AdRoll vs. Sizmek Ad Suite (discontinued)

I used AdRoll at my previous agency and liked it. So much so, I am in the process of getting my new agency on board with using AdRoll. The primary reason is that it can be very advantageous for a small agency that doesn't meet many of the programmatic minimum ad buys to use. For many of our clients, re-targeting is also very important. I have found that I can get those types of campaigns up and running much quicker than using a platform directly. Overall, AdRoll is really easy to use and can be a great, low-barrier option for smaller agencies.

Incentivized

If you need a prompt support for any kind of issue, those guys really rock. I opened tickets on Friday evening getting things fixed in less than an hour. That's a critical point for demanding clients. The main weaknesses in my opinion are the user interface that is not so user friendly and the integration with Google products. This is in place but, mainly due to Google's walled garden, the environment is not so efficient.

• A customer service rep can help us out with any campaign questions, any time during the work week.
• The platform has a very transparent platform that provides great detail about analytics of the ads.
• The platform shows what digital advertising mediums are working the best for your website, not just the ads that you run through them.

• Easy Dashboard Navigation - Search bar allows user to quickly locate details about any campaign
• Insightful Analytics Tools - Platform provides users customizable graphs to leverage for reporting presentations
• Extensive Reporting Metrics - Ability to pull ad performance reports on all aspects of campaign
• Simple Creative Hosting - Easy upload and path location details for creative files

Incentivized

• Improved level of support during the technical setup process would really improve the onboarding process
• Consistent, proactive account management is key with organizations like AdRoll. A dedicated rep goes such a long way.
• More granular reporting would help with back-end optimization and client recommendations

Incentivized

• Sizmek's trading desk was a total miss when I tested it a few years ago.
• I briefly used Abakus and did not find it intuitive, accurate or helpful. It has a long way to go before it can compete with the likes of VisualIQ.

Incentivized

Here are the questions we asked when we were going to renew (note: adroll does not have annual contract and you can cancel at anytime)

• what new products/ updates were released in the last 6 months?
• did I find these new products/updates helpful
• was I informed of these products in a timely fashion?
• did my Account Manage and Ad opps rep make suggestions on how I could make my campaigns more efficient and effective?

Honestly, AdRoll is like every other ad management system. In fact, all ad management systems are pretty much identical with a few proprietary tweaks. Creating a campaign is done in one seamless screen with everything you need right there. The ability to add creative and even order AdRoll to create ads for you is also easy. The monitoring of a live campaign is easy as you can see all the necessary information from the main screen. Super easy to use and reliable deliverability

Incentivized

We don't use AdRoll support much, but when we have it's been fine, in line with other advertising platforms where it takes a few days maximum to resolve an issue that you have with them. In general though, the platform is very self sufficient and we do not have to use their support much, which is a good thing.

Incentivized

Implementation was easy, as all we needed to do was use Google Tag Manager's built in AdRoll tag type and input our client ID and we were up and running. If you're not using Google Tag Manager, I imagine the implementation would be relatively easy as well, as all that's needed is a basic pixel.

Incentivized

Adroll is slightly better than Criteo, in my opinion. Criteo, only does web ads right now, which is frustrating if you are also running social campaigns. Adroll continues to be a one stop shop for all advertising campaigns and is extremely convenient in that regard. Criteo works off of a PPC type of structure and Adroll charges per impression. Criteo would be more beneficial with that model.

Incentivized

When it comes to serving Ads, Doubleclick does a better job with QA and handling creative in my opinion. However the tagging system is more diverse and handy in Sizmek.

Incentivized

• Mixed - while the tool provides an invaluable productivity gain the actual ROI it provides is less certain. We found if used in combination with other revenue analytics it was useful to determine the impact it had on revenue from returning visitors. If data is used on its own the impact on revenue is less quantifiable.

Incentivized

• Sizmek has had a positive impact on ROI because it delivers the reports our clients want and need
• Sizmek has had a postive impact on employee morale due to ease of use

Incentivized