Launching into an ad campaign for any business is daunting. After all, the process can be complicated and often takes time to research and begin. 

Looking for the best tools can feel like looking for a needle in a haystack. Even if you find the tools you want, stress brought by the need to match budget constraints just adds to the pressure. 

So, we produced this list to help you out. This run down of 10 tools includes who it’s for, when to use it, unique features, and prices. 

Competitor Analysis & Audience Research

These tools help you research your target audience and your ad campaign before you get started, helping you to locate potential customers and use effective strategies to target them.

1. AdClarity

AdClarity goes behind enemy lines to keep tabs on how the competition is doing. You can use it to keep tabs on your rivals’ display, social, and video advertising campaigns, as well as how they are performing.

Who it’s for

AdClarity is for campaign and marketing managers who need to know what other players in the market are doing with their advertising campaigns.

When to use it

Gain a comprehensive view of your competitors' digital ad activities across 35 markets. Use it to identify successful campaigns and spot the most effective platforms and traffic sources for you to use.

By typing in Rightmove, you get results on the property website’s ad spend and performance. Check out your rivals’ ad campaigns at the click of a button. 

The app can investigate any advertiser’s spend and campaigns on display, social media, and video advertising channels, giving you a wide picture.

Top feature

Use it to monitor how your competition’s ads are performing. You can keep tabs on their key stats, including impressions, ad spend, views, and clicks, among other metrics, in up to 50 reports per day. 

Pricing

After a free trial, you can subscribe to AdClarity starting at $169 per month. 

2. Advertising Research

Estimate your competitors PPC ad spend, keywords and ad copy to take note of what’s working for them, as well as what isn’t. 

Who it’s for

Advertising Research from Semrush is for teams running paid search campaigns who want to keep close tabs on their competition and find insights for their own campaigns.

When to use it

Use it to research the pitfalls of any planned ad campaign. See where the competition has succeeded to learn from what they’ve done well. Notice any months where they started or stopped bidding on certain keywords. 

Start by searching for your competition and get the low-down on their ad campaigns. 

Top Feature

You can use Advertising Research to identify who your top PPC competitors are. Once you’ve found them, you can look into the desktop and mobile keywords they are bidding on. Check out keywords and ad texts in more than 20 languages for over 100 countries.

Pricing

Free with limited use. The tool can also be used in full with any paid Semrush subscription (starting at $139.95 a month).

3. SparkToro

Find where your target audience hangs out online. Your ads can’t achieve their potential if they aren’t where your audience is – get eyes on your content to generate conversions. 

Who it’s for

SparkToro is for busy teams who want to connect with their target audience on its home turf, as quickly as possible. 

When to use it

SparkToro is always useful, but especially so during the launch of a new product or company. Find out key information on your demographics to better target your ads and squeeze out a better return on investment. 

Top feature

Find your audience’s key affinities. Based on demographics including age, gender, profession and others, you can find out which social media sites your audience is using, drilling down as deep to specific types of posts and Subreddits. 

Pricing

SparkToro opens with a limited free option, rising to $225 per month. Discounts are available for people who opt to be billed annually. 

Advertising Management

These tools help you keep tabs on your ad campaigns and spot issues when they occur, helping you overcome them in the process. 

4. Ads Launch Assistant

Use Ads Launch Assistant to give your Google Ads campaign the best possible start. Artificial Intelligence generates high-quality suggestions for every step of your campaign. 

Who it’s for

Marketing teams and beginners who want some additional help when running their Google Ad campaigns.

When to use it

Use Ads Launch assistant when you are ready to begin your Google Ads campaign. All you have to do is select your budget, and you’re off. 

Top feature

The Ads Launch Assistant helps analyse campaign performance by producing a visual report that’s easy for anyone to understand, from novices to experts. You can also control your ads by turning specific keywords on or off, based on the results they are bringing in. 

Start a new campaign in just a few clicks. 

Set your parameters and get started! It’s as simple as that. 

Pricing

The Ads Launch Assistant is free to use. 

Set your budget, and if you spend $500 on your Google Ads campaign in the first 60 days, you’ll get an extra $500 to use in future campaigns. 

5. AI Narratives for Google Ads

AI Narrative for Google Ads transforms your ad data into actionable insights. It provides a clear understanding of performance metrics to optimize your advertising efforts, enabling quick and efficient campaign adjustments.

Who it’s for

AI Narratives for Google Ads is ideal for busy digital marketers and businesses that want help finding quick takeaways and insights from their Google Ads campaigns. 

When to use it

Use AI Narratives for Google Ads to regularly assess and refine your advertising strategies. It's particularly useful for real-time monitoring and adjustments, ensuring you're always informed about your campaign's performance.

Top feature

The automated reports from this tool highlight key trends, anomalies, and provide actionable insights for you on a regular basis, so you can focus actively on other parts of your campaign.

