Are you a digital advertiser or a digital agency, who actively uses such advertising channels as Google Adwords, Facebook, Yahoo/Bing etc, and would like to optimise the campaign performance to squeeze as many clicks/conversions out of your budget as possible? Or perhaps your goal is to run more campaigns simultaneously and you simply don’t have the time and resources to cope with that volume?
In either case, there is a solution that can help. In fact there are plenty of solutions in the market that can solve those problems. The question is – which one is the right one for you?
I have taken five key criteria that I believe are crucial for someone who is selecting an automation platform, which I have outlined below:
Make sure there is actually a need for an automation solution.
This may sound like an obvious piece of advice, however an investment into an automation solution is warranted only if you have a sizeable number of campaigns. One of the most important advantages of a platform like that is its scalability – i.e. allowing you to run more campaigns concurrently without taking up too much of your time. What is a sizable number? I would suggest it’s a point at which you and your team are finding it difficult to cope with the number of campaigns assigned to them. The number itself can vary, depending on the complexity of the campaigns’ setup, nuances etc, however I would suggest anything upward of 20 would allow you to see good results, ROI- wise.
Check the conditions of the test before starting the testing.
You would definitely want to test the solution to see how well it fits your requirements before you go ahead with the purchase. You should know that most providers will charge you for the test, albeit a reduced fee (probably), but nonetheless it’s a good idea to check what that charge will be and how long the test is offered for. Clearly the less you pay for the test and the longer you can test for, the more bonus points that solution gets.
Select the platform with the right functionality.
Which functions are most relevant to you? To answer this question it helps to ask yourself – which tasks are the most time-consuming for you and your team? Is it compiling the reports for each individual channel? Or is it having to manually adjust the bids on the campaigns to make sure you don’t miss the customers’ KPIs? Or perhaps it is a daunting job of having to check that all links are functioning as they should or creating the UTM tags? How important is transparency to you? Are you happy to have the “black box” algorithm work out the best solution for you or would you like to retain full control of the campaign management?
Another important point to check on functionality is – how willing is the supplier to listen to your wishes? If the functionality your business requires is not currently available, is it something they could develop for you in future releases? And if so, in what timeframe?
Check what tech support is like.
Think about it – an automation solution you select will become a critical tool in your campaign management toolbox. Do you really want to wait for 24 hours for someone from tech support to get back to you? What could happen in those 24 hours with your customer’s campaign and how much money would they be standing to lose? How would that impact your relationship with the customer? Another important factor that could also be vital is how open your preferred supplier is to integrating with your existing ecosystem, especially if you would like to use the data from all other sources. If your setup is already pretty complex and you are buying a stand-alone “turn-key” solution, the task of manually transferring the data between the two could completely negate the benefits of having an automation system in the first place.
Make sure to check the prices.
The most common pricing structure among the majority of automation providers is charging you a percentage of a total budget for all the campaigns that are run through their platform. The prices will vary depending on the supplier and the budget you allocate, however most will fall within the range of 2% to 5%. Also it may be a good idea to check
what the price includes: do you get free tech support included or would you have to pay extra? Some systems have a pricing structure per module – so you have to pay extra if you want to have full functionality.
While these tips may be useful, there may be other more industry-specific questions that you may want to ask too. Also it may be good to bear in mind that the size of your company can also be an influencing factor: If you are an SME and you are considering an enterprise solution – you might grossly overpay for the functions you may never even need. And when it comes to tech support – you may be a hundredth in the queue, while the technicians are attending to one of the supplier’s key enterprise customers. Smaller, more agile and flexible solution providers with smaller customer base and therefore better customer care and support may be a better bet for you.
By Nikita Tihhomirov, Marilyn.
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