AdRoll API for Non-Technical Marketers

January 28, 2024
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Nitin is the CEO of quickads.ai with 20+ years of experience in the field of marketing and advertising. Previously, he was a partner at McKinsey & Co and MD at Accenture, where he has led 20+ marketing transformations.

Most marketers would agree that leveraging advertising APIs can be challenging without technical skills.

But with the right guidance, the AdRoll API provides a strategic advantage for driving campaign performance through automation, insights, and expanded capabilities.

In this post, you'll discover how non-technical marketers can harness the core features of AdRoll API to streamline workflows, enable data-driven decisions, boost conversion rates, unify campaigns, and ultimately scale your brand's growth.

Unlocking the Power of AdRoll API for Marketers

The AdRoll API opens up advanced advertising capabilities for marketers without technical backgrounds. By providing easy access to powerful tools, the API helps transform marketing strategies.

Understanding the AdRoll API Landscape

The AdRoll API allows you to programmatically access key advertising functions:

  • Automate campaign creation and management
  • Pull granular performance analytics
  • Build custom audiences for precision targeting
  • Set up sophisticated remarketing workflows

With the API, these complex tasks become more feasible for non-technical users.

The Strategic Advantage of API-Driven Marketing

Leveraging the AdRoll API provides competitive advantages:

  • Efficiency - Automate tedious tasks to focus efforts on strategy
  • Optimization - Continuously improve campaigns with detailed data
  • Innovation - Create cutting-edge applications tailored to your needs

The flexibility and customization unlocked by the API is invaluable.

AdRoll API Documentation: Your Gateway to Success

The AdRoll API documentation provides everything you need to start building with the API. It outlines:

  • API capabilities and use cases
  • Step-by-step guides for common integrations
  • Sample code snippets in various languages
  • Interactive testing environments

Thoroughly exploring the documentation is key to effectively harnessing the API's capabilities.

Real-World Applications: How Marketers are Winning with AdRoll API

Here are some real-world examples of how savvy marketers are succeeding with the AdRoll API:

  • An e-commerce site uses the API to set up an automated remarketing campaign targeting abandoned carts. This significantly increases conversion rates from retargeted users.
  • A mobile game publisher integrates AdRoll's reporting API to pull daily metrics on user acquisition campaigns. With these insights, they continuously optimize targeting and creative to lower CPAs.
  • A multi-national brand uses the API's support for 35 languages to easily scale tailored campaigns across global markets.

The possibilities are endless when you utilize the AdRoll API in your marketing stack!

What is AdRoll used for?

AdRoll is a performance marketing platform that helps businesses drive more conversions by reaching potential customers across channels. Here are some of the key things AdRoll can be used for:

Driving Website Traffic and Conversions

AdRoll offers various products to help businesses attract visitors to their website and convert them into customers:

  • Retargeting ads target people who have previously visited your website with ads across channels like social media and display advertising to drive them back. This brings warm leads back to complete purchases.
  • The Explore automation builder makes it easy to set up multi-channel nurture campaigns to guide visitors along their journey. You can customize flows to target different audiences.

Expanding Brand Awareness

In addition to conversion-focused ads, AdRoll also provides options to build brand visibility:

  • Brand awareness ads leverage the power of video and high-impact ad units to increase brand recall and reach new audiences.
  • Detailed campaign analytics give insight into performance by channel and audience to optimize for greater reach.

Streamlining Campaign Management

The AdRoll platform aims to simplify multi-channel campaign management:

  • The Explore social ads manager centralizes campaign creation and reporting across networks like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and more.
  • API access allows technical users to automate campaign management and integrate with other platforms.

So in summary, AdRoll provides an all-in-one advertising solution tailored to a business's needs - from driving direct conversions to long-term brand building and streamlining workflows. The "adroll api" specifically empowers developers to customize and scale their initiatives.

Is AdRoll an ad network?

AdRoll is not a traditional ad network. Rather, it is a full-stack marketing platform designed to help brands drive business growth through advertising.

Here are some key differences between AdRoll and ad networks:

  • Ad networks connect advertisers to publishers and aggregate ad inventory from many sites. AdRoll partners directly with top platforms like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others to access premium ad inventory.
  • Ad networks offer limited targeting capabilities and campaign optimization features. AdRoll provides robust targeting options, automation, and AI-powered optimization to maximize campaign performance.
  • Ad networks focus solely on ad placement and inventory. AdRoll offers a suite of solutions beyond advertising like email and SMS marketing, personalization, attribution, and analytics to support cross-channel strategies.
  • Ad networks take a hands-off, self-serve approach. AdRoll provides dedicated account management and marketing expertise to actively optimize campaigns.

