Solid tool, but a lot of room for improvement..
October 23, 2015

Solid tool, but a lot of room for improvement..

Anonymous | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 7 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User

Overall Satisfaction with Marin Software

Marin Software is being used across the SEM department. It helps streamline management of our clients' SEM campaigns.
  • Bulk editing across engines. Can make large-scale account changes in a flash.
  • Simple, easy-to-use interface. Makes training new employees on the tool a quicker process.
  • Custom dimensions. Allows for flexibility in slicing and dicing your data in a way that's easily viewable directly in the tool.
  • Ad extensions - the process for adding/editing ad extensions is cumbersome and needs to be completed in both the tool and the engines themselves. Not consistently supported between extension type or even engines. Process for editing is not nuanced and not intuitive.
  • Pivoting features - it would be great if there were a pivot table-like functionality where you could look at aggregated data directly in the UI without having to pull a report.
  • Budget pacing - no budget pacing functionality is available which is a key piece of our day-to-day campaign management.
  • Bidding - bidding folders are clunky and do not support more nuanced/advanced calculations.
  • Data by device - the current format is extremely clunky and doesn't easily translate into an Excel or pivot table. This functionality needs to be improved and more consistent with the typical views in the UI.
  • Non-keyword based campaigns - the platform does not support direct UI management of non-KW based campaigns such as YouTube and GDN display.
  • Positive: Makes training new employees quicker as the tool is easy-to-use.
  • Negative: Lowered client trust in agency when there were critical problems with the tool that were not swiftly addressed. Removed part of their business out of both Marin and the agency due to this experience.
  • Positive: Efficiency of managing campaigns. Provides a solid solution for bulk management of campaigns both large and small.
N/A - I was not personally included in the evaluation process.
Key questions to ask:
-White glove service - set up expectations in advance. It's difficult to get a straight answer when reps keep sending you to the generic help section or insist that you dial the customer service line.
-Integration with third-party tracking services - the Marin tracking pixel is not always the answer for clients but certain functionalities will be limited if you don't use their proprietary conversion pixel.
-Expectations around what can/can't be managed in Marin - such as YouTube, GDN banners, dynamic remarketing, etc.