PPC Automation: Definition & 5 Best Tools to Implement in 2023

A common challenge with PPC advertising is the need to react quickly and accurately to changing conditions. Thankfully, there are many powerful, time-saving PPC automation tools out there to help optimise your campaign strategy.

Not only do PPC automation tools help you work smarter, but by having software handle more routine tasks, ad teams are free to focus on the more fundamental aspects of the campaign.

In this article, we’ll explore how to best implement PPC automation within your campaign. We also suggest five of the best PPC automation tools available in 2023 and explain why you should be using them today.

What is PPC Automation? 

When managing a PPC campaign, overseeing numerous click-intensive tasks manually can be complex, time-consuming and prone to errors. This in turn can result in less-informed decisions, wasted ad spend, and, ultimately, a lower chance of reaching the right customers.

PPC automation allows you to set up various elements of your campaign to run automatically, dynamically and without the need for manual monitoring. As we’ll see, there are numerous ways to go about automating your PPC campaigns. Depending on your goals and the kind of industry you work in, some methods will be more suitable than others.

3 Different Ways to Automate PPC Campaigns

#1 Ad management platforms:

These handy software tools are designed to automate everything to do with PPC campaign management. They can streamline and optimise various aspects of your campaign, and each tool is geared towards slightly different use cases. 

Some examples of the areas they can help with include ad scheduling, bid management, ad copy testing, performance analytics, monitoring, reporting and data collection. 

#2 Automation apps

Automation apps are tools that use predefined rules to automate PPC campaign management tasks such as keyword management, bid adjustments and ad scheduling. These apps integrate with PPC advertising platforms such as Google Ads and provide an easy-to-use interface for running campaigns.

#3 Using automation scripts

Automation scripts are lines of code that can be used to carry out PPC campaign management tasks such as keyword bidding, ad copy optimization, and data reporting. Scripts are particularly useful when you need a more bespoke solution within your campaign. They do require more technical know-how, but they are more customisable than using the predetermined rules within automation apps or platforms.

5 Best PPC Automation Tools

Here are five of the best PPC automation tools that you should be using in 2023.

#1. Opteo

Opteo provides a range of smart, easy-to-use features designed to help users optimise and streamline their Google Ads campaigns. They attest to providing world-class support, with detailed help documents in their dedicated support centre.

Top Features:

Opteo’s features are split across four main categories:

• • Improvements: Manage keywords; improve ad creative; optimise bids; exclude bad traffic; detect errors; manage shopping ads

• • Performance: Monitor performance; explore segments; manage budgets

• • Reports: Google ads reports; Opteo scorecard

• • Alerts: Google ads alerts; slack integration

Pricing:

Opteo offers a free 30-day trial and four monthly price plans starting at $99:

• • Basic: $99 / month

• • Professional: $199 / month

• • Agency: $399 / month

• • Enterprise: $799 / month

Who it’s For:

Opteo boasts an impressive range of high-end clients, including Deliveroo, Spotify and Selfridges. Yet, with various pricing options and a straightforward interface, they are suitable for all kinds of businesses, including smaller ad agencies and individual freelancers.

#2. Optmyzr

The team behind Optmyzr has been working on PPC since 1998. Their flagship technology is OTOMYZR Core and covers a vast range of highly customisable PPC needs. 

They also offer Campaign Automator–an automated inventory campaigns for search and display–and Optmyzr for Amazon Ads, specifically for Amazon PPC automation

Top Features:

• • One Click Optimizations™

• • PPC Insights

• • Reporting & Monitoring

• • Enhanced Scripts

• • Shopping Ads

• • Account blueprints

• • Slack integration

• • Bid management

• • Budget optimization

• • Shopping campaigns

• • Alerts

• • Multi platform PPC

• • Keywords and queries

• • Scale usage

• • Optmyzr Express

• • Google Data Studio

Pricing:

Prices are set on a sliding scale from €274/month up to €879/month, depending on your monthly ad spend. They also offer custom pricing for those with over 50 ad accounts and/or over €500K in monthly ad spend. Prices are cheaper if paid annually, and you can trial the software for free for 14 days.

