Whether you are a seasoned marketer or new to PPC, PPC tools and time-saving techniques help to enhance overall productivity. During this week’s PPCChat session, hosted by Julie F Bacchini, participants discussed the tools that assist PPC professionals in managing their campaigns, shared their favorite time-saving tips for PPC management, and covered much more.
Q1: Do you currently use any tools to help you with your PPC management? If so, which ones and for how long?
I’ve used a lot over the years, but these days it’s a pretty straightforward Google Sheet for pacing, Adverity to BQ for reporting, and a light sprinkle of supermetrics for social funsies. @JuliaVyse
Big shocker: Optmyzr, I’ve been using it for about 6 years (before I went to work for them).
I also use TalkNotes and Descripts for content production. Mike Rhoades scripts However I tend to be faster than most tools – the main things I get value out of are visualization tools (like Canva) @navahhopkins
I mainly use tools for reporting. My account volume is pretty low (purposely). I have used Swydo for reporting and like it. It integrates easily with data sources and produces nice-looking reports. Been using it off and on for the last 7 or 8 years. @NeptuneMoon
I’ve used a lot through my career but as a freelancer I’ve found that the cost vs the clients I have doesn’t always align so more recently I’ve found scripts which work nicely BUT you need to invest the time to be able to understand them, I quite like coding so really find it fun! @Meriem
@Meriem @navahhopkins We do have a script-specific question coming up. @NeptuneMoon
As someone who has worked for a bunch of tools – most things can be done by the human – the thing you’re paying for is that the interface is easer/faster to work in and/or you’re able to do something that would require a heavy code lift. @navahhopkins
Very attached to Funnel for all things reporting and data analysis. Having everything centralised is a big help. @ChrisMurray
I think tools can be super helpful. Especially if you have a team working on accounts. And they often have better rules/failsafes in them than the platforms (management tools that is). @NeptuneMoon
Was using Opteo a while back and then Adalysis (had access for free) but now paying so thinking about how much value this is adding. Started replicating some features with scripts – budget pacing, alerts, ngrams, search cannibalisation etc. Are this less valuable with the move away from manual bidding? @AndyHathaway
Use Oviond for reporting. Have used Optimyzer & Opteo in the past. Lot of scripts for automation. @alimehdimukadam
Also, tools get the benefit of thousands of minds vs trust falling with the ad platform or being stuck in your personal workflow silo. @navahhopkins
Google Sheets is my biggest tool at the moment from Audit Templates, Pacing Sheets and PPC Site Migration Templates, I use it for everything. Evoluted also subscribes to Channable (product feed optimisation), Diginius (Microsoft Ads insights and more), DashThis (reporting), Canva (proposals, decks and quick creative amends)I’ve trialled Optimyzer for real-time data bid adjuster and I used Opteo when I first went agency-side. @C_J_Ridley
@AndyHathaway I’ll shamelessly plug our study that dropped today about bidding https://www.optmyzr.com/blog/impact-of-ppc-bidding-strategies/ – manual still has a place if you’re willing to do the work but in most cases Smart or Auto is better. @navahhopkins
Optmyzr + Google Sheets + Zapier. @DigitalSamIAm
Native to ad platforms I’m looking forward to trying out the AI assistants more as they roll out/get better, specifically to query root causes etc. Used similar functionality in Optmyzr in the past. @ChrisMurray
Please share how that goes when you do it @ChrisMurray – maybe a post for PPC Chat? @NeptuneMoon
Yes, good idea, will add it to my ‘to write’ list. @ChrisMurray
@navahhopkins Super helpful, thanks. @AndyHathaway
Check is in the mail @DigitalSamIAm. In all seriousness it’s really interesting how many of you tried out Optmyzr – if you’re open to it, I’d love to hear in DMs what your experience was like (don’t want to dominate the chat) @navahhopkins
Using Claude most days now for scripts, asset ideas, comparing data sets etc. @AndyHathaway
I like Sparktoro too for finding audiences and pathways. And Keywords everywhere – although admittedly with the way keyword matching works these days keyword analysis is less useful. @NeptuneMoon
I’d happily try it to give some feedback. getting the budget approved, however, that’s the first part of the saga. @JuliaVyse
Oh yeah, I use Sparktoro too. @DigitalSamIAm
@AndyHathaway how are you finding Claude? @Meriem
I can’t believe I forgot Clarity!!!! @navahhopkins
I love that, but I don’t see that as PPC Management. @DigitalSamIAm
Seen a few people saying Claude still has the edge when it comes to coding/data analysis. @ChrisMurray
