According to statistics, digital advertising spending should reach $870.85 billion by 2027. As you invest in ads, you want to get the best ROI within the quickest time possible. Analyzing your competitor’s ads allows you to fine-tune yours and make the most of your investment.
So, an in-depth competitor analysis is vital to stay on top of marketing activities. Keep reading to see our top tools for finding competitor ads, their features, pricing, and applications. By the end of this post, you'd have learnt about:
- The importance of finding competitor ads
- Primary tools for finding competitor ads
- Choosing the right tool to find competitor ads
- How to find and analyze competitor ad strategies
The importance of finding competitor ads
Kaya, Semrush, Ahrefs, AdBeat, SpyFu, and AdEspresso all offer efficient tools to find and analyze competitor ads. But why is that necessary? Competitor ad analysis allows you to identify strategies used by competitors in their ad campaigns to improve your performance. You can enjoy other benefits, such as;
Understanding the market and trends: When you find competitor ads, you can analyze them to identify the products and services that your target customers want. It lets you know what keywords buyers are searching for. That helps you understand market trends.
Developing better products: When you find and analyze competitor keywords, you gain insights into market demands, which helps you deliver better products and services in line with consumer demands.
Creating better marketing: When you perform an ad analysis, you can discover your competitor’s marketing strategies and methods. This helps you develop better marketing solutions than theirs.
Paid tools for finding competitor ads
The table below outlines key features of popular competitor ad analysis tools. Use this to select the best fit for your needs based on factors like pricing, data depth, and ease of use.
If you're looking for an all-in-one solution for finding competitor ads, Kaya's Competitor Ad Intelligence Tool is the best value for money. At an affordable price point, you get an extensive coverage of data and insights on your competitors' ad spend and creatives across all major ad platforms. Alternatively, you may also consider Spyfu or SEMRush but both lack the coverage for Paid Social ads.
| Core Functionality | Pricing | Data Availability | Ease of Use | Value Added Features | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kaya |
|
Low Best value for money as Paid Social and Ad Spend data is included From $100 |
Covers past 1 year of data; with actionable insights by experienced marketing strategists and AI |
High User-friendly design with easy-to-understand diagrams; clear overview and breakdown of ads by competitors and ad channels |
|
| SEMrush |
|
High Expensive for startups, limited features in lower tiers From $139.95/month |
Historical data is not available for lowest tier |
Mid Complex interface with multiple modules |
Content marketing tools available for higher tiers |
| AdBeat |
|
High Expensive for startups, limited data for the lowest tier. Ad spend data only for Enterprise tier From $249/month |
Limited to 90 days of historical data for the lowest tier |
High User-friendly with a corporate aesthetic |
See advertising data from display and native ad networks |
| Ahrefs |
|
Mid Limited features in lower tiers From $129/month |
Limited to 6 months of historical data |
Mid Cleaner UI compared to SEMrush but steeper learning curve compared to the rest |
Keyword and Site Explorer |
| SpyFu |
|
Low Suitable for Paid Search starters From $39/month |
Limited to 6 months of historical data for the lowest tier |
High Easy to use, though reviews suggest data visualization can be improved |
Custom reporting available |
| iSpionage |
|
Mid Limited features in lower tiers From $59/month |
Limited to 3 months of historical data for the lowest tier |
Low More basic and traditional interface design |
PPC campaign watch |
1. All-in-one solution with actionable insights: Kaya's Competitor Ad Intelligence Tool
Every competitor ad tool offers various types and levels of data, but most do not organize it in a simple way that eases and supports fast decision-making. This is where Kaya’s Competitor Ad Intelligence Tool makes the most difference.
With Kaya's competitor ad intelligence tool, get a bird's eye view on your competitors' Google ads, Meta ads, LinkedIn ads and more.
Aside from automating all your competitors' ads tracking across platforms like Google ads, Meta ads and LinkedIn ads, it offers actionable insights on your ideal customer profile and messaging that resonates with them.
It also recommends suitable ad channels and ideal investment. The ad intelligence tool collects all the data in one place, giving you a single source of truth for your ad strategy.
Through the ad intelligence tool, Kaya has managed over $8M in ad spend and saved teams over 5 hours weekly. It continues to deliver strong marketing ROI for startups backed by world-class investors like Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital, a16z, Google’s Gradient Ventures. Startups including Rippling, Encord, Strive, AirGarage and Vault have trusted Kaya as their marketing partner to grow 10x better and faster.
2. SEMrush
SEMRush offers a tool to analyze SEO, PPC, content marketing, and social media performance. It has an advertising research section where you can find and analyze competitor ads. SEMrush offers insights on ad positions and changes, competitors, ad copies, and ad history. It also shows competitors’ ad strategies and budgets. You can filter the data by keyword trends and traffic cost. It offers three monthly plans:
- Pro plan for $139.95
- Guru plan for $249.95
- Business plan for $499.95
It is a popular tool with an up-to-date database and a free trial offer. However, SEMrush offers limited features for the free trial version, and its pricing is expensive, making it unsuitable for startups.