Who it’s For:

Optmyzr is trusted by some of the world’s largest businesses, including Rakuten, Velux and QVC. With a higher entry price point than Opteo, it may be out of reach for smaller operations with fewer resources. 

But, with its vast range of features, Optmyzr meets the needs of a diverse range of businesses, agencies and in-house teams. They also provide a useful collection of case-studies.

#3. Google Ads Editor

Google Ads Editor is Google’s free, downloadable desktop software. Formerly known as AdWords, it allows advertisers to manage their Google Ads campaigns offline.

Top Features:

• • Offline editing: Being able to make changes offline and upload later can come in really handy, especially if you lose your internet connection–for example, when travelling.

• • Bulk editing: For more complex campaigns, the ability to bulk-edit various elements such as keywords, updating ad copy, or changing bids is particularly useful.

• • Advanced search and filtering: You can speedily find and filter campaigns, ad groups, and keywords based on your specific needs.

• • Custom rules and alerts: Google allows you to set-up customisable rules and alerts to ensure that campaigns are running as you wish so that any issues can be quickly attended to.

Pricing:

One of the main pluses of Google Ads Editor is that it’s completely free.

Who it’s For:

Google Ads Editor is suitable for any business, ad agency, PPC team or individual freelancer who manages Google Ads as part of their advertising campaigns. The ability to bulk-edit makes it especially useful for those with multiple accounts and lots of keywords, ads or ad groups. 

And the fact it is free means smaller businesses or freelancers with tighter budgets are not excluded from using its many features.

#4. Swydo

Swydo has been in operation since 2011, offering a range of tools to help automate reporting and monitoring processes within a flexible, scaleable and easy-to-use platform.

Top Features:

• • Integrations

• • White label solutions

• • Customization

• • Goals

• • Report sharing

• • Custom domains

• • Report templates

• • Multi language reports

• • Custom metrics

Pricing:

Swydo is a pay-per-usage service based on data sources, starting at a base fee of €39/month for 10 data sources with a 14-day free trial. They also provide a custom-tailored plan if you require more than 2,000 monthly data sources.

Who it’s For:

With a focus on reporting and monitoring, Swydo serves thousands of customers in over 80 countries. Their flexible pay-per-usage system means they are suitable for a range of digital agencies, brands, franchisors and media companies, both small and large.

#5. Report Garden

ReportGarden helps online marketing agencies prepare analysis and performance reports for their clients. Their products aim to generate speedy reports, with a strong focus on data visualisation.

Top Features:

• • Reporting

• • SEO Suite

• • Dashboards

• • Client Management

• • Proposal

• • Budgeting

Pricing:

Report Garden offers four price plans, starting at $89/month for the basic plan and going up to $649/month for the agency package. They also provide a 14-day free trial.

Who it’s For:

Report Garden counts Ogilvy, Orange and Havas as clients. With a vast range of products and solutions, they suit a diverse range of agencies and businesses looking to connect and integrate their data on one platform. 

They are particularly suitable for businesses where report generation is a high priority. And with a lower-priced entry package, they are not out of reach for smaller operations. 

Check out one of their case studies here.

Top 5 Benefits of PPC Automation

#1. Saving Time

Probably the most fundamental benefit of PPC automation is the time it can save you and your team. Setting up and managing PPC ad campaigns manually involves a fair amount of menial and repetitive tasks. 

These can be performed much more efficiently with the support of algorithmic automation, which in turn frees up time to spend on other elements of the campaign.

#2. Tailoring Ad Copy and Creatives

Certain PPC automation tools allow you to automatically optimise your ad creatives and copy based on the behaviour of users. For instance, you could automatically adjust your ads to feature certain elements more prominently based on which images have generated the most clicks and conversions. 

Similarly, you might use dynamic keyword insertion to tailor your ad by automatically inserting the most relevant search term into the ad copy.

#3. Scaling Campaigns

When it’s time to grow your campaign, PPC ad automation tools can analyse your data and identify areas where scaling efforts will be most effective. This could include expanding your target audience across multiple platforms, optimising your ad targeting or increasing budgets.

By scaling your PPC campaigns using automation, you can be sure you can drive more traffic and generate more revenue, without sacrificing the quality or effectiveness of your campaigns.

