9 Best PPC Bid Management Software in 2024

Updated
April 23, 2024

Helpful Summary

Overview: Our article explores the value of PPC bid management software for businesses seeking to optimize their pay-per-click campaigns. Focusing on time-saving and revenue-enhancing benefits, we highlight tools across different ad networks, including Merch Jar for Amazon Advertising.

Why You Can Trust Us: We've proven our capability through tailored solutions that simplify Amazon Advertising, leading to better outcomes. Notable client successes, such as those of Christopher G. and Jamie S., underline our software’s effectiveness.

Why This Is Important: Automating bid management with PPC software saves time, enhances budget efficiency, and optimizes campaign performance. 

Action Points: To streamline your Amazon PPC campaign management, we recommend adopting Merch Jar’s automated solutions, particularly our pre-made automation recipes and customizable ACoS targets.

Further Research: We suggest pinpointing your exact needs to select the best PPC bid management software appropriate for your ad campaigns.

Need Help Choosing the Best PPC Bid Management Software?

If you're a business owner or marketer hoping to increase your sales, you're probably familiar with pay-per-click (PPC) advertising—and how hard it can be to manage. Bid management may be complex—it takes time, and getting it wrong can result in wasted ad spend and lost revenue. 

PPC bid management software exists to simplify the process with a range of time-saving and optimization tools.

In this Merch Jar guide, we introduce you to six of the best PPC bid management tools on the market. We’ll cover tools that focus on a range of ad networks, so there’s something here for everyone.

Let’s get started.

Why Listen To Us?

Navigating PPC bid management is tricky–many businesses struggle with over or under-spending. At Merch Jar, we've helped multiple Amazon sellers refine their ad campaigns for better profitability and time efficiency. Our case studies highlight clients who have seen significant increases in Amazon profits, making every ad dollar count.

By solving these challenges, our clients not only save time but also enhance their campaign’s effectiveness. They gain peace of mind, knowing their ad campaigns are optimized for the best possible returns without constantly managing them.

What is PPC Bid Management Software?

PPC bid management software helps businesses and marketers simplify the often complex and time-consuming process of setting up and managing PPC campaigns. It enables users to set rules and automate the optimization of bids across various channels, such as Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and Amazon Advertising.

By automating the process, PPC bid management software takes the stress out of managing your bids and helps you develop a profitable bidding strategy—and marketers are taking note. According to a recent State of PPC report, 87% of marketers currently employ machine learning for PPC bidding.

If you’re looking for an example, consider Merch Jar.

Merch Jar offers a tailored solution for Amazon sellers that simplifies Amazon Advertising and leads to better outcomes. With Merch Jar's complete automation via pre-made automation Recipes and customizable ACOS targets, you can focus on building your brand while the software manages and enhances your ad campaigns.

Why Is PPC Bid Management Software Important?

Automate Bid Management

Automation is (usually) a core feature of PPC bid management software. It saves you time by automatically adjusting your bids according to preset rules around ACOS, spend, revenue, and more. Not only is this a great way to streamline your account, but it ensures that you’re optimizing bids for maximum efficiency without sacrificing quality or customer value.

Improve Conversion Rates

Bid management tools allow you to manage many campaigns simultaneously while tracking real-time data, allowing you to understand which ads are doing well and which need improvement.

For example, Merch Jar’s automated bid management and fully automated keyword promotion help drive more conversions by smartly optimizing bids in real-time, promoting high-performing keywords, and efficiently allocating your ad budget. This way, you can achieve better conversion rates and improved campaign performance while reducing wasted spending.

Save Time 

Sellers with vast product catalogs and agencies with numerous clients can use bid management software to save time through features like bulk actions, automated bidding, and rules.

All this time you save can be spent on tasks that require human oversight, like high-level strategizing, creative development, and customer service.

Enhance Budget Allocation Efficiency

Effective budget management is critical in PPC campaigns. Bid management software helps ensure your budget is allocated toward the most profitable segments, keywords, or times of day. By analyzing performance data, the software can redistribute your budget in real time to capitalize on the best opportunities and retreat from underperforming ads, making your budget work harder and smarter.