So in summary, AdRoll gives brands more control, insights, and support to execute sophisticated digital advertising campaigns across channels. While ad networks play an inventory aggregation role, AdRoll serves as a growth engine using advertising to acquire, retain, and re-engage customers.

What is an advertising API?

The advertising API allows developers to programmatically manage advertising campaigns and integrations. It offers most of the functionality of the advertising console through code, enabling more automation, customization, and efficiency.

Some key benefits of leveraging the API include:

  • Automated Management: The API enables creating scripts to automatically optimize campaigns based on performance data, update ads, change bids, etc. This saves time compared to manual optimization.
  • Custom Integration: By building custom tools and dashboards on top of the API, advertisers can streamline workflows to suit their specific needs.
  • Deeper Analysis: By pulling raw performance data from the API, users can conduct custom analysis to uncover deeper insights.

The Advertising API requires some development work upfront but pays off through greater efficiency and customization down the road. For users without coding skills, leveraging the main console interface is likely better suited to managing campaigns.

Overall, the API opens up more advanced programmatic advertising capabilities for developers and technically adept users. It brings the core functionality of the platform to a code level for further customization.

What does NextRoll do?

NextRoll's machine learning platform provides businesses with data-driven insights and approachable tools to reach potential customers. Key capabilities include:

  • Retargeting Ads: Use past site visitor data to serve ads to users across channels, bringing them back to complete purchases or actions.
  • Social Ads: Create and optimize social ad campaigns across platforms like Facebook and Instagram to drive awareness and conversions.
  • Brand Awareness Ads: Build brand recognition and reach new audiences with display, native, and video ad formats.
  • Cross-Channel Insights: Gain a unified view of marketing data and customer journeys across web, mobile apps, email, and more to optimize spend.
  • Automation: Streamline campaign creation, testing, budget allocation, and more with workflow automations powered by machine learning.

In summary, NextRoll equips businesses with the data and tools needed to reach potential customers, increase brand awareness, drive website traffic, and boost conversions across channels. The platform aims to make digital advertising and marketing more efficient through automation and optimization.

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Setting the Stage: Preparing for AdRoll API Integration

Guiding non-technical marketers through the initial steps required to start using the AdRoll API.

The AdRoll API documentation can seem overwhelming for those without a technical background. Here is a step-by-step guide to get you started:

  • Review the Getting Started section - This covers API basics like authorization, making requests, responses, etc. Focus on understanding the high-level concepts.
  • Check the API Reference - This is where you'll find detailed documentation on the available API endpoints. Scan through to get an idea of capabilities.
  • Look at code examples - The snippets demonstrate how to make API calls for different functions. Copy these to build your own scripts.
  • Use the API Explorer - An interactive tool to construct and test API requests without coding. Helps grasp parameters.

The key is taking it slow - no need to understand everything initially. Refer to docs when working on a specific task.

Acquiring and Managing API Credentials

To work with the AdRoll API, you need an access token:

  • Log in to your AdRoll account and navigate to Account Settings > API Keys.
  • Click "+ Create New Key" to generate an API key.
  • Save this key securely - it grants full access to your AdRoll account!
  • The key only displays once. If lost, revoke it and create another.
  • Add optional IP filters for enhanced security.

Now you can authenticate API requests using the key. Most libraries handle authentication automatically.

First API Call: A Beginner's Tutorial

Let's walk through making your first AdRoll API call to retrieve a list of campaigns:

  • Import an API library - Makes requests easier. Python options: pip install adroll or pip install adroll_reports.
  • Create an AdRoll client - Pass your API key:
import adroll
client = adroll.AdRollClient(<your_api_key>, 'https://api.adroll.com')
  • Construct the request - Docs show options. Get all campaigns:
data = client.get('/v1/adaccounts/<your_adaccount_id>/campaigns')
  • Print the response - Access campaigns array:
print(data['data']) 

That's it! The basics to interact with any AdRoll API endpoint.

Troubleshooting Common API Integration Challenges

When getting started with the AdRoll API, you may face:

Authorization errors - Ensure API key is valid. Check account permissions.

Invalid JSON responses - Double-check request parameters match docs. Required fields, formatting errors?

Missing data - Are all dependencies satisfied? Campaigns require active ad accounts, creatives depend on uploads, etc.

Too many requests - Slow down! Spread out requests over time. Refer to rate limit headers.

Carefully inspecting error messages and request flows usually helps debug. Also leverage AdRoll's technical support channels as needed.