Oh, I use OpenAI for all my javascript and speaking my thoughts aloud needs… I also use it for D&D prep too but that’s off-topic. @C_J_Ridley
Microsoft Clarity is the bomb!!! @navahhopkins
Optmyzr for ppc optimization, new biz audits, and occasionally reporting too, Shape for budget management (we’re looking for an alternative ever since ninja bought them and hiked our prices), power bi for client-facing, real-time reporting dashboards, GPT for a bunch of stuff but lately I use custom built client bots or convos to get ideas for new biz / new industry research, keyword lists (to get things started before I build on it, copywriting (that strikes the right tone, ‘phraseology’, brand-feel) etc, spyfu for more data-depth in KW research and to prevent organic overlap on high cost non-brand terms when needed, sparktoro for audience research (especially social accts), ga4 for historical insights & troubleshooting conv. tracking landing pages, etc), g-suite + notepad for everything else. @timmhalloran
Re. SparktoroHow exactly is it being used for PPC audiences? (maybe this belows in its own thread) @C_J_Ridley
@Meriem Great, better than chat GPT for me, love the artefact layout, and builds code for example next to the prompts rather than below. @AndyHathaway
I use swydo! I love it for reporting, and connecting ad accounts. Especially for quick visualizations and looking at campaign group performances. @MicheleJaeger1
I find it interesting that Sparktoro is being used by PPCs as Rand tends to voice disdain for PPC in most cases. Not that it’s inherently a bad thing – but it’s interesting. @navahhopkins
I need to learn more about custom bots. my big corporate Holdco life is not super welcoming to that – nothing like a legal team to keep everyone safe AND ruin our fun. @JuliaVyse
Thanks, @AndyHathaway I use GPT for coding and many other things. I think I’m going to have to give it a play! @Meriem
@C_J_Ridley I use Sparktoro for conversation analysis. long-tail keywords and those VERY FUN close variants. plus, keyword tools often return nulls for my public safety campaigns. naloxone is not a great seed word in the keyword tool. @JuliaVyse
Rand has certainly evolved on the paid thing — and he’s pretty open to doing whatever. @DigitalSamIAm
Interesting a few of you use Swydo, what makes you use that more than things like Looker (DataStudio)? @Meriem
@navahhopkins: I find it interesting that Sparktoro is being used by PPCs as Rand tends to voice disdain for PPC in most cases
I know right, I’ve seen him speak (virtually) a few times about how PPC is just paying for clicks you’d get anyway and how AirBnB or [another big household name] stopped paying for ads and didn’t see their revenue drop. I loved his Lost and Founder book but his PPC stance (at the time) was jarring for me. @C_J_Ridley
Sparktoro is about mapping possibilities for me. @Meriem Looker Studio, to me, feels like someone’s CompSci project. @NeptuneMoon
@C_J_Ridley How we use sparktoro (helpful for abm clients, like enterprise saas):@timmhalloran
We’re currently using DashThis for reporting but I’m keen to move to something a bit more flexible as it’s limited on its API Access so building dashboards to track QS changes by weeks isn’t possible because only QS is available not QS (hist) or the factor metrics (ad relevance, landing page exp., and expected CTR) @C_J_Ridley
Is anyone using any tools for campaign approvals/client comms? Selfishly asking because I’m working on something in this area. @ChrisMurray
Scripts, Notion and ClickUp are most things that help us run and manage our PPC Campaigns. @duanebrown
Q2: Do you have a tool that you cannot live without? What makes it so indispensable?
Google suite, descript, and talk notes. @navahhopkins
Optmyzr & Zapier. @DigitalSamIAm
Didn’t even think about Google Suite – that’s definitely a must. Lose my mind when I’m sent an excel file as an attachment these days. @ChrisMurray
The rest can burn for all I care. @DigitalSamIAm
The other check’s in the mail<3 @navahhopkins
Caffeine first and foremost, an amazing team who moves worlds for our clients, Google Sheets, and of course, excel. @JuliaVyse
I too use Google Sheets and Slides and Docs. I like it because I can work on either computer seamlessly. @NeptuneMoon
Puppy snuggles are also an underrated tool. sometimes the key to figuring out what’s wrong in an account is a head nuzzle away @navahhopkins
Google Sheets and Excel. (And Spotify you know the tool to keep the room from being silent all the time) @Meriem
Does talking with industry friends about accounts count as a tool? Cause if so, INDISPENSABLE to the max! @NeptuneMoon
another tool.. Discord.. I love discord.. But that’s not 100% industry related but it’s my way of life LOL @Meriem
Google Sheets + OpenAI ChatGPT @C_J_Ridley
Google Sheets, Claude (recent favorite) and Oviond (coz I got it as an LTD long back) @alimehdimukadam
Google Sheets to organise my life. Chat GPT to say all my crazy ideas and work out if they could actually work… and for coding support. @C_J_Ridley