Optimize for Market Changes

PPC markets are dynamic, with constant fluctuations in competition and consumer behavior. Bid management software keeps pace with these changes by continually optimizing your bids. This dynamic response means you can maintain competitiveness for ad placements without constant manual oversight, allowing you to adapt to market trends and shifts in real time.

Reduce Human Error

The complexity of managing multiple bids across various campaigns can lead to mistakes. PPC bid management software reduces the likelihood of human error by automating repetitive tasks and calculations. This precision helps avoid costly errors that can occur with manual bid management, such as overbidding on low-performing keywords or failing to adjust bids in response to market changes.

Criteria to Consider When Choosing PPC Bid Management Software

Specific Use Cases

Every tool is designed for different use cases. Sometimes, the differences are slight, but it’s still essential to find a tool that was designed for the tasks and processes you’ll be using it for.

For example, Merch Jar is designed only for managing and optimizing Amazon ads at scale—perfect for Amazon MBA sellers, Kindle direct publishing, and Amazon e-commerce sellers. On the other hand, Adalysis is designed for managing Google Ads and Microsoft Ads campaigns.

Integration and Compatibility

When selecting PPC software, ensure it’s compatible with various ad platforms and analytics tools. It should integrate seamlessly with whatever advertising platforms you use, like:

  • Google Ads
  • Microsoft Advertising
  • Amazon Advertising

At the same time, compatibility with analytics tools such as Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics enables you to track the performance of your campaigns. 

Consider PPC software such as Optmyzr. The software allows you to integrate with various platforms to automate work, including Google Ads, Asana, Zapier, and HubSpot. Using its Custom Data integration to build data-driven PPC strategies, you can also import data and other relevant information. 

Scalability

People usually turn to PPC while actively trying to grow their businesses. With that in mind, make sure the tool you choose can scale with your business as your campaigns start taking off.

Look into the tools plans and see whether they make it easy to upgrade as your campaigns grow. Or, look for pay-as-you-go plans (like Merch Jar’s pricing model) that are more flexible depending on your needs.

User Experience and Interface

An intuitive user interface can significantly reduce the learning curve and make managing your PPC campaigns more efficient. Look for software with a clean, clear, and navigable dashboard that allows you to access essential features easily. The best bid management tools balance powerful capabilities with user-friendliness, allowing you to manage your campaigns without being overwhelmed by complexity.

Security and Compliance

As you'll be handling sensitive financial data and possibly customer information, ensuring the PPC bid management software adheres to strict security protocols and compliance standards is crucial. Look for software that provides secure data handling, respects privacy laws, and offers features like two-factor authentication to protect your account and data integrity.

Customer Support and Training Resources

The availability of robust customer support and training resources is crucial, especially when adopting a new tool. Ensure the software provider offers comprehensive support through tutorials, webinars, live chat, email, or phone. Having access to timely assistance and learning materials can help you leverage the software's full potential and resolve any issues swiftly.

9 Best PPC Bid Management Software

  1. Merch Jar: Best for Amazon sellers looking for hands-off optimization.
  2. Shape: Best for budget management.
  3. Optmyzr: Best for campaign control and data analysis.
  4. Adalysis: Best for clever automation and performance tracking.
  5. Acquisio: Best for AI-powered enhancement.
  6. TapClicks: Best for smart marketing cloud.
  7. Skai: Best for paid search and social media ad optimization
  8. AdEspresso: Best easy-to-use platform. 
  9. Marin Software: Best for cross-channel paid search.

1. Merch Jar

Merch Jar is the go-to solution for Amazon sellers trying to improve their campaigns' efficiency. With a focus on automation, it effortlessly manages millions of dollars in ad expenditure and hundreds of goods.

