iSpionage vs. WordStream Advisor

iSpionage is ideal for when you want to get a feel for the competitor landscape for a potential client. You can just pop in, throw in the URL, and see which competitors populate, then look at the average spend. I wish I could look back at like yearly average spend, easier (default on last 1 month). But it's great to get quick glimpses and build some quick talking points around that. I don't think it's all that good for organic keyword analysis. I find the organic interface a bit clunky, with lots of information that I don't feel is all that relevant. Stick with paid search insights.

Incentivized

Do you currently use Google AdWords to drive new business for your website? Then you need WordStream. The best scenario where it has helped me is time. I used to spend easily 20 hours a week analyzing data, making minor changes, adjusting budgets, trying to just master Google AdWords! But now I'm able to spend maybe 2-3 hours a week on Google AdWords and put the rest of my attention on other responsibilities. WordStream has mastered making my time more efficient.

Incentivized

• Keyword alerts notifications.
• Competitors analysis.
• Website monitoring.

Incentivized

• Definitely go with a consultant. It amazed me how quickly our consultant was able to understand our business and what we sell. He was the best resource for our newly-digitized marketing team.
• The negative keywords section was a hugely helpful tool. It saved us from so much unnecessary spend while making it easy to add negatives.
• How quickly changes implemented were updated on AdWords was amazing. It's live, so no lag and unnecessary spend.

Incentivized

• Keyword database is limited compared to other tools
• Limited (though streamlined) feature set
• Less agency-friendly than other tools.

Incentivized

• While the basic tools are pretty simple to use, the platform is actually pretty expansive and I don't feel like I've taken advantage of it (yet) as much as I could. It does require some training to get up to speed.
• Support for Display ad campaigns is limited - this is mainly used as a way to optimize Search campaigns.
• Reporting. I find the reporting setup to be a bit confusing and still rely on other sources for building out reports on our Adwords performance (Adwords itself and Google Analytics).

Incentivized

Affordable, useful, informative, easy to use, continually updating and staying current

Incentivized

I have not had any experience with the customer support team for platform issues, but the account representative checks in with us often and is always available to answer questions. We will usually get on quarterly review calls so that she can share any new updates to the platform and answer questions.

Incentivized

iSpionage is nowhere near Semrush (and to a lesser extent SpyFu) in terms of usefulness for competitive intelligence, keyword research, or strategic planning. It has nowhere near the depth of data or level of tools available in other tools.

Incentivized

WordStream is a little different from the competition. There are much more expensive solutions that manage the account for you with more features (Kenshoo, Marin, etc) and there are cheaper solutions out there that offer some of the features that WordStream provides; however, if a marketer wants to personally manage an account with some aided help than WordStream provides a great, cost-effective solution

Incentivized

• It's hard to quantify, but I believe I've saved quite a bit of time and energy in competitor research due to iSpionage
• iSpionage has helped me get more knowledgeable, quicker, to gain trust with potential clients—again, not really measurable
• I've surely maximized my clients' advantage by recommending proper competitive spend based on what I'm seeing in iSpionage

Incentivized

• I've already noted the time savings that WordStream has provided - at leats 5 hours a week (and I like to think that my time is pretty expensive/worth it).
• Wordstream has paid for itself already, simply in removing junk from our AdWords account - junk keywords, junk AdWords groups, junk matching.
• I think we'll find, over more time, that Wordstream will continue to provide outstanding value in dropping our CPA - once Google register sthe lack of junk, our CPC will continue to go down.