Harnessing Core Features of the AdRoll API

The AdRoll API provides key capabilities that enable marketers to streamline campaign management, simplify ad creation, leverage data-driven insights, and boost conversion rates through retargeting.

Streamlining Campaign Management with AdRoll API

The AdRoll API makes it easy to programmatically create, schedule, optimize, and analyze advertising campaigns. Key benefits include:

  • Automate repetitive tasks like launching ads, adjusting budgets, etc. This saves time and reduces human error.
  • Schedule ads to match peak sales times and control pacing and frequency caps.
  • Access performance analytics to identify top performing ads and make data-driven optimization decisions.

With the API, you can manage multi-channel campaigns efficiently at scale.

Explore Automation Builder: Simplifying Ad Creation

The Automation Builder provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface to design interactive ads without coding. Core features include:

  • Customizable templates for different ad formats and objectives.
  • Dynamic elements like countdown timers, user ratings, etc.
  • Built-in personalization with visitor behavior data.
  • Seamless integration with other platforms.

This makes it easy for non-technical users to create high-performing, on-brand ads.

Data-Driven Decision Making with API Analytics

The AdRoll API provides granular analytics on ad performance including:

  • Campaign, ad group and individual ad metrics.
  • Breakdown of clicks, impressions, conversions, etc.
  • Audience segmentation insights.
  • Multi-touch attribution modeling.

These data-driven insights help optimize budgets, creative, targeting and more to boost ROI.

Explore Retargeting Ads: Boosting Conversion Rates

Retargeting campaigns serve customized ads to visitors who previously interacted with your website or ads. Benefits of leveraging AdRoll's retargeting capabilities include:

  • Remarket across channels like social media, display, email, etc.
  • Tailor messaging based on products viewed, content consumed, etc.
  • Schedule ads to match typical purchase cycles.
  • Increase re-engagement and conversions from past visitors.

In summary, the AdRoll API provides powerful functionality to simplify and enhance key advertising workflows. Marketers can drive greater efficiency, insights and performance without technical expertise.

Expanding Reach with Advanced AdRoll API Features

Exploring the more sophisticated capabilities of the AdRoll API that can take marketing efforts to the next level.

Explore Social Ads Manager: Unifying Social Media Campaigns

The AdRoll API allows you to manage and analyze social media advertising campaigns across platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and more from one centralized location. This saves time switching between different tools and provides a holistic view of campaign performance.

Key features include:

  • Create, launch and optimize social campaigns directly through the API
  • Real-time campaign analytics and unified reporting
  • Automate multi-channel campaigns with advanced rules
  • Unified workflow to manage different ad formats (carousel, video, etc.)

By leveraging the AdRoll API social capabilities, marketers can streamline campaign management, reduce inefficiencies, and make data-driven optimization decisions to boost ROI.

NextRoll API: Extending AdRoll Capabilities

The NextRoll API builds on the core AdRoll platform and opens up additional advertising channels and solutions like email marketing, SMS marketing, direct mail, and more.

This expanded API access allows further advertising automation across both digital and traditional channels for sophisticated orchestration.

Key benefits include:

  • Access expanded channel capabilities beyond AdRoll's core offerings
  • Orchestrate truly omni-channel campaigns with advanced automations
  • Leverage AI and machine learning innovations from NextRoll
  • Future-proof your stack with continuous platform expansions

By integrating NextRoll API access, savvy marketers can stay ahead of the curve and build highly customized advertising strategies.

Creating Impactful Brand Awareness Ads

The AdRoll API provides the capabilities to craft high-performing brand awareness and thought leadership campaigns:

  • Use retargeting to repeatedly expose audiences to your brand
  • Create scroll-stopping rich media ads optimized for visibility
  • Target lookalike audiences that match your best customers
  • Analyze performance by brand metrics like reach and frequency

Executed effectively, brand awareness ads can increase unaided brand recall by up to 20% over time. By leveraging AdRoll's self-serve API access or managed service packages, both large and small brands can run sophisticated awareness campaigns that drive real results.

Automating Complex Campaigns with Advanced API Functions

For advanced users, the AdRoll API provides robust functionality to customize and automate complex omnichannel advertising strategies.

Capabilities include:

  • Custom data integrations via API, CSV, or SQL
  • Programmatic access to campaign configuration settings
  • Automated rules to optimize budgets, creatives, targeting, etc.
  • Custom dashboards and reporting capabilities

This flexibility allows savvy marketers to experiment and build highly tailored solutions powered by advertising automation. Contact an AdRoll API specialist to explore these advanced features.