Discord is great!!!! Easily where I’m the most active @navahhopkins
All the GPT folks, how do you ensure you’re not uploading proprietary IP into the tool? is it just for new research? @JuliaVyse
We have a PPC Chat Discord… https://discord.gg/4BHKAxur @NeptuneMoon
@Meriem I can’t work with music in the background if there’s lyrics. It’s too distracting. I’ve worked all yesterday and today in silence (it’s 5:30 pm here) and I’ll do the same tomorrow. @C_J_Ridley
@C_J_Ridley WOW Have you tried Lofi Girl? – Go to Coffee house chill vibes. @Meriem
@C_J_Ridley let me interest you in some jazz – not a lyric to be found!!! https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHmKSTluBgI3LP0yheEZAeg @JuliaVyse
@JuliaVyse I rarely share anything that isn’t public knowledge of just crazy ideas from my brain
re. Chat GPT @C_J_Ridley
metal or bust. @navahhopkins
@JuliaVyse re. JazzI have multiple instrumental and non-lyrical playlists on Spotify. @C_J_Ridley
@navahhopkins and @Meriem most of my discord activity is Twitch/gaming related…join me if you dare! @JuliaVyse
I see your gaming activity and raise you positivity server focusing on gaming buddies. @navahhopkins
@JuliaVyse re. Discord, mine is fantasy football, crying about the Jags losing, Marketing O’Clock and gaming. @C_J_Ridley
This reminded me: games are the best tool to teach new practitioners how to be marketers. @navahhopkins
Really like ClickUp for helping us manage our tasks. @duanebrown
I used ClickUp @duanebrown. It’s great for workload management. @Meriem
We have ASANA for like 6 years… I had to leave as it just got usable. @duanebrown
Q3: Do you use scripts in any way in your PPC management? If so, which do you use and how long have you used them? And if not, why not?
I should add that Rules count in this question too. @NeptuneMoon
Not at the moment. I do miss my ngrams, but after enough time troubleshooting and not getting things to work the way I needed, I let them drop off. Rules, however, I use constantly. @JuliaVyse
I love scripts + rules. We use them for everything from management to pmax to exporting search terms. @DigitalSamIAm
I am a big fan of rules. Even if they just alert me to something. @NeptuneMoon
Yes – I love Mike Rhoades and Nils Rooijman for scripts. @navahhopkins
Created one with the help of GPT last year. It generates a daily summary of accounts, finds any budget anomalies, conversion anomalies, auto-adds the daily data in Google Sheet – that is linked to a looker studio. Gives an overview of pacing, alerts if something needs to be looked at, etc. @alimehdimukadam
Fred’s pretty great too. @navahhopkins
I might start playing with this soon for a multi-location rental client that’s dependent on the weather forecast in different regions (7-14 days out). I haven’t used it yet but the feature list is what I’ve been looking for, for a while now so fingers crossed (https://www.weatherads.io/) @timmhalloran
RSA Adder Script. A bespoke script for one account that pauses search keywords if our organic ranking is #3 or higher, and restarts the keyword if the organic ranking drops below #3. Link Checker, Anomaly Checker. A few WIP scripts tooI’m bigger user of my custom columns tbf. @C_J_Ridley
The most important “rule” about rules and scripts is pragmatism. Humans are fallible and if you don’t account for it, you’ll break your account. @navahhopkins
Oooh @alimehdimukadam I’d be interested if you’d be willing to share it. @timmhalloran
@navahhopkins I feel like the rules you use in accounts is an ode to things that have gone wrong in the past. @NeptuneMoon
@timmhalloran interested in whether (haha) you like that better than the Optmyzr weather tool. @navahhopkins
@GrantDouglas and I played with the optmyzr weather one! We need more control over the length of the forecast and the trigger actions, otherwise we’d totally use that. @timmhalloran
@navahhopkins and @timmhalloran this is something I’m always meaning to use but don’t have the time to setup and test. @C_J_Ridley
@timmhalloran can I bug you offline for more info? @navahhopkins
Absolutely! @timmhalloran
I would really like to start using scripts more but I don’t understand how to implement them and can’t figure out how to learn the basics – like literally how to run a script. Open to any suggestions. Embarassed to even ask this…@revaminkoff
Scripts & Rules are a must. I love them both! @Meriem
@revaminkoff I don’t think you are alone… gives me ideas for content. @NeptuneMoon
@NeptuneMoon I’m happy to help on this content idea if you need co-writers. @C_J_Ridley
@revaminkoff – If you ever want someone to walk you through adding a script to an account my DM’s are always open! Happy to talk you through it. @Meriem
@revaminkoff Mike Rhodes does a course that is great for learning the basics, recently ran it for quite a low cost too. @AndyHathaway
@AndyHathaway and @Meriem Thanks so much. @revaminkoff
Q4: What is your favorite time saving tip for PPC management?