#4. Enabling Improved Reporting

As we have seen, software such as Swydo and ReportGarden is especially geared towards improving PPC reporting through automation. By consolidating data from multiple campaigns across various platforms, these automation tools can generate detailed reports much faster than pulling data manually. 

Reports are also highly customisable, can be automatically translated into other languages, and you can schedule them to be sent as frequently as required.

#5. Simplified A/B Testing

PPC automation tools can simplify A/B testing, helping you efficiently determine which versions of your campaigns perform best. 

For example, you could create multiple ad variations and let the automation tool test them evenly across your target audience to see which worked best. Or you could use automatic testing to try out different variations of landing pages, letting the tool make dynamic adjustments based on the results.

Drawbacks of PPC Automation

While there are numerous potential benefits associated with automating your PPC campaigns, there are certain limitations you should also be aware of. 

These include:

Manual Monitoring

Although you are likely to save some time by streamlining your campaigns with PPC automation tools, this doesn’t eradicate manual input. All tools will require some level of human monitoring to ensure they are being implemented correctly, especially the more complex setups.

Costs

Though there are free tools available, more complex and customisable options can incur high costs that could put them out of reach for small businesses. Also, software updates and maintenance fees can add up over time.

Technical Abilities

Similarly, for small businesses or individuals with limited experience in PPC marketing, a lack of technical knowledge and skills could form a barrier to entry.

How to Implement PPC Automation in 6 Easy Steps

#1. Set PPC Campaign Goals

Before setting up your PPC campaign, you should first be clear with your goals. Specific, achievable and measurable targets are the foundation of any ad campaign. 

Measuring these goals against your KPIs will help you know which parts of your strategy have worked and which areas still need improvement. Some examples of possible goals you could aim for include:

• • Increasing website traffic: A simple goal could be to bring more people to your site. For example, your goal could be a 25% increase within 3 months

• • More brand awareness: To increase the visibility of your business, you could aim to boost search impressions by 30% within 6 months

• • Improve budget efficiency: You could try lowering your cost-per-click (CPC) average by 10% within a month to ensure your campaign spending is as efficient as possible.

With the ability to set threshold alerts and generate automatic reports, PPC automation tools will also help you accurately measure whether your targets are being met.

#2. Explore Different PPC Automation Tools

There are many options available when it comes to PPC automation tools. As we have seen with our top five–-Opteo, Optmyzr, Google Ads Editor, Report Garden and Swydo—each comes with different features, capabilities and limitations. And, of course, there are plenty more out there. 

When choosing which tools are best for your campaign, consider how they align with your goals, your skills and your budget. Most developers offer a free trial, so it’s definitely worth trying and comparing a few options before you settle on one.

#3. Automate PPC Ad Copy

Compelling ad copy is crucial for attracting new customers. Automating your PPC ad copy can save you loads of time and improve consistency across your campaigns. 

Many automation tools offer features such as dynamic keyword insertion, which automatically inserts relevant keywords into your copy. They also offer ad templates, which allow you to generate a range of ad variations that can be automatically rotated, depending on how they perform.

#4. Automate PPC Bidding Strategies

Bidding is a vital part of PPC campaigns, so automating your bidding strategy can have a big impact on your campaign’s performance. Most PPC automation tools will include automated bidding as one of their main features.

These features allow you to increase or decrease bids dynamically, based on various performance metrics such as cost-per-acquisition, return on ad spend, or click-through rate. It’s a good idea to test out a few different strategies first and keep optimising yours as you go.

#5. Review PPC Campaigns & Collect Data

Equally important as setting clear goals and implementing automation tools is the process of reviewing your campaign’s performance and collecting data. Regularly measuring how well aspects of your PPC campaign are performing will ensure you are getting the most from it.

You can utilise analytic automation tools to collect data on performance metrics such as conversion rates, cost per click and budget efficiency. Try to identify areas that require attention, such as underperforming keywords or ad groups, and tweak your strategy accordingly. 

Making data-driven decisions like this is the best way to maintain the performance of your campaign.

#6. Automate PPC Reporting

There are various ways you can utilise PPC automation tools to aid with your reporting. While many tools offer basic reporting, some come equipped with more specific features. 

