Are Bing Ads the Digital Advertising Underdog to Watch In 2024?

When it comes to digital advertising, Bing Ads might not be the first platform that comes to mind.

Bing Ads have long been underestimated, often overshadowed by its more popular competitor, Google Ads. Yet, beneath its seemingly quiet exterior lies a powerhouse that many advertisers are overlooking.

Table of Contents

First, some data

> In 2015, Bing held a global search engine market share of 3.99%.

> This figure had surged to 10.51%, marking a significant milestone as it broke the 10% barrier at the start of 2024.

> While Google still commands an impressive 81.95% of the market, this is a decrease from its nearly 90% share just five years ago, highlighting Bing’s noteworthy progress in a highly competitive landscape.

It’s a common misconception that Google Ads are the only player in the game, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. Relying exclusively on one platform is like fishing in only one part of the ocean—there’s a whole other sea of opportunities. That’s where Bing Ads come in. This often-overlooked platform offers unique advantages that could give your advertising strategy the edge it needs.

In this article, we’re going to dive into why Bing Ads deserves your attention, uncover its hidden benefits, and show you how to maximize its potential for your advertising success. Get ready to rethink your approach and discover what Bing Ads can do for you!

What are Bing Ads?

Bing Ads, now known as Microsoft Advertising, is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that allows businesses to display ads on the Bing search engine. Your ads are also displayed in partner networks, including Yahoo and AOL. In the broader PPC ecosystem, Bing Ads plays a crucial role, offering advertisers an alternative to Google Ads while still delivering targeted, effective ad campaigns.

To set the stage, let’s compare Bing Ads with Google Ads. While Google Ads is undoubtedly the giant in the PPC world, commanding a significant share of the market, Bing Ads shouldn’t be dismissed. Bing Ads operates similarly to Google Ads—both platforms allow you to create campaigns, bid on keywords, and pay only when someone clicks on your ad. However, Bing Ads operates in a slightly different space, offering a distinct set of advantages that often go unnoticed by advertisers.

Why advertise on Bing?

So, why should you consider advertising on Bing?

For starters, Bing Ads has significantly lower competition than Google Ads. This lower competition translates to a lower cost per click (CPC), meaning you can stretch your advertising budget further while still reaching your target audience.

Another key benefit of Bing Ads is the ability to reach a unique audience that you might not find on Google. Bing’s user base tends to skew slightly older (not that we’re judging), with higher income levels and a higher likelihood of using desktop computers. Additionally, because Bing Ads is part of the Microsoft Advertising Network, your ads can also appear on other platforms like LinkedIn ads, adding even more value.

Setting up your Bing Ads account

Setting up your Bing Ads account is the first crucial step to unlocking a powerful platform for reaching a unique and engaged audience.

To get started with Microsoft Advertising, sign in using any existing email address (like Outlook, Gmail, or Yahoo) on the Microsoft Advertising sign-up page. If you already use this email for Microsoft services (like Skype or Xbox LIVE), just sign in.

Otherwise, click “Create one!” to set up a new Microsoft account. Follow the prompts to create a password, enter your name, and verify your email with a code. Complete the security check and, if needed, set up the Microsoft Authenticator app for added security. You can choose to stay signed in for easier access in the future.

Create a Microsoft Advertising account

Once you’re signed in, you can set up your Microsoft Advertising account. You’ll see options to “Create account,” “Import from Google Ads,” or “Import from Meta Ads.” If you do have accounts with these platforms, you can import your campaigns directly.

If you don’t have an account with Google Ads or Meta Ads, select “Create account.”

Select your country and language

Choose the country where your business is located, the language in which you want to advertise, and click “Next.”

Provide your business website

If you have a website, select “I have a website” and enter the URL.

Create an account and/or campaign

Choose between “Create account and campaign” or “Create account only.” If you’re just setting up the account for now, skip to step 9 below.

Review your ads

If you enter a website URL, Microsoft will pull information from your site to help create your ads. Add or edit details like your Final URL, Images, Short and Long headlines, Descriptions, and Business name. Click “Next.”

Select your audience

Choose where you want your ads to appear and set your location targets. Click “Next.”

Set your budget

Decide on your Daily budget and choose your Bid strategy.

Note: To optimize your campaign, set up conversion tracking after creating it. Without it, your bid strategy will default to maximizing clicks, which may not be ideal for driving conversions.

Depending on your strategy, you might want to set a Target return on ad spend (ROAS) or Target cost per acquisition (CPA). Click Next.

Finalize your account

Provide your legal business name, phone number, business location, and preferred time zone. Click “Next.”

Select your billing country/region, choose your payment setting, and enter your payment method. If you have a promotional offer, enter it now (optional).

Review the Microsoft Advertising Terms and Conditions, agree to them, and click “Submit and go live.” You’re all set! Your Microsoft Advertising account is now live and ready to start driving traffic to your business.

