AdRoll vs. Google Ad Manager

I used AdRoll at my previous agency and liked it. So much so, I am in the process of getting my new agency on board with using AdRoll. The primary reason is that it can be very advantageous for a small agency that doesn't meet many of the programmatic minimum ad buys to use. For many of our clients, re-targeting is also very important. I have found that I can get those types of campaigns up and running much quicker than using a platform directly. Overall, AdRoll is really easy to use and can be a great, low-barrier option for smaller agencies.

Incentivized

I like that I can see several clients in one place, which can be convenient. However, the UX could be a lot better as outlined previously. In other words, the benefits of combining clients into the Ad Manager don't seem to be much more beneficial than logging into each client's ad account separately

Incentivized

• A customer service rep can help us out with any campaign questions, any time during the work week.
• The platform has a very transparent platform that provides great detail about analytics of the ads.
• The platform shows what digital advertising mediums are working the best for your website, not just the ads that you run through them.

• Hyper targeting - I love how we can target, analyze, and then hyper target [advertisements] to our audiences to be able to hyper target the audiences that convert best. [Audiences besides] Google understands them, but also demographics, locations, search terms, and more.
• Advanced reporting - Without Google's seemingly endless ways to read and break down reports, we would not be able to best make decisions to maximize ROI.
• Strong conversion algorithm updates - The algorithm has become impressively strong for 'maximized conversions' and 'smart' campaigns. [That's] coming from someone who hated these portions of the algorithm until about 2019 where the updates (and continued updates) have worked incredibly well for these algorithms' purpose.

Incentivized

• Improved level of support during the technical setup process would really improve the onboarding process
• Consistent, proactive account management is key with organizations like AdRoll. A dedicated rep goes such a long way.
• More granular reporting would help with back-end optimization and client recommendations

Incentivized

• Sometimes it can bog down and crash. This is rare, but it is processing a lot of steps/changes all at once and it's not expected to be perfect.
• Being able to quickly filter by campaign types would be nice (PPC/Display/Video Pre-roll). Our fix is to run these campaigns in totally separate accounts, so there is no overlapping in reporting/etc. This helps with seeing stats clearly without having to filter constantly.
• It could be visually prettier.

Incentivized

Here are the questions we asked when we were going to renew (note: adroll does not have annual contract and you can cancel at anytime)

• what new products/ updates were released in the last 6 months?
• did I find these new products/updates helpful
• was I informed of these products in a timely fashion?
• did my Account Manage and Ad opps rep make suggestions on how I could make my campaigns more efficient and effective?

I think it's useful for our team and we rely on it to improve our business. It is within our budget also. Although we still will need an approval from the upper-level management team, I don't see any problem with that

Incentivized

Honestly, AdRoll is like every other ad management system. In fact, all ad management systems are pretty much identical with a few proprietary tweaks. Creating a campaign is done in one seamless screen with everything you need right there. The ability to add creative and even order AdRoll to create ads for you is also easy. The monitoring of a live campaign is easy as you can see all the necessary information from the main screen. Super easy to use and reliable deliverability

Incentivized

While most of Google Ad Manager is user-friendly, certain parts of the ad creation process could use some improvements. Specifically, the way you insert keywords can be clunky and time-consuming, and I would like to see better and more keyword suggestions when designing a campaign.

Incentivized

We don't use AdRoll support much, but when we have it's been fine, in line with other advertising platforms where it takes a few days maximum to resolve an issue that you have with them. In general though, the platform is very self sufficient and we do not have to use their support much, which is a good thing.

Incentivized

I could say a lot about this topic. As an agency, we get a new [representative] to talk to almost every quarter to go over select accounts and the campaigns within. Most of the time, these [educated representatives], don't provide any new feedback, or I just simply [disagree] with their approach. This is not all the time however. I have learned a lot from a rare few, [individuals] that have given me new strategies and access to betas early on. The other side of support, is the [overseas support platform]. [It] is usually not very helpful, but you can [emphasize] issues and they can research [them]. The Google Tag Implementation team is pristine though. When you need them, you need to set an appointment, which is usually 2 weeks out; they are so over-my-head intelligent, I've never had a bad experience with them and whenever I needed them for a fix, they solved it [within] the first call.

Incentivized

Implementation was easy, as all we needed to do was use Google Tag Manager's built in AdRoll tag type and input our client ID and we were up and running. If you're not using Google Tag Manager, I imagine the implementation would be relatively easy as well, as all that's needed is a basic pixel.

Incentivized

Adroll is slightly better than Criteo, in my opinion. Criteo, only does web ads right now, which is frustrating if you are also running social campaigns. Adroll continues to be a one stop shop for all advertising campaigns and is extremely convenient in that regard. Criteo works off of a PPC type of structure and Adroll charges per impression. Criteo would be more beneficial with that model.

Incentivized

As I alluded to earlier, you kind of have to be on Google if you want to search marketing. I've tried Bing Ads and I just don't see the same volume or quality. With dwindling targeting abilities on social media sites like Facebook, Google is still tall and mighty and helps us with intent-based targeting rather than just interest-based targeting.

Incentivized

• Mixed - while the tool provides an invaluable productivity gain the actual ROI it provides is less certain. We found if used in combination with other revenue analytics it was useful to determine the impact it had on revenue from returning visitors. If data is used on its own the impact on revenue is less quantifiable.

Incentivized

• We have increased our conversions by 600%, and we weren't starting from a small number.
• It has helped us grow in the digital space, which is vital in this climate.
• Because of the ability to edit ads as we do, we are able to customize and carefully plan ads. We have over 1,500, uniquely specified towards certain situations. We can make sure that we start the relationship off right!

Incentivized