In today’s competitive marketplace, marketing is an ever-evolving challenge. According to a 2023 survey by HubSpot, Nearly two out of three marketers report their average landing page conversion rate is less than 10%. This guide will feature 6 tools that have high ROI potential but are still underutilized by enterprise and small business teams. By integrating each tool into your technology stack, you can find automation opportunities, AI benefits, and management software integrations that fuel the effect of digital marketing. Whether you are revamping email marketing initiatives or launching your next marketing campaign, these best AI and best AI marketing tools can offer the improvement needed for modern businesses looking to boost performance.
Introduction to ROI-Boosting Ad Tools
Why ROI Matters in Tech Marketing
Return on investment is a vital metric, especially for CMOS, who must validate their marketing budgets. In the business technology market, one marketing tool is capable of redesigning marketing altogether and offering quantifiable ROI. Small business marketing requires cost-cutting measures that fit within limited resources but offer substantive results.
The Rise of Cost-Effective Ad Platforms
Marketing has become more platform-diverse. Most ad platforms now have a free offering or low-cost subscription levels that lower cost barriers. Current trends in the market also indicate increasing demand for AI-based features and automation. Such tools enable technology organizations to optimize targeting and performance monitoring, making every marketing campaign data-informed and effective.
6 Underused Platforms to Boost Your Marketing ROI
Below are six platforms designed to address business marketing needs and fit smoothly into a digital marketing stack. Each tool is a solution that can be utilized to strengthen marketing strategies, whether you focus on enterprise growth or small business expansion through effective email marketing tools.
1. AdEspresso’s A/B Testing Guide
AdEspresso’s A/B Testing Guide is not a tool but a holistic guide that aids marketers in polishing their split-test strategies, particularly on channels like Facebook Ads. It explores the intricacies of ad differences, targeting options, budgeting models, and content marketing strategies. The guide appeals to both starters and veterans alike who want to enhance their advert performance via step-by-step testing. Demystifying the process of crafting multiple variants and analyzing key metrics encourages data-driven decisions that can boost ROI. It is particularly valuable for those looking to optimize campaign elements such as headlines, visuals, or audience segments without relying on guesswork. Although the guide is specific to the AdEspresso ecosystem, its principles can be applied to various channels and marketing platforms.
Top 5 Features
- Step-by-Step Testing Framework: The guide outlines a clear path for creating different ad variations, selecting control groups, and measuring performance accurately.
- Metric Prioritization: It emphasizes which metrics like CTR, CPC, or conversions matter most at each testing stage, helping teams avoid confusion.
- Targeting Tips: The material highlights how to refine audience segments on Facebook, ensuring each variant reaches the most relevant viewers.
- Practical Examples: Real-world case studies demonstrate how subtle changes in copy, imagery, or calls to action can yield significant performance boosts.
- Integration Recommendations: The guide shows how results from tests can feed into broader marketing efforts, including email marketing campaigns or landing page optimizations.
What it offers:
- Offers actionable advice grounded in real-world ad scenarios
- Easy-to-follow layout suitable for newcomers
- Emphasizes data-driven decision-making
- Encourages incremental improvements rather than all-or-nothing changes
- Bridges theory and practice with concrete examples
What could have been better?
- Its focused primarily on Facebook Ads, limiting broader applicability
- Lacks depth on non-social ad networks
- It doesn’t address emerging channels like TikTok Ads or Quora Ads
- Relies on readers to have some familiarity with basic advertising metrics
It is an educational resource rather than a tool or platform. Its value lies in refining testing methodologies, whereas the subsequent items offer software solutions for budget allocation, account-based marketing, or PPC optimization.
2. Madgicx (AI Budget Allocation and Reporting)
Madgicx is an AI-based ad platform with an emphasis on budget allocation and performance optimization on multiple channels, primarily Facebook and Instagram. Using real-time data analysis, this AI application can automatically redistribute spending towards the highest-performing ad sets, thus maximizing return on investment. With its intuitive interface, it suits both small-sized companies testing paid ads and enterprise-level marketers who require granular reporting. With its all-in-one marketing platform status, Madgicx provides audience targeting, creative performance analysis, and high-level reporting functionalities, among others, which prove effective in empowering marketers. Its core AI continuously tests and adjusts campaigns, reducing the burden of manual supervision and improving marketing management.
