Evaluating PPC Management Software: Questions to Ask

For You:

• Does this PPC software have all, some, or none of the features that I need?


• - If not, can I utilize/integrate multiple PPC software solutions to solve my needs?
• - If not, does it make sense to build my own software solution instead?


• If I’ve trialed the software:


• - Do the key features meet my team’s needs?
• - Do the key features exceed my team’s expectations?
• - Are there additional features my company will benefit from having access to?
• - Are the key features more time consuming or difficult to implement than completing the workflows manually?

For the Vendor:

• Can you walk me through using this feature that I would use to automate task A, B, or C?


• If you don’t provide all of my necessary features, do you have recommended partners you would suggest?


• If you don’t provide all of my necessary features, is it possible to integrate other software solutions with yours that do?


• Can I customize your software to my specific needs (examples: data filters/segments, column sets, etc.) without affecting settings for anyone else on my team?

For the Vendor:

• Is your software primarily utilized by agencies or in-house/enterprise advertisers?


• If the software offers a solution for both, which was built first?


• If the software offers an agency solution:
• - How easy is it to apply templates or strategies across multiple clients?
• *Examples: campaign strategies, bid rules, reports, negative keywords


• - Can the software be white labeled?
• - Which features are most utilized by agencies similar to us?
• - Which features are least utilized by agencies similar to us?
• - Do features often go unused because they are difficult to implement across multiple, disparate clients?
• *Example: Conversion-based bidding algorithm’s not working because clients don’t want to implement the vendor’s tracking pixel on their website.


• - Does the software allow multiple team members to access the software at the same time?


• - Do you have any fail-safes in place to prevent team members from making changes that overwrite other team member’s changes?


• - Do you have a change history logging what actions were taken by which users and when?


• - What types of user roles exist?
• Can the software be customized to allow team members different permissions based on role?
• Example: Admin, Manager, Read-Only
• - Is there a client read-only role?


• If the vendor offers an in-house/enterprise solution:
• - Who do you consider as your key competitors?
• - In what key ways do you differ from the competitors you just listed?
• - Your marketing website says you have a niche solution for my industry, what are the key features that differentiate it from your other industry-specific solutions?


• - May we add multiple team members to the software as individual users?
• - Do you have any fail-safes in place to prevent team members from making changes that overwrite other team member’s changes?
• - Do you have a change history logging what actions were taken by which users and when?
• - Do you have any fail-safes in place to prevent team members from making changes that overwrite other team member’s changes?
• - Do you have a change history logging what actions were taken by which users and when?


• - What types of user roles exist?
• Can the software be customized to allow team members different permissions based on role?
• Example: Admin, Manager, Read-Only

For the Vendor:

• What advertising platforms does the software integrate with?


• What advertising network and channels are available to us via those integrations?


• Do you offer one- or two-way integrations with each ad platform?
• - Does the software only allow you to import data?
• - Does the software allow you to import data and push changes back into the advertising platforms?
• - Is this consistent across all ad networks and channels you support?
• Does your software have an API and what interface protocol do you use?


• Our company needs to programmatically push data from our internal company systems into your software solution. Is this possible?
• - Can we push custom dimensions or fields into your software for the purposes of better integrating with our internal systems?

For You:

• Do I have a good enough understanding of the value of the product from my free trial/free tier?


• What additional value does this PPC management software have over others I’ve trialed?


• Are a majority or all of our needs met by this software?


• Were there any unexpected benefits, features, or uses I found by trialing the software?


• What frustrated my team the most about trialing the software?
• - Are the challenges so insurmountable that my team would be unhappy using the software?
• Does your software have an API and what interface protocol do you use?


• Our company needs to programmatically push data from our internal company systems into your software solution. Is this possible?
• - Can we push custom dimensions or fields into your software for the purposes of better integrating with our internal systems?


• What is stopping our team from purchasing the software today?

For the Vendor:

• Does your company offer a free trial or a free tier?
• - If the trial is not free, what are the minimum expected requirements of a trial?
• What is the duration of the free trial?