Navigating the interface

When you first dive into Bing Ads, you’ll find a dashboard that’s pretty intuitive and easy to navigate, even if you’re new to the platform. The dashboard is designed to give you a snapshot of your campaigns’ performance right off the bat. You can quickly see metrics like impressions, clicks, and conversions, which is super handy when you’re trying to assess how well your ads are doing.

One cool feature is the customizable columns—you can drag and drop to rearrange them or add the ones that matter most to you. This lets you tailor the dashboard to fit your specific needs, which is a nice touch. The left navigation bar allows easy access to importing ads, tools, and reports. It also makes it easy to switch between accounts or campaigns without getting lost.

Another thing to note is the Recommendations section. Bing Ads will suggest ways to improve your campaigns, like adjusting bids or targeting options. It’s like having a mini-coach built right into the platform, guiding you toward better performance.

Crafting effective Bing Ads campaigns

Crafting effective Bing Ads campaigns is key to maximizing your ad performance and reaching your target audience with precision.

Understanding targeting options

Creating a successful Bing Ads campaign starts with understanding the platform’s robust targeting options.

Demographic targeting

Bing Ads allows you to adjust your bids based on age, gender, and even household income. This means you can focus your budget on the demographics that are most likely to convert, ensuring your ads are seen by those who matter most to your business.

Device targeting

With Bing Ads, you have the flexibility to target users based on the devices they use—desktop, tablet, or mobile. This feature is handy if you know your audience prefers specific devices. For example, if you’re targeting professionals who are more likely to browse on desktops during work hours, you can adjust your bids accordingly.

Location targeting

Bing Ads lets you target specific geographic areas, from entire countries down to individual cities or even zip codes. This level of detail is perfect for local businesses or campaigns that need to reach a specific region. By fine-tuning your location settings, you can ensure your ads are shown only to users in the areas where you do business.

Bing Ads also allows you to layer multiple targeting options, such as combining device and location targeting, to create highly customized campaigns that deliver results.

Ad formats and extensions

Once your targeting is nailed down, the next step is choosing the right ad formats to capture your audience’s attention. Bing Ads offers various formats, each designed to meet different advertising goals and engage users in unique ways.

Text ads

These are the most common formats and appear directly in Bing’s search results. They are straightforward ads with a headline, description, and a link to your landing page. Text ads are great for driving traffic to your website and are easy to set up and manage.

App install ads

App Install Ads work similarly to text ads but with a key difference: they offer a direct link to your app with a download button, taking customers straight to the app store. This is an excellent option if your goal is to boost app downloads rather than just drive traffic to your website.

Audience ads

Audience Ads target your ideal customers using consumer intent signals and Microsoft AI. They can appear as native ads, display ads, or video ads across platforms like MSN, Microsoft Start, Microsoft Edge, Outlook.com, and more.

There are two ways to create these ads: either provide a feed, and the ads will be created for you, or supply your own assets (images, text, and video).

Multimedia ads

Multimedia Ads are eye-catching, with large visuals designed to draw attention to your brand and products, driving more traffic and sales. These ads appear in mainline and sidebar positions without replacing your text ads.

Product ads

Product Ads showcase images from your product catalogs, along with promotional text, pricing, and seller details. These are pulled from your Microsoft Merchant Center account.

Responsive search ads

Responsive Search Ads simplify ad creation by allowing you to provide up to 15 headlines and 4 descriptions. Microsoft Advertising will then mix and match these elements to find the most effective combinations. This helps you adapt your ads to better align with what potential customers are searching for.

Vertical ads

Vertical Ads use dynamic data feeds and Microsoft AI to generate personalized ads that require no keywords. These ads deliver more volume, better click-through rates (CTR), and lower cost per click (CPC).

Dynamic search ads

These ads automatically generate headlines and landing pages based on your website’s content, making them a great choice for large sites with extensive product catalogs. Dynamic Search Ads save you time while ensuring that your ads stay relevant and up-to-date.

Ad extensions

These are a must for enhancing your campaign’s visibility and engagement. Bing Ads offers a variety of extensions, such as site link extensions, call extensions, and location extensions. These allow you to include additional information directly in your ad, like extra links to specific pages on your site, your business’s phone number, or your physical address.

Using ad extensions can also improve your ad’s position on the search results page, as Bing tends to favor ads that offer a richer experience for users. So, not only do extensions help you stand out, but they also increase your chances of capturing those valuable clicks.

Optimizing your Bing Ads for better performance

Optimizing your Bing Ads for better performance ensures that your campaigns deliver the highest return on investment by refining targeting, bidding, and ad strategies.

Keyword strategy

When it comes to successfully advertising on Bing, your keyword strategy is paramount. Choosing the right keywords can make all the difference in ensuring your ads on Bing reach the most relevant audience. But how do you go about selecting the best keywords for your campaign?

Before diving into keyword research, take a moment to really understand who you’re targeting. What are they searching for? What problems are they trying to solve? This is the foundation of your keyword strategy. The more you know your audience, the better you can anticipate the terms they’re likely to use.