Features

  • Automated Bid Management: Use the Smart Bids algorithm to analyze your advertising data and automatically change bids daily to maintain ACoS goals and optimize ad campaigns.
  • Advertising Catalog Autopilot:  Easily carry out routine maintenance operations on your ad campaigns, including pausing campaigns, increasing bids, or lowering budgets, based on the conditions and frequency you set.
  • Bulk Actions: Quickly make changes and implement modifications to many of your ads at once without being restricted by Amazon's 1,000-item limit in bulk spreadsheets. 
  • Fully Automated Keyword Promotion: Make the process of keyword graduation hassle-free with automated promotion of your top-performing search terms, automatic removal of underperforming ones, and automated research for new and highly promising keywords.

Pricing

Merch Jar offers a 30-day free trial with unrestricted access to our entire feature set.

After that, we have an all-inclusive pay-as-you-go plan that’s priced based on your monthly ad spend. The plan starts at $50/mo and includes up to $2,000 in monthly ad spend, plus access to all Merch Jar features.

Add spends of more than $2,000 are pay-as-you-go, with $1 in ad spend equal to one Merch Jar coin. You can top up your coins whenever you need, or use rollover coins if your balance drops too low.

Pros

  • Manage Amazon Advertising campaigns effectively.
  • Custom Recipes for personalized optimization.
  • Automation saves time and lowers the need for manual labor.

Cons

  • Relatively high learning curve
  • Only compatible with Amazon Ads

2. Shape 

With its extensive toolkit, Shape makes managing a budget and optimizing a campaign stress-free. You can keep track of multiple campaigns with easy-to-use dashboards and various automation tools. Access integrated PPC data with Shape’s advertising data infrastructure and build custom advertising solutions based on your campaign goals. 

Features

  • AI-driven PPC Budgeting
  • Budget Pacer 
  • Automated Warnings
  • Budget Booster

Pricing

Shape offers a free plan that supports one client account and an unlimited monthly ad spend.

Want to add more client accounts? Upgrade to Pro ($499/mo) for up to $250k in monthly ad spend or Enterprise (custom).

Pros

  • Easy-to-use and comprehensive dashboard
  • Timely alerts 
  • Wide range of tools

Cons

  • Limited integrations
  • Limited functional reports 

3. Optmyzr 

Optmyzr empowers you with data-driven insights and enables you to create and optimize high-performing campaigns for greater revenue. Easily set up data sharing between third-party apps and optimize campaign strategies with Optmyzr's insights and testing.

Features

  • Campaign Automator
  • Automated Bidding
  • Budget Customization

Pricing

Optmyzr offers one all-inclusive plan that starts at $208/mo for ad spends of up to $10k.

Prices increase from there as your ad spend increases.

Pros

  • Customizable dashboards
  • Data-driven recommendations 
  • Compatible with Microsoft Advertising and Google Ads

Cons

  • Complex and confusing interface
  • UI is slow and a bit clunky

4. Adalysis 

Adalysis focuses on intelligent automation and performance tracking to speed up your PPC growth on Google and Microsoft ads. Adalysis’s insights and analytics provide fresh insights into the best-performing ad patterns to help you find the most profitable segments. You can also view hourly heatmaps for ad schedules and bidding decisions. 

Features

  • Google and Microsoft Ads Automation
  • Smart automation 
  • Ad Relevancy Tracker
  • Automated Warnings 

Pricing

Adalysis’s pricing starts at $99/month with up to $50K monthly ad spend. 

There are tiers for monthly ad spends of up to $150k, $250k, $350k, and $550k. You'll need to contact sales if you spend more than that on ads monthly.

Pros

  • Smart automation and bids
  • Accurate data and insights
  • Supports ad tests by label or pattern

Cons

  • UI and dashboard needs improvement
  • Does not support Paypal and ChargeBee

5. Acquisio 

Acquisio distinguishes itself with AI-powered tools that improve your PPC advertising across several platforms. The platform integrates sales tools that can predict the outcome of your PPC campaigns, greatly reducing the margins for error. Plus, Acquisio has built-in cross-channel ad tools for better campaign management.

