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Marin Software: Efficiency In A Box
Updated May 09, 2014

Marin Software: Efficiency In A Box

Robert Frost | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 8 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Software Version

Enterprise

Modules Used

  • All

Overall Satisfaction with Marin Software

At ethology, we use Marin Software for our client bid management and reporting platform. All clients are on-boarded to Marin and all reporting is based out of the platform. We also are rolling out bid management to all clients. Currently, the Paid Search department is using it, with account management and finance accessing it for reporting needs.
  • Consolidation of multiple accounts. Google, Bing, other...all in one place. This is why reporting is based out of Marin. One data source vs. many.
  • Bid management for financial goals. Setting a cost-per-conversion goal allows Marin to maximize conversions by adjusting bids up and down. Performance increases are amazing!
  • Reporting. Flexibility of reports is pretty cool.
  • Support. They are addressing this currently, and things seem to have improved lately, but we were experiencing long delays in getting support tickets addressed.
  • New Google Shopping campaigns will not even show in the tool. Old PLA campaigns are fine however.
  • Random missing data. Typically this happens after an update, but we've seen data missing in various clients. Usually logging a support ticket and having Marin Support rerun a backend process resolves the issue.
  • Positive: Increased efficiency for sure.
  • Positive: More comprehensive reports.
  • Negative: Fees come off our bottom line. We've been able to pass through a portion of the fees to clients, but only a handful. The rest is lost revenue.
Marin is very comparable to Kenshoo, and (for us anyway) quite a bit less expensive. Sure, Kenshoo has some additional features not offered by Marin that would be cool to have, but those features come at a hefty premium. Marin does everything we need it to do, at an acceptable cost.
We have a solid Marin account team that is thoroughly invested in our business. They are insightful, helpful, and are always willing to walk us through any new features or retrain us on old ones. Additionally, the sales dept at Marin has been helpful in providing use-cases, whitepapers, and other documents that have assisted our sales team with closing new business.
If you are using Google Shopping campaigns, wait until Q4 to purchase. They are not supported in Marin until then, at the earliest.
Cost: We were able to negotiate a decent % of spend rate, but standard rates can be fairly high, especially when compared to other tools, with the exception of Kenshoo.

Using Marin Software

10 - Paid search specialists, account managers, paid search management team, finance dept., several end clients.
1 - It's pretty much just me that supports our users. I have the most experience with Marin and have gotten the most training. We rely heavily on our Marin account team and the Marin support team as well.
  • Reporting
  • Bid Management
  • Account Consolidation
  • Using Web Query reports to forecast account spend and adjust daily.
  • Use exported CSV reports to import into our homegrown reporting tool.
  • Extensive bid management automation.
  • Facebook management (if we'd ever get a client who wants to advertise there).
  • Using their Revenue Connect tool to add adMarketplace campaigns.
  • Baidu/Yandex campaigns.

Evaluating Marin Software and Competitors

  • Price
  • Product Features
  • Product Usability
  • Positive Sales Experience with the Vendor
Price was probably the number one deciding factor when we first made the decision to use Marin.
Perhaps. I was really impressed with the Doubleclick demo we got (and they are very inexpensive), but their integration with Bing and Facebook isn't so great.

Marin Software Implementation

I think if we had known what we wanted, the implementation would have been perfect. Since we didn't, there was quite a bit of back and forth between ethology and the implementation team at Marin. The process ended up taking a lot longer than we expected it to take, but worked out in the end.
  • Vendor implemented
  • Implemented in-house
Change management was a minor issue with the implementation
  • Adoption by employees
  • Tracking setup for Google Analytics
  • Bidding setup

Marin Software Support

While they are getting much better with the new restructured support dept, the previous ticketing system was prone to long wait times, inexperienced techs who would just link you to help desk articles that didn't apply, and unresolved issues. I think the addition of a direct support phone number in addition to our account team was a huge help.
ProsCons
Good followup
Knowledgeable team
Problems get solved
Kept well informed
No escalation required
Support understands my problem
Support cares about my success
None
Yes - The most recent one, no...it's been escalated to an advanced support team. Prior to that since the new support system, yes.
Needed to add Google Analytics tracking to Marin, something that must be done on the back end. The tech was able to get this accomplished within 30 min of my logging a support ticket.

Using Marin Software

As mentioned previously, the bidding setup is confusing, with way too many settings that can make or break your campaign.
ProsCons
Like to use
Relatively simple
Easy to use
Technical support not required
Well integrated
Consistent
Quick to learn
Feel confident using
Familiar
None
  • Onboarding process was super easy
  • Reporting is awesome
  • Segmenting data
  • Bulk uploading
  • Bidding
  • Dynamic Actions
  • Facebook campaigns