Top 5 Features
- AI Budget Allocation: Automatically redistributes ad spending across campaigns based on real-time ROI signals and performance benchmarks.
- Creative Insights: Evaluate which ad creatives resonate most with different demographics, improving testing efficiency.
- Audience Targeting Recommendations: Suggests lookalike and retargeting segments, using historical data to find high-quality audiences quickly.
- Cross-Platform Reporting: Consolidates performance metrics from different channels into a single dashboard, helping marketers save time.
- Automation Tactics: Includes out-of-the-box rules like pausing underperforming ads or boosting top performers, reducing manual tasks.
It offers:
- AI-driven interface simplifies budget shifts and ad optimization
- Integrates with multiple social platforms for unified oversight
- Built-in audience analysis for smarter segmentation
- Helps reduce ad spend waste through performance-based redistributions
- Offers robust reporting modules for quick insights
Some downsides:
- It may be expensive for smaller teams or early-stage startups
- Focuses heavily on Facebook and Instagram, limiting synergy with lesser-known networks
- Some advanced automation requires a learning curve
- AI recommendations may conflict with manual strategies or brand-specific rules
- Requires reliable ad account data for accurate predictions
While AdEspresso’s guide is purely instructional, Madgicx is hands-on software automating ad spending. Compared to AdRoll’s account-based marketing suite or SEMrush’s PPC Toolkit, Madgicx emphasizes social ad channels (particularly Meta properties) and relies heavily on AI to handle budget optimizations.
3. AdRoll’s Account-Based Marketing Suite
AdRoll’s platform extends beyond traditional retargeting into a full account-based marketing (ABM) suite. Integrating data from various channels allows businesses to pinpoint high-value accounts and deliver targeted ads across the web. This solution caters to B2B organizations seeking a more personalized ad approach for specific companies or decision-makers, as well as B2C brands interested in refined audience segmentation. AdRoll applies machine learning to connect customer interactions, ranging from email engagements to in-site behaviors. Its account-based marketing solution offers multiple campaign touches, allowing highly personalized user journeys that bring prospects closer to conversion. It simplifies complex ad ops through a centralized interface, where marketers can arrange campaigns, track conversions, and adjust budgets.
Top 5 Features
- Cross-Channel Reach: Runs ads on popular social platforms, display networks, and even email retargeting, creating comprehensive coverage.
- Dynamic Creative Personalization: Automates ad creation by inserting relevant product images or messaging for each high-value account or user segment.
- Unified Customer Profiles: Consolidates user and account data in one place, helping marketers tailor interactions on a granular level.
- ABM-Focused Analytics: Tracks each account’s interactions, measuring them against pipeline stages to highlight where ABM efforts are thriving.
- Flexible Integrations: Connects with CRM tools, marketing automation platforms, and e-commerce systems for consistent customer insights.
Where it helps?
- Streamlines ABM campaigns with centralized dashboards
- Offers robust cross-channel retargeting beyond just social media
- Aligns sales and marketing data for unified account insights
- Dynamic creative capabilities tailored to each account’s needs
- Scalable for both smaller campaigns and enterprise-level initiatives
Some lackings of AdRoll:
- ABM setup can be complex, requiring clear data structures
- Pricing may be high for smaller budgets
- Requires time to fully integrate with CRMs and marketing software
- Creative personalization can be resource-intensive to set up
- Works best for mid-level to enterprise accounts rather than micro businesses
Compared to Madgicx’s social-centric AI approach, AdRoll’s ABM suite targets specific companies or segments across a broader digital ecosystem. The next tools, like SEMrush’s PPC Toolkit or Audience, often address different marketing tasks PPC campaign management or Twitter-specific insights rather than ABM strategies.
4. SEMrush’s PPC Toolkit
SEMrush’s PPC Toolkit pushes the recognized SEO platform into the realm of paid advertising. Merging keyword research, competitive data, and performance monitoring into one interface facilitates more strategic handling of PPC campaigns. Marketers can discover high-value keywords, monitor rival ads, and measure success within an all-in-one marketing toolset. A primary appeal is how it syncs with SEMrush’s other features, enabling synergy between organic and paid efforts. Although it covers Google Ads primarily, the toolkit provides robust data that can help refine ad text, structure campaigns, and reduce wasted spend. For teams of any size, having an end-to-end resource in the same ecosystem simplifies campaign oversight.