3. AdBeat
Adbeat is a competitive intelligence tool for display ads. It allows you to see your competitor’s entire ad strategy. It also shows competitor ad formats, such as display, video, and native ads. It also shows how competitors use their ads, how they buy ad space and traffic from multiple ad networks. It supports alerts and reveals top creatives, media buying strategies, landing pages, and estimated ad spend. Adbeat offers two paid monthly plans:
- Standard plan for $249
- Advanced plan for $399
There is an enterprise plan, but interested organizations have to call to get a quotation. AdBeat does not have a trial offer, making it expensive for startups and small businesses.
4. Ahrefs
Ahrefs is an SEO and paid search analysis tool for competitor ads. It has features for finding traffic volume and its value. It also allows you to see competitors' paid keywords and which ads and landing pages are bringing in traffic. Ahrefs offers five plans, as follows:
- Lite plan for $129/month
- Standard plan for $249/month
- Advanced plan for $449/month
- Enterprise plan for $14,990/year
Despite its many features, it is difficult to use and does not provide a central data interface. Also, although the starter plan is affordable, it offers very limited features that do not move the needle for competitor ad analysis.
5. SpyFu
SpyFu is a competitor tracking tool that offers keyword analysis and PPC spying. It also curates a dashboard with graphs, and the insights can be filtered to offer details on paid clicks, the number of paid keywords, and the estimated ad budgets of each competitor. They offer several tiers of paid services for monthly or yearly plans, as follows:
- Basic plan for $39/month
- PRO plan for $79/month
Spyfu allows you to see your competitor's keywords. It also offers insights into your competitor's best and least-performing ads. Although a powerful tool for competitor ad research, its graphs are not user-friendly, and users have reported inaccurate data.
6. iSpionage
iSpionage analyzes multiple aspects of competitor PPC campaigns, such as the number of targeted keywords and the actual PPC keywords. It also has features for viewing PPC ads competitors for various topics and projected budgets. It also shows your top Google ads competitors, how much they budget monthly, and their entire PPC strategy. They offer four membership tiers, as follows:
- Starter plan for $59/month
- Professional plan for $99/month
- Advanced plan for $299/month
- Custom enterprise solution
Despite its many features, reviews describe it as less agency-friendly, and it has a limited database. Plus, the $59 for limited features may not deliver quick results for startups.
Choosing the right tool to find competitor ads
As a best practice, you may combine several tools to get the highest benefits— but what makes an ad intelligence tool the right one for you?
Factors to consider
You must consider specific criteria when choosing the right tool for competitor ad tracking. The vital factors to consider include:
- Budget and pricing plans: Always consider your campaign budget when choosing a tool. You may need to make other expenses, so decide based on what you can afford without over-stretching your finances. You may want to avoid overly expensive tools.
- Features and integrations: Review the tool's features for your analytic goals. It would be best to use a tool that offers all the features you need. Kaya’s ad intelligence tools integrate your marketing data, allowing you to view everything in one place for easier decision-making.
- Usability: Choose a tool that is easy to use, intuitive, and supports your paid ad strategy. Consider its user interface, navigation, and accessibility for yourself and your team.
How to find and analyze competitor ad strategies
You may wonder how to analyze competitor ad strategies with these tools. We created a helpful guide to achieve this. Here is a high-level guide to finding and analyzing competitor ad strategies.
Identify key competitors
Identify and categorize your competitors. Create a direct and indirect category of competitors. Here are a few ways to identify competitors for each category:
- Market research
- Social media and online communities
- Customer feedback
Collect data
After identifying your competitors, use ad intelligence tools to gather information and find competitor display ads. To achieve this:
- Search for relevant keywords to find competitor’s ads.
- Use SEM tools to gain insights into their ads.
- Use PPC tools for paid advert research.
Analyze their ads and targeting strategies
Analyze the data from the ad intelligence tool and focus on the following elements:
- Paid search strategies
- Google ads strategies
- Display and social media ads analysis
- Ad copy element evaluation
- Performance analysis
Use the insights in your campaigns
The goal of finding competitor ads is to use the insights to inform your strategy. So, identify your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses and integrate your findings into your marketing strategy.
Case studies
Abbot
Abbot was not getting the desired results from their marketing and reached out to Kaya. Through a mix of advanced analytics and marketing automation, Kaya improved Abbot’s marketing outcomes.
Kaya has been helping us out with some marketing as well, and they have been AMAZING to work with. Highly recommend talking to them!
Paul Nakata
Founder & CEO, Abbot
FAQ
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Final thoughts
Gaining in-depth insight into competitor ads can help you create a better marketing strategy. When you evaluate their ad performances, you can get more insights into what works and what does not.
Using paid tools to find competitor ads gives you access to features that may not be present in free tools. However, most ad intelligence tools still do not structure data in one place—and this is one of the main advantages of Kaya’s Competitve Ad Intelligence Tool. It integrates all your marketing analytics and gives you an automated dashboard view, which eases your decision-making.