Features

  • Local SEM Sales Tools
  • AI Campaign Performance Optimization 
  • Cross Publisher Analytics and Reporting

Pricing

Acquisio doesn’t publish pricing information, so you’ll need to contact sales for a quote.

Pros

  • AI-powered campaign enhancement tools
  • Supports management across several channels
  • Advanced customer and event tracking 

Cons 

  • Slow performance when working with mobile applications
  • Some data reporting functions lack search, filter, and sorting capabilities.
  • Lack of integrations

6. TapClicks 

TapClicks' smart marketing cloud-based solution offers a wide range of tools for B2B insights. The platform helps automate workflows and make advertising easier through its automated order entry, marketing performance analysis, and PPC reporting. You can integrate several data sources from multiple advertising tools via the Connector Marketplace.  

Features

  • PPC Analytics and Reporting
  • Ad Optimization
  • Client Reporting

Pricing

Pricing is available upon demo request.

Pros

  • Highly customizable and comprehensive reporting
  • Several integrations (Slack, Zendesk, Salesforce)
  • Tailored insights with in-depth and instant-on data sources

Cons

  • Steep learning curve
  • Technical support needs improvement

7. Skai

Skai (formerly known as Kenshoo) is a leading PPC Bid Management Software that empowers digital marketers to effectively manage and optimize their pay-per-click (PPC) advertising campaigns across multiple platforms, including Google, Facebook, and Bing. Their platform offers predictive insights and automated bid adjustments, ensuring that users can maximize their ad spend efficiency and ROI. 

Features

  • Automated Budget Allocation
  • Conversion Optimization
  • Custom Bid Multipliers

Pricing

Skai offers four pricing models: Standard ($90k/year), Advanced ($220k/year), Enterprise ($400k/year), and Enterprise Premier ($600k/year). 

All plans include their Publisher Campaign Management solution along with Campaign Enhancements and Accelerators.

Pros 

  • Simple and clean user interface
  • Robust analytics 
  • Uses AI for automation

Cons

  • High learning curve
  • Unable to save lookback comparisons

8. AdEspresso

AdEspresso by Hootsuite stands out due to its user-friendly interface and powerful optimization capabilities. Designed to simplify the management of PPC campaigns across Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads, AdEspresso enables marketers to create, analyze, and optimize their advertisements with ease. Additionally, AdEspresso offers detailed analytics and insights, providing users with clear, actionable data to improve their campaigns' performance. 

Features

  • Automated Campaign Management
  • Split Testing
  • Collaboration Tools

Pricing

AdEspresso provides three pricing tiers: Starter ($49/mo), Plus ($99/mo), and Enterprise ($259/mo). Plus, they also offer a free 14-day trial and unlimited ad accounts for all their plans. 

Pros 

  • User-friendly
  • Easy to split test ads
  • Supports mass advertising

Cons

  • UI/UX needs improvement
  • Limited features

9. Marin Software

Marin Software is recognized for its scalability and comprehensive feature set that appeals to advertisers managing extensive, complex campaigns across multiple platforms, including Google, Facebook, and Bing. The platform offers advanced automation features for bid adjustments based on a multitude of performance metrics, and deep integration capabilities with various advertising networks.

Features

  • Automated Bidding
  • Dynamic Ads and Audience Management
  • Cross-Channel Campaign Management

Pricing

Marin Software’s Connect plan is priced at $500/mo, while the Ascend and One plans are customizable based on your needs and budget requirements. 

Pros 

  • Easy-to-use interface
  • Flexible bidding strategies
  • Effective conversion tracking

Cons

  • Missing data after updates
  • Difficulties in pulling reports

Elevate Your Amazon Advertising with PPC Bid Management Software

Using software to manage and optimize PPC campaigns gives businesses a competitive advantage over competitors that don’t. Powerful automation, intuitive dashboards and reports, and time-saving bulk actions give advertisers all the tools they need for success.

At Merch Jar, we held Amazon sellers take their advertising to the next level—with features designed to automate campaigns, optimize bids, and enhance overall performance. 

Get started with a 30-day free trial and see what Merch Jar can do first-hand.