PPC tools available. We have used a few in our campaigns. One of my favorites is AdEspresso by Hootsuite, which offers an intuitive user interface and powerful optimization features to help you get the most out of your campaigns. To measure results effectively, it has automated A/B testing, audience segmentation tools, and detailed reporting.”

8. Ispionage

When you want to outdo the competition, you have to see what they’re doing and if it’s working or not. Spying on competitors is made easy with Ispionage, according to Serge Volokonsky from LinkChecker Pro.

“I use the following tools when creating and setting up my advertising campaigns. iSpionage for competitor analysis. iSpionage allows you to analyze the advertising campaign of your competitors. The service will provide information about your competitors' keywords and how much money they spend on an advertising campaign. The service has limited features in the free version and offers full functionality in the paid version. KWFinder for keywords. KWFinder is the best keyword generator for your business.”

Bonus: Dashthis

A crucial part of optimizing PPC advertising is reporting on target metrics and KPIs related to those ad campaigns and better understanding user engagement. DashThis is an excellent solution for your PPC campaign reporting needs. It’s effortless to create, you get tons of in-depth preset templates from the get-go, more than 35+ integrations, and everything is automated.

Don’t just take our word for it; trust our fantastic users, like Michelle Henderson, founder of Bad Cat Digital, who says, “DashThis is a phenomenal tool for communicating with clients and staff. With 10 minutes of set up, I can create a custom report for a client that speaks to their digital marketing goals.”