Pricing

After a free seven-day trial, users can subscribe for $49 per month.

Landing Pages and Testing

The next two tools help you build landing pages and run tests on them to make sure they are as effective as possible. 

6. Landing Page Builder

Landing Page Builder helps ensure traffic from ads converts into potential customers. Build tailored landing pages for ad campaigns, social media ads, and email marketing. 

Who is it for

Landing Page Builder is for busy teams who don’t have time to code out new landing pages for each ad campaign. 

When to use it

Use Landing Page Builder to easily create high-converting landing pages. The app helps streamline your workflow with fewer tools, which results in saved time and money.

Top feature

No coding required. Landing Page Builder lets you start creating from templates and edit hundreds of pages at a time with its one-click update feature, Smart Sections. Get your landing pages ready at speed. 

Pick a template…

…then start editing! The drag and drop editor makes it easy for any beginner to build their first landing page in hardly any time at all.

Pricing

After a seven-day free trial, it costs just $49 per month. 

7. VWO

Testing platform VWO lets you experiment across your websites and applications. Test different variations of all your digital properties to see what works best to turn hard-won ad traffic into conversions.

Who it’s for

VWO is for dev teams who are trying to test their landing pages and make sure they are optimised for given audiences and ad campaigns. 

When to use it

Do you feel that your apps and websites are more of an obstacle than an asset for making the most of traffic gained via ads? Jump onto VWO to run A/B tests, backed up by customer data, to see what could work better for converting traffic into customers. 

Top feature

Better personalise your websites and applications with successful testing. The results help you build customer-focused journeys that include perfect prompts. Triggers can be based on visitor personas, refresh times and scroll depth, to make sure you keep traffic engaged. 

Pricing

VWO offers a range of packages and pricing options. There are a few limited free packages, with prices rising to over $2,000 per month, billed annually, based on the size and needs of your organisation. 

Paid Social Management

In this section, we take a look at tools that social media teams and community managers can use to schedule ads and related posts.

8. Meta Ads Manager

Meta Ads Manager helps you quickly roll out ad campaigns across the whole Meta offering, including Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp and relative newcomer, Threads. 

Who it’s for

Meta Ads Manager is for ad campaign managers who want to schedule posts and quickly ramp up efforts. 

When to use it

Quickly duplicate your ads while setting your parameters, such as targeting and budget, in one place. Get all your metrics in one place and make changes as needed, based on the information you’re getting. 

Top feature

Complete artistic control. You can make your own ads as you see fit, straight from your centralised command centre. Get set up and get creative. 

Pricing

No cost to sign up, charges start rolling in as you start publishing ads. 

9. Hootsuite Advertising Dashboard

Hootsuite is a veteran of social media ad tools. Use its advertising dashboards to manage your social media ad campaigns from one place. 

Who it’s for

Get Hootsuite for your paid social teams and advertising managers. They’ll thank you for speeding up their efforts to repurpose content across different platforms. 

When to use it

Use Hootsuite when you have a lot of different social media channels to manage. This platform can generate ad copy with the help of artificial intelligence and help you monitor performance across your channels with timely reports. 

Top feature

Hootsuite’s top feature helps you automatically turn your best organic posts into paid ads, boosting their reach and capitalizing on your strong social media success. 

Pricing

Two plans offer a 30-day free trial and are priced at either $99 per month or $249 per month, depending on how large your team is and how many accounts - up to 20 - you’ll be managing. For anything larger, you’ll need to jump on a call to discuss an enterprise package. 

Ad Generation 

The following tool helps you create great media and images for your ad campaigns. No muss, no fuss. 

10. Adcreative.ai 

AdCreative.ai is an artificial Intelligence-driven advertising creator that helps make data-driven decisions for building ad campaigns. Developed by Adcreative.ai and hosted in the Semrush App Center, it can generate visual display ads for your campaigns in more than 20 languages.

Who it’s for

Content teams and advertising managers who want to quickly produce great ad materials – including images – will get the most out of Adcreative.ai. 

When to use it

Jump into Adcreative.ai before you start your campaign to gather all the resources you need for success.

Top feature

Use Adcreative.ai to produce excellent photo shoots of your product, with half the fuss. Upload a product image and let artificial intelligence do the rest. 

The generative AI will remove the background and let you choose from more than 100 presets (or prompt your own custom background) to leave you with a stunning, ad-ready visual.

Pricing 

After a three-day trial, the app costs $109 per month. 

Get Better Results from Your Advertising Toolkit

By leveraging these tools, you can enhance your advertising efforts, stay ahead of the competition, and achieve better results.

Whether you're a seasoned marketing professional or just starting out, these tools cater to various budgets and requirements, making them invaluable assets in your advertising toolkit.

Ready to elevate your advertising? Sign up for Semrush today and unlock the full potential of your campaigns!