For example, you may want to customise your report templates with an emphasis on compelling visual representations of campaign data. Equally, you may wish to automate the generation and distribution of reports so that the relevant people associated with your business receive regular updates.

If reporting is a particularly critical aspect of your campaign, you may want to look at software that offers a more tailored approach to reporting, such as Swydo and ReportGarden.

Metrics to Keep Track of in Automated PPC Campaigns

CTR

CTR stands for click-through-rate. It is a way of measuring how many times users clicked on your ad compared to how many users it was shown to. CTR is calculated as a percentage. So if your ad was shown to 100 people and 60 clicked on it, your CTR rate would be 60%.

CTR is useful as it gives you a broad understanding of the effectiveness of a particular ad or campaign. A higher CTR rate means the ad is engaging potential customers and could lead to more conversions.

CPA

CPA means cost-per-acquisition. This metric determines the cost of acquiring a new customer. It is calculated by dividing the total cost of the campaign by the total number of acquisitions. So, if you spend £1000 on a campaign that results in 100 acquisitions, the CPA would be £10.

CPA helps determine the profitability of a campaign and if you are using your budget effectively. A lower CPA equates to a more cost-effective campaign with a better return on investment. 

CPC

Cost-per-click is used to determine the cost of each click on your ad. It is calculated by dividing the amount spent on the campaign by the number of times users clicked on the ad. So, if you spent £500 on a campaign and the ad was clicked 1000 times, the CPC would be £0.50

CPC is a key metric in PPC advertising, because, alongside CPA, it helps show how efficient your ad spend is and how much you need to budget. If your CPC rate is too high, it’s a sign you may need to tweak elements of your campaign to make your ad spend go further.

CPL

CPL stands for cost-per-lead. Similarly to CPA and CPC, it is useful for determining the costs and budget efficiency of a campaign. In this case, a lead is defined as a potential customer who has provided contact information because they are interested in your product or service.

It is measured by dividing the amount spent by the number of leads. So, if you spend £1500 on a campaign and generate 100 leads, the CPL would amount to £15. Again, if your CPL is too high, it signals you may need to optimise elements of your campaign to make sure you’re making the most of the budget. 

Quality Score

A quality score is determined by search engines such as Google to measure the general relevance and quality of a particular ad, its keywords and landing pages.

Google’s Ad Quality Score is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest. A high quality score can lead to lower costs and higher ad positions, while a low score can result in the opposite.

If your ad has a low quality score, you may want to focus on optimising your ad, keywords and landing pages to ensure you are engaging effectively with potential customers.

Automate Your PPC Strategies with Acuto

Acuto understands that every ad campaign comes with its own unique challenges. That’s why we offer a range of bespoke services to reduce time wasted on menial tasks and help supercharge any aspect of your PPC strategy. 

Our custom script options include:

Reactive Bidding Scripts

We can automate your ad bidding with custom scripts that keep up with the competition, prevent overspending, and integrate first-party data in the process.

Ad Customisation Scripts

Customise your ads based on external factors like the weather, traffic, or competitor ad copy. Save time by using automation scripts to update your ad copy by the hour.

E-Commerce Ad Scripts

Launch promotion campaigns across a large volume of products efficiently with automation scripts that save you time, labour, and money, or use them to optimise your shopping campaigns.

So, whether you require a simple script or a full-blown web app, get in contact and see what Acuto can do for you.

Key Takeaways

Here’s a recap of what we’ve covered in this article:

• • PPC automation tools can streamline various aspects of ad management, saving you time and increasing the efficiency of your campaign.

• • You can use PPC automation tools to help with things such as: ad copy, bidding strategies, monitoring, reporting and data collection.

• • There are various PCC automation tools out there suited to a range of needs and budgets. Most offer free trials, so it’s worth trying a few options to see which best suits your business.

• • Our top five recommended PPC automation tools for 2023 include: 

                      Opteo, Optmyzr, Swydo, Google Ads Editor & ReportGarden.

• • When implementing PPC automation, it’s important to set clear campaign goals so you can measure which aspects are successful and which need more attention. 

• • It’a also crucial to keep track of your campaign’s KPIs and make adjustments where necessary.

• • For customised PPC automation solutions, see what Acuto has to offer.