• Are there software restrictions/limitations we can expect utilizing the free trial or free tier?

For You:

• Does the solution fall into your budgeted price range for PPC management software?


• If outside of your price range, does it offer enough value to convince management to allocate additional resources?


• - How do you calculate the value received by the PPC software solution?
• - Time saved?
• - Additional employee resources saved?
• - Other?

For the Vendor:

• Do you offer flat-fee pricing? What are the stipulations?
• Do you offer tiered pricing? What factors are the tiers based off of?
• Do you charge a percentage of ad spend for your fee?
• Do you offer access to all of your products for one single price?
• Can I purchase products you offer individually?
• - How does pricing differ than if I purchase a combination of your products vs all of them?
• Do I receive a discount based on the volume I manage with your software?


• *Examples: ad spend, user seats
• Do I receive a discount based on the length of time for which I’m willing to sign a contract?
• *Examples: quarterly, half-year, annually.
• Do you offer month-to-month pricing?
• What resources can you offer to help me sell my management team on your PPC software solution?
• - In-person meeting
• - Sales call
• - Marketing or product deck
• - Demos
• - Value calculator


• What are the terms of the sales contract I sign with your company?
• - Length of contract
• - Additional fees, stipulations, etc.
• - Vendor uptime requirements
• - Early termination of the contract
• How do contract renewals work?
• - What period of time will you notify me before any pricing or contractual changes?

For the Vendor:

• How long does implementation take for an average customer similar to our company (size, industry, agency/in-house)?
• Do you offer tiered pricing? What factors are the tiers based off of?
• Do you charge a percentage of ad spend for your fee?
• Do you offer access to all of your products for one single price?
• What does the technical implementation look like?
• *Example: Do I have to implement a pixel to track conversions?


• Do you have an implementation team to assist with onboarding?


• What responsibilities do my team have to fulfill as part of onboarding?
• What responsibilities will your team fulfill as part of onboarding?
• Can we agree to a written timeline of when each onboarding action needs to be finished in order to achieve implementation by X date?
• What tools do you have to allow for bulk onboarding of client accounts and campaigns?
• Our team won’t be using X and Y features. How will that adversely affect how we utilize the software?

For the Vendor:

• How long does it take an average customer similar to our company (size, industry, agency/in-house) to fully ramp up?
• Do you have case studies that show how your software solution has helped businesses similar to ours scale their business?
• What feature do customers say is most useful in helping scale their business?
• According to your product metrics, what feature is most used by customers to help scale their business?
• Are there any limitations that will be placed on our company by your software that would limit us from growing our business?
• The number of user seats, clients, ad accounts, campaigns, keywords/audience targets, ads, etc.?
• Limits on how much data we send or receive via your integrations or APIs?
• The number of reports we are able to create, automate, and/or automatically schedule?
• Other?

For the Vendor:

• After we’ve implemented your software, what training do you offer to help our company learn the software?
• Is training:
• In person
• Digital
• Self-guided


• Are training materials accessible to us after we complete the initial training?
• Are training materials created for new features/products you release?
• How do I reach out to your team for help if I need assistance?
• Do you have a knowledge base?


• Do you have a support center where I can submit issues and questions about your product?
• Is it accessible 24/7?
• Can I call or chat with you instead of sending an email?
• What is the average response time for a follow up from your team?


• Will our team have a dedicated customer success representative?
• How frequently will our customer success representative be meeting with our team?
• What is your customer retention rate?

For the Vendor:

• What is the frequency with which you update your product and/or release new features?
• Do you publish release notes somewhere?
• Will our team be notified or emailed about these releases?
• Does your company have a public roadmap you can share with our team for the year ahead?
• I have a feature request. Does your team accept customer submissions? If so, what does the process look like to submit it to your team?
• If my feature request is accepted, will I be given any updates as to when it will be released?


• I’m willing to pay your team to implement a feature. What does the process look like to submit a feature request in

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