Google Marketing Platform (a combination of former DoubleClick advertiser tools and Google Analytics 360 Suite) is a set of tools for marketers to manage their advertising campaigns. DoubleClick was acquired by Google in 2008. It focuses on uploading ads and reporting their performance and also provides forecasting tools to help predict future campaign needs. Bid optimization tools help manage pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns across search engines (e.g. Bing, Google, Yahoo!).
N/A
LocaliQ
Score 3.3 out of 10
N/A
LocaliQ from Gannett presents a suite of marketing tools and capabilities designed to encompass all the marketing and online advertising needs of SMBs and local businesses, with email, display advertising, local directory management, SEO business website, and social media marketing. In addition, LocaliQ offers a marketing plan for small business owners who desire a hands-off approach to marketing.
N/A
Pricing
Google Marketing Platform
LocaliQ
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Google Marketing Platform
LocaliQ
Free Trial
No
No
Free/Freemium Version
No
Yes
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
No
Yes
Entry-level Setup Fee
No setup fee
Optional
Additional Details
—
LocaliQ offers both self-serve and premium solutions.
LocaliQ’s free, self-serve experience provides access to Free Website Grader, Free Inbound Call Recorder, Chatbot (free and $9.99/month options available), Scheduling Technology (free and $9.99/month options available), and Listings solutions ($9.99/month and $14.99/month options available).
For LocaliQ's premium solutions, users are partnered with a LocaliQ expert to create the best marketing plan for their businesses that utilizes a full suite of marketing products.
I feel pretty neutral about Google Marketing Platform. For the longest time, my company wasn't using it because each of the features (Data Studio, Analytics, etc.) could be accessed separately. In fact, most of the time, I don't even go into Google Marketing Platform because it's easier to directly navigate to the individual platforms. There are very few features about GMP that can only be accessed from the GMP UI. The Integrations Center is probably the main feature I utilize from the GMP UI, which allows me to see a summary of the integrations I have in place across all my client properties and accounts.
ReachLocal is a trustworthy agency for smaller-scale multifamily buildings that can do the basics of website management, SEO, and advertising on Facebook or Google. I think they provide a solid product but do not get into the nitty-gritty advanced features that create value for clients that want to stick out.
Bringing together data from multiple channels and engines and allows you to visualize the data in an easy to use platform. This saves time from using multiple logins for the different platforms.
Auto bidding tools save time from manual bidding, as it allows you to set the specific terms around what levels you want to cap your CPCs at. You then let DoubleClick adjust your bids to gain the most conversions from the cheapest CPCs. This frees up time to do other in-depth analysis and strategy.
DoubleClick also has the ability to track conversions and clicks on any page using their floodlight tags. This is good for tracking certain actions on yours or a client's site and is especially good if they do not use any other tools, such as Google Analytics or Adobe, to track conversions and user actions on site. You can also use these in conjunction with the auto bidding tools.
ThriveHive is a smaller marketing team dedicated to helping small to medium sized businesses perfect their marketing messages. ThriveHive is particularity good at understanding how Google, and other search engines work, and have been instrumental in helping my company to grow and evolve.
With ThriveHive, you get a dedicated coach who is matched to your type of business. This experience with similar businesses gives your coach a better understanding of your business and the challenges your company faces.
My coach is very good at responding to my needs within 1 to 2 business days. Email contacts are fluent and as often as I need, to discuss ideas or questions. I can only speak of my relationship with my coach, and I am very pleased.
I feel that ThriveHive makes every effort to take excellent care of their clients, and makes you feel like you are their most important customer. I definitely believe that this is one of ThriveHives' greatest assets.
The process for on-boarding new users can be difficult if they do not already have a Gmail or Gmail-linked account.
Difficult to troubleshoot technical issues (with the platform, with tags, etc.) because of the lack of customer support. Unclear if the agency has a dedicated team or individual to assist, and often have to deal with out-sourced support teams.
The email content editor could use some additional bells and whistles, it cannot handle some more advanced functions, but for the basics it is more than adequate.
Options for website creation are a bit limited and the turnaround time can be a bit lengthy at times because of the volume they do.
Tracked phone lines can be a bit pricey, but not exorbitant.
Due to its adapting behavior with industry ad formats and seamless integration with publishers and DSP's, I don't see myself moving away from DCM. As we see the display advertising is getting more programatic and automated due to the rise of DSP and concept of RTB, Double Click has evolved with new advanced best practices
The Doubleclick interface is easy and simple to get a hang of. The options are slightly limited compared to other DSPs. But, for a simple campaign, this is a great DSP to move forward with. They have a ton of data and can plug into a lot of different partners
They do not have strong support team. It is tough to get answer when I need it. They always refer you to an online guide and not an actual person. If so, the person is based out of an offshore team in India and does not know the specific client goals .
Marin takes a lot more time for everything, mainly for the campaigns setup. This also leads to many mistakes, which impact the performance. I've used Marin on a couple of previous clients and we've had many problems with it, mainly with correct conversion tracking and account optimizations. Besides, Marin is behind all the new features available on AdWords, which makes the tracking also not very flexible.
While WordPress provides you with the opportunity to build a custom website, it stops there. ThriveHive has a strong small business marketing suite of products that are integrated into a WordPress-based website while also making it easy for the user to make quick and easy edits to existing content. I will say that I find MailChimp's aesthetic and deliverability to be leaps and bounds ahead of ThriveHive, and so I was unable to cut my account with MailChimp. I still use it for large email newsletters while using ThriveHive's email client for shorter, more targeted marketing efforts for segmented lists.
DS3 has improved ROI considerably due to its ability to make the work of a team of digital marketers to go further and improving internal efficiency.
There is a notable improvement in account performance for those integrated with DoubleClick as opposed to not, with better tracking, new bid strategy options, and a more responsive interface.
The additional fee on top of media spend is a considerable expense for a large advertiser, but the necessity of a product/solution such as this means that there is always likely to be some comparative cost.
I think one of the most important lessons learned so far, is to really have a very clear idea of who your customers/clients are, and who you want them to be.
My website is now in its second iteration. Completely different focus from the 1st iteration. My first website was producing "hits" but not producing leads. The experience gained from this attempt lead to my new website, which is now doing the job that a website is intended to do, creating leads. Often, failure is the stepping stone to success. There is no doubt that the level of clientele that my new website is generating is worth every penny that I have spent with ThriveHive.
Building a successful business takes time, and a good understanding of your customers/clients. The people at ThriveHive are good at helping you figure this out.