Practical Tips for Non-Technical Marketers Using AdRoll API

Optimizing Campaigns Without Coding: A How-To Guide

Non-technical marketers can optimize their AdRoll campaigns without needing to write any code by taking advantage of the platform's intuitive automation tools. Here's a step-by-step guide:

  • Log in to your AdRoll account and navigate to the Automation tab
  • Select the campaign you want to optimize and click "Edit Automation Settings"
  • Use the visual workflow builder to set up automation rules based on campaign performance, audience segmentation, timing, and more
  • For example, create an automation that pauses poor performing ads after 3 days or increases bidding for high performing ads
  • Save your automation settings - no coding required! The platform handles translating your rules into API calls behind the scenes

With some strategic planning and these easy automation tools, you can optimize campaign performance just like an engineer!

Efficiently Managing Ad Budgets with API Insights

The AdRoll API provides detailed performance data that helps guide better budget allocation across campaigns. Here's how non-technical marketers can leverage these insights:

  • Use the API Explorer to pull granular metrics on ad spend, clicks, conversions, etc. for each campaign
  • Identify high performing campaigns with the lowest cost per conversion
  • Shift more budget to those winning campaigns to maximize performance
  • Similarly, reduce budgets for poorer performing campaigns
  • Set up automated rules to dynamically optimize budgets based on performance

By letting data guide your decisions, you can efficiently allocate budgets to drive more conversions without needing engineering skills!

Collaborative Marketing: Integrating API Use Across Teams

To help marketing teams collaborate effectively:

  • Document campaigns in the UI and API: Record key info on each campaign's goals, target metrics, intended audience, creatives, etc. Both technical and non-technical team members can reference this documentation.
  • Share access to dashboards: Marketing and product teams should have access to shared dashboards tracking unified metrics like cost per conversion. This alignment enables better collaboration.
  • Automate alerts: Set up real-time slack alerts through the API for changes in key metrics. This keeps all stakeholders aware of campaign performance.
  • Conduct analysis together: Bring technical and non-technical marketers together regularly to analyze the metrics and fine-tune campaigns for better performance over time.

Scaling Up: Growing Your Brand with AdRoll API

Here are some tips for small businesses looking to scale their marketing with the AdRoll API:

  • Expand your audience targeting: Use the API to integrate first-party data and build custom audiences that match your best existing customers. This expands your reach.
  • Test new ad formats: Quickly A/B test different ad sizes and formats through the API to identify which resonate best with each audience segment.
  • Localize creatives: Translate ad copy into multiple languages to test global appeal cost effectively. The API makes iteration fast.
  • Automate more tasks: Offload manual reporting, budget updates, etc. to save time for high level strategy as you scale up your account.

With some thoughtful planning and strategic API use, growing businesses can punch above their weight in competitive ad markets!

Conclusion: Embracing the Future with AdRoll API

Recap: Key Benefits of AdRoll API for Marketers

The AdRoll API offers several key benefits for non-technical marketers:

  • Automation - The API enables automating repetitive tasks like launching ads, allowing marketers to focus on strategy and creativity. This saves significant time and effort.
  • Customization - The API provides granular control over campaign targeting, budgets, creatives, and more. Marketers can finely tune campaigns to match goals.
  • Optimization - Real-time performance data from the API empowers data-driven optimization for improving campaign results.
  • Expanded capabilities - The API unlocks advanced features like dynamic ads, retargeting, and cross-channel attribution not available in the dashboard.

By embracing the AdRoll API, marketers gain an invaluable tool for streamlining workflows, customizing campaigns, and enhancing performance.

Leveraging Support and Resources for Ongoing Success

To continue successfully leveraging the AdRoll API, marketers should:

  • Utilize the AdRoll API documentation as an authoritative reference for implementation details and code samples.
  • Join the AdRoll developer community to connect with other users, ask questions, and share best practices.
  • Follow AdRoll social media channels like Twitter and YouTube for the latest updates, tips, and tutorials.

Relying on these supportive resources will help ensure marketers get the most out of the AdRoll API over the long term.

Looking Ahead: Upcoming Enhancements to AdRoll API

Exciting improvements to the AdRoll API are on the horizon, including:

  • Expanded platform integrations - Additional out-of-the-box connections to data warehouses, BI tools, and more.
  • New ad formats and inventory - Support for emerging high-impact ad units and publisher inventory.
  • Enhanced automation - More pre-built workflows and self-optimizing capabilities.
  • Stronger personalization - Granular segmentation and customization powered by first-party data.

By proactively learning about these upcoming innovations, both technical and non-technical marketers can prepare to leverage the next generation of the AdRoll API to drive transformative business growth.

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