Top 5 Features
- Competitor Analysis: Provides insights into competitor ad copy, budget estimates, and landing page strategies, offering valuable benchmarking.
- Keyword Magic Tool: Generates keyword ideas, projected CPCs, and search volumes, assisting in building carefully targeted PPC campaigns.
- Ad Builder: Lets you craft ad variations and compare them before deployment, ensuring each iteration is optimized.
- PPC Position Tracking: Monitors your ad ranks over time, highlighting improvements or declines in position for targeted keywords.
- Cross-Channel Campaign Management: Integrates with Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and social channels to unify performance data in a single dashboard.
Its Power:
- Powerful keyword research functionality
- Competitor data fosters strategic campaign planning
- Seamless tie-in with SEMrush’s wider SEO suite
- Offers flexible ad-building features for creative experimentation
- PPC position tracking reveals short- and long-term performance trends
Some Downsides:
- Advanced features can be overwhelming for beginners
- Subscription fees can rise quickly if multiple add-ons are needed
- Primarily focuses on Google Ads, limiting coverage of smaller networks
- The learning curve for less technical users or small teams
- Heavier emphasis on data over automation
Whereas AdRoll is focused on ABM and Madgicx handles social ad spend automation, SEMrush’s PPC Toolkit is a keyword-driven solution that connects SEO with paid campaigns. Its competitor analysis differentiates it from Audience, which is based on Twitter-based insights, and Google Adwords, which is a direct platform for executing and researching ads.
5. Audiense for Twitter
Audience is geared towards audience understanding and engaging on Twitter. It offers the ability to find influential communities, segment followers, and send targeted messages or ad campaigns. By diving deep into Twitter’s distinctive ecosystem, the Audience is great at viewing conversations, trending topics, and user interests. The niche approach allows brands to create more meaningful interactions instead of merely posting generic messages. Teams can use advanced search filters to find prospects by location, biography, or shared interests, regardless of whether for lead generation, customer support, or brand awareness; audience insights can inform a more targeted social media marketing campaign. It is especially useful to those firms that view Twitter as a major avenue for real-time engagement, brand-building, and customer feedback.
Top 5 Features
- Audience Segmentation: Groups Twitter users by interest, brand affinity, or demographic traits, aiding in targeted outreach and campaigns.
- Influencer Mapping: Identifies and ranks individuals with significant reach in your niche, simplifying influencer marketing efforts.
- Conversation Analysis: Tracks trending hashtags and user sentiments, granting valuable context for brand mentions or industry news.
- Campaign Measurement: Integrates with your Twitter Ads data to tie ad performance directly to segmented audiences and broader objectives.
- Advanced Search & Filters: Lets you comb through Twitter’s user base using location, interests, or bio keywords, offering precision in building new follower lists.
Some good sides:
- Highly specialized Twitter analytics and segmentation
- Influencer mapping helps refine collaboration choices
- Offers robust conversation tracking for real-time insights
- Integrates audience data with Twitter Ads for better targeting
- Ideal for brands to prioritize customer engagement on Twitter
Some bad sides:
- Limited to Twitter, offering no direct coverage of other social platforms
- It may require supplementary tools for multi-channel marketing
- Costs can add up for deeper analytics modules or large-scale usage
- Twitter’s fast-paced nature demands frequent updates to segmentation
- The impact depends heavily on Twitter’s current popularity among target audiences
The Audience is hyper-focused on Twitter, contrasting with SEMrush’s broad multi-search engine approach or Google Adwords’ search-based advertising capabilities. Unlike AdRoll’s ABM suite, Audiense centers on audience insights and influencer dynamics specific to the Twitter ecosystem.