Know what you want to build and optimize toward at the start. If you know that, you can create templates and workflows around it. If you don’t you end up wasting time on multiple conflicting initiatives. Also have a copy/paste server in discord @navahhopkins
Bonus points if you call it copy pasta. @navahhopkins
Pivot tables are amazing for data segmenting and analysis. @C_J_Ridley
Having an actual process is huge. While each account’s details are different, the underlying foundation is the same. So codify what you can for yourself. @NeptuneMoon
The amount of time I’ve saved using Pivot Tables and/or =concatenate formulas in Google Sheets is insaneSpeaking of Google, Google Ads Editor and Microsoft Ads Editor are brilliant too for making bulk changes or a lot of small changes in one go (especially if you have no internet access) @C_J_Ridley
Have a script running or some automation that gives you a summary of what happened in the account the day before, sends an alert if something looks out of the ordinary. @alimehdimukadam
How did I forget the editors??? I’m constantly in those. @JuliaVyse
Have to do something new or create a new solution or tool, document how you made it, how to use it and how to replicate the results. This will save future you and your team soooo much time. @C_J_Ridley
I’d say pacing and live/end rules save me the most time. it’s basic, but if you get the basics wrong, you have a lot of meetings and write offs to deal with. @JuliaVyse
Figure out what moves the needle and don’t focus on anything else. @duanebrown
@alimehdimukadam Drop us your scripts, we’re all dying for them. @C_J_Ridley
2nd @NeptuneMoon — codify what you can, pivot based on client needs/preferences if required. @timmhalloran
I’ve been tempted to do a whole BrightonSEO talk on my love for Pivot Tables and the =concatenate formula. @C_J_Ridley
@C_J_Ridley I’d go to that talk. @JuliaVyse
Maybe I should submit it for bSEO San Diego then. @C_J_Ridley
Pivot Tables are soo helpful. So is Editor – Editor keeps functionalities Google removes for longer lol. @revaminkoff
Q5: Are there any tools that you wish existed that don’t and/or are there functionalities within a tool you currently use that you wish existed?
I’m just here for the answers. I’ll get this started with something I wish Optmyzr would invest in: more robust support for creative and audiences. Please back me up so our dev team can do this @navahhopkins
Media Plan and Forecasting Tool. There are some, not completely automated though.@alimehdimukadam
Ohhh @alimehdimukadam forecasting is a good one. @NeptuneMoon
Forecasting for SURE. I don’t have a great answer for this, because most of what we need done is bespoke @JuliaVyse
Richard Fergie has a tool called Forecast Forge but that is an area that is lacking in a lot of tools. @NeptuneMoon
What would you want the forecasting tool to do. @navahhopkins
FB & LI specifically. LinkedIn crashes on me a lot. FB overwrites my copy if I move through the text boxes too fast. @timmhalloran
I do a lot with competitive research and it is a lot of manual work…. I would love something that did data gathering in a more automated way. @NeptuneMoon
Ideally, take historical data, and combine it seasonality & budget allocation. What keyword & performance planner does, but better? This is a little vague, needs better articulation. @alimehdimukadam
Competitive research is hard because to do it you need to scrape data and be in violation of API and channel revenue partnerships. @navahhopkins
Is there a tool that does essentially a “competitor tracker” that I am unaware of? @NeptuneMoon
That’s why most tools struggle there – but it’s a valid request. offline editor too! @alimehdimukadam would you want it to be just your data or would you want industry data too? @navahhopkins
@NeptuneMoon I use ppcreveal for it. Not 100% there but does the job for me. @navahhopkins Industry level benchmarks would definitely help for goal setting/comparison. @alimehdimukadam
@navahhopkins Does Optmyzr show “how you’re doing in your industry” type data ? @NeptuneMoon
So Optmyzr does have that for current performance – I’ll check with the team to see how hard it would be to put that in a forecasting tool. Yes, @NeptuneMoon – it’s our PPC Benchmark tool. @navahhopkins
If you want to try out Optmyzr, I do have a PPC Chat affiliate link, so you can try it out and support the community. A win win! @NeptuneMoon
PPCChat Participants
- Julia Vyse @JuliaVyse
- Julie F Bacchini @NeptuneMoon
- Navah Hopkins @navahhopkins
- Meriem @Meriem
- Chris Murray @ChrisMurray
- Andy Hathaway @AndyHathaway
- Ali Mehdi Mukadam @alimehdimukadam
- Chris Ridley @C_J_Ridley
- Sam @DigitalSamIAm
- Tim Halloran @timmhalloran
- Michele Jaeger @MicheleJaeger1
- Duane Brown @duanebrown
- Reva Minkoff @revaminkoff
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