Running campaigns without looking at the data will give you the same results as doing an escape room in the dark. You might be doing everything you can, but the outcome will be the same because you set yourself up for failure from the start.

The receptionists won’t tell you that, just like you won’t get a PPC alert warning you about the dangers of reporting. Think of this as your little reminder.

PPC campaigns are hard work. But being able to increase brand awareness by 80% makes them worthwhile.

Yes, it can take a while to absorb all the data. If you’re running ads across Google, Facebook and Microsoft, it takes even longer. You have to monitor your impressions, click-through rates, cost and conversions for each one, before figuring out which campaigns are driving the most revenue.

Cross-channel reporting makes this easy.

Instead of guessing what is and isn’t working well, the report will identify which channel is performing the best and where you might be wasting your budget. If one of your Facebook campaigns is delivering a much higher return than on Microsoft, you can analyse the metrics to find the weakest point.

For example, if one of them has a 0.1% CTR and the other 5%, the ad copy itself is likely the problem. If the CPC all of a sudden goes through the roof, you may need to take a close inspection of your landing page.

All of these metrics are laid out in a clear comparison chart to help you prioritise and determine your value for money.

Think of it this way.

You wouldn’t spend £50 in petrol travelling to a play centre that only has a tiny ball pit for your two-year-old. The time and money spent wouldn’t be worth the results. But until you compared it to another play area, like one that’s near your house, you might have ended up making the wrong decision. The same is true for PPC.

The proof is in the pudding

Search Engine Watch tested Bing Ads against Google Ads, mirroring the same campaigns with a higher spend on Google.

After running both campaigns simultaneously for 45 days, the results showed:

• The cost-per-acquisition was 63.23% cheaper on Bing, with a more consistent performance throughout
• The overall conversion rate for three Google campaigns was only 5.96% compared to 8.78% on Bing

This wouldn’t be the same every time, but it will allow the company to better target these particular ads and achieve the best return on investment.

For example, since nearly three-quarters of Bing users are over the age of 35, campaigns targeted at an audience of 35+ will perform better on that network.

For global automative leader Ford, linking the sales funnel across multiple channels achieved:

• 4x the number of page visits per visitor
• 24x the original click-through rate
• A 48x uplift across email marketing

It isn’t just about comparing channels though. Looking at the different ads and ad groups within one campaign will also help to improve performance, which you can also see using a cross-channel report.

For Huxley Golf, Web Results Direct reviewed campaign performance and updated target keywords and ad copy, leading to an increased click-through rate (CTR) of 144% and an increased conversion rate of 359%. The average ad position on the search results page also improved by 20%.

Extra Space Storage also compared standard text ads to real-time tailored ads, leading to an increased click-through rate in the second-highest volume-producing ad group of 113%.

This was done by using Google’s ad customisers for help, where they were able to adapt their ads to the queries their users are searching for and make use of promotional timing, price and inventory details. Given they are the second-largest self-storage operator in the US, this was an excellent result for their PPC campaigns.

Compare two ad accounts with Adzooma’s cross-channel reports

For us at Adzooma, reviewing performance is just the tip of the iceberg. More than that, we have an entire suite of free data-fuelled reports ready for you to use.

This includes the cross-channel report, which compares two ad accounts to identify which one is performing the best. It gives you a rundown of the overall cost, impressions, clicks and conversions for each one, as well as for each individual campaign.

The campaigns you compare are totally up to you – you can either choose between two separate channels or look at two campaigns within the same one. For example, Google vs. Microsoft or Google vs. Google.

Either way, the report will break down everything you need to know about their performance, crunching the numbers so you don’t have to.

For an overview of your daily campaign performance, the chart in the centre of the screen will break this down for you – saving you both time and effort. We recommend analysing how much you’re spending on each campaign and if they’re really delivering the return you need.

All you have to do is:

1. Sign up to Adzooma
2. Import your Google, Facebook or Microsoft accounts
3. Generate the latest data for top-level insights

The best part? You can access these reports whenever you need, using the data time and time again to continually improve your campaigns.

Give Adzooma a try and find your best ads.