6. Google Adwords for SEO Keyword Research (Better Than Ahrefs/SEMrush)
Google Adwords, primarily known for managing paid search campaigns, is also a valuable resource for SEO keyword research. By exploring the Google Keyword Planner, marketers can gain firsthand data on search volumes, competition levels, and cost-per-click estimates. While premium tools like Ahrefs or SEMrush offer extensive SEO dashboards and competitor analyses, direct access to Google’s own database can yield accurate and up-to-date insights on user queries, and it’s free. This can be vital when shaping organic and paid strategies simultaneously, as the same keywords can drive both SEO content creation and PPC targeting. For those on a budget or wanting to cross-check data, Google Adwords’ Keyword Planner remains a go-to method for raw, direct-from-the-source metrics.
Top 5 Features
- Keyword Planner: Provides volume estimates, competition scores, and CPC ranges so you can align SEO and PPC strategies.
- Forecasting Metrics: Predicts how certain keywords could perform if added to an ad group, giving a rough idea of traffic potential.
- Local vs. Global Targeting: Filters keyword data by geographic region or language, making it easier to adapt content to local markets.
- Competitive Bid Estimates: Indicates how advertisers are bidding on specific terms, hinting at the potential difficulty for organic ranking.
- Integration with Google Ads Campaigns: Allows seamless pivot from keyword research to launching paid campaigns, bridging organic and paid efforts.
Pros of it:
- Free to use with a Google Ads account
- Direct source for actual search data and volume estimates
- Convenient synergy with paid search campaigns
- Simple interface for quick research and planning
- Regularly updated by Google for accurate market snapshots
Cons of it:
- Lacks many competitor and backlink features found in premium SEO tools
- Keyword Planner’s data can be approximate and somewhat limited
- Requires a Google Ads account to access advanced forecasts
- Omits sophisticated tracking or rank monitoring for organic SEO
- Manual cross-referencing may be needed to create comprehensive SEO reports
Compared to Audiense or AdRoll, Google Adwords centers on search-driven advertising and keyword insights. While SEMrush’s PPC Toolkit competes in paid search analytics, Google Adwords is the direct channel for launching campaigns and gleaning raw data. It lacks the external competitor analysis or influencer focus of the other tools, but it excels at providing organic and paid keyword insights straight from the primary search engine source.
Building Your Marketing Tech Stack for Long-Term ROI
Combining Tools for a Cohesive Digital Marketing Stack
To maintain consistency, these marketing tools should be aligned with existing management software. Each tool should reinforce another, forming a suite of tools that addresses your business needs. By unifying your processes, you can streamline marketing and sales, enhance relationship management, and respond faster to market shifts.
Identifying Gaps in Your Marketing Technology Tools
Regular audits of your tech stack can expose areas where social media management, email marketing personalization, or an additional analytics tool may be required. Seek affordable software that incorporates tools to streamline your marketing environment, ensuring that every step of the buyer journey has coverage.
Future-proofing with AI and Automation
As market trends evolve, more AI-powered platforms will become standard. Using AI marketing tools keeps your company at the cutting edge, from lead generation tool innovations to advanced marketing automation. This forward-thinking mindset helps maintain a competitive edge in a fast-paced industry.
Best Practices for Maximizing ROI
Focus Your Marketing on High-Impact Channels
Use keyword research to refine targeting for both enterprise and small business audiences. Gather data from each ad platform to understand which channels generate the best returns and where you can boost outreach.
Leverage Analytics Tools to Streamline Efforts
Unify insights from your analytics tool, project management software, and ad dashboards in one place. Constantly review which strategies deliver the best outcomes and reallocate the budget for continuous improvement.
Collaboration and Consistency
An organized marketing team can lead to faster success. Rely on project management software to assign tasks and monitor marketing campaigns. This framework guarantees no crucial step is missed and allows all members of the marketing team to concentrate their marketing strategy on specific goals.
Conclusion
With the selection of the appropriate marketing tools and a holistic process, any business can realize vast roi-enhancing benefits. Regardless of whether your business is marketing small or being marketed by an enterprise, these tools are attainable. Introducing these sites can bring budget-friendly means into your online campaign efforts, use automation software, and streamline reaching your target consumer. By creating an integrated digital marketing stack, you use advanced marketing automation software and investigate the best AI marketing tools; you set your business up for long-term growth. Ultimately, the marketing tools can help drive better leads, higher conversions, and greater brand visibility. If you find these tools to share appealing, consider integrating them into your next campaign plan. Stay informed, embrace innovation, and use these solutions to stay one step ahead in a rapidly changing marketplace.