Microsoft Ads comes equipped with a pretty handy tool called the Keyword Planner. Think of it as your personal guide to uncovering the most relevant keywords for your campaigns. Plug in some seed keywords, and it’ll suggest a bunch of related terms along with search volume and competition data. This helps you pick keywords that are both popular and within reach.

To further refine your targeting, take advantage of Bing’s match types:

Broad match – captures a wide audience by showing your ads for searches that include your keyword in any order, along with related terms.
Phrase match – shows your ads only when the search query contains your keyword in the exact order you’ve specified.
Exact match – narrows it down to only the exact term or close variations, ensuring you’re reaching the most precise audience.

In addition to match types, don’t forget to use negative keywords. These are terms you specifically exclude from triggering your ads, helping you avoid irrelevant clicks that can drain your budget.

For example, if you’re advertising a premium product, you might use “cheap” or “free” as negative keywords to prevent your ads from showing up in these searches.

Bidding strategies

Once you’ve nailed down your keywords, the next step is to consider your bidding strategy. Regardless of the bidding strategy you choose, it’s important to regularly review your campaign data and make adjustments as needed.

Bing Ads offers both manual and automated bidding options, each with its own advantages.

Manual bidding

You have full control over how much you’re willing to pay for each click. This option is great if you want to closely manage your budget and adjust bids based on specific performance insights. For example, if you notice that certain keywor placements are driclosely ving higher conversions, you can increase your bids to capitalize on those opportunities.

Automated bidding

This method removes some of the guesswork by using Bing’s algorithms to automatically adjust your bids to achieve goals like maximizing clicks or conversions. This can be especially useful for advertisers who want to save time and let the platform optimize bids based on performance data.

Ad copy best practices

Crafting compelling ad copy is another crucial aspect of optimizing your Bing Ads campaigns. Your ad copy should grab attention and drive your audience to take action.

Start by highlighting your product or service’s unique benefits. What sets you apart from the competition? Whether it’s a special discount, a standout feature, or a limited-time offer, make sure these points are front and center in your ad copy.

Next, incorporate a strong call to action (CTA). Phrases like “Shop Now,” “Get Started Today,” or “Learn More” can prompt users to click on your ad and move further down the sales funnel. Remember, clarity is key—your audience should instantly understand what they’ll get by clicking on your ad.

A/B testing

Experiment with variations in headlines, descriptions, and CTAs to see which combinations resonate most with your audience. Over time, A/B testing can reveal valuable insights into what drives clicks and conversions, allowing you to refine your approach and boost overall performance.

Tracking and analyzing your Bing Ads

Tracking and analyzing your Bing Ads is essential for measuring success, making data-driven decisions, and continually improving your campaign’s effectiveness.

Setting up conversion tracking

Setting up conversion tracking helps you understand the effectiveness of your campaigns. This process allows you to measure the actions users take after clicking on your ads, such as making a purchase, signing up for a newsletter, or downloading an app.

By tracking these conversions, you can make informed decisions to optimize your campaigns. Without this data, it’s challenging to gauge the true effectiveness of your campaigns or understand where improvements are needed.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to setting up conversion tracking in Bing Ads:

Navigate to the ‘Conversion Tracking’ section on the left sidebar.
Select “Create UET Tag” and choose a name.
You can also add a description to the UET tag.

Then select Save.
Copy the UET tag and paste it into the HTML of your website just before closing the head tag. If you’re using a tag manager, you can also add the UET tag through that platform.
Once the UET tag is installed, go back to Microsoft Ads and verify that the tag is working correctly. After verification, activate your conversion goal, and you’re all set to start tracking conversions!

Analyzing campaign performance

Once conversion tracking is in place, the next step is to dive into the data and analyze your campaign performance. Here are some of the most important metrics to keep an eye on:

Click-through rate (CTR): CTR measures the percentage of people who click on your ad after seeing it. A higher CTR indicates that your ad is resonating well with your audience. If your CTR is low, it might be time to tweak your ad copy or targeting.
Conversion rate: This metric shows the percentage of users who completed a desired action (conversion) after clicking on your ad. A high conversion rate indicates that your ads are driving quality traffic that’s likely to convert. If your conversion rate is lower than expected, consider optimizing your landing pages or adjusting your keywords.
Cost per click (CPC): CPC is the amount you pay each time someone clicks on your ad. Monitoring CPC helps you manage your budget and ensure you’re getting a good return on your investment. If your CPC is high, try refining your targeting or bidding strategy.
Return on ad spend (ROAS): It measures the revenue generated for every dollar spent on advertising. If your ROAS isn’t meeting your goals, it might be time to reassess your overall strategy.

Bing Ads analytics

Bing Ads offers a suite of analytics tools that can help you dig deeper into these metrics and more.

Campaign Performance Report provides a comprehensive overview of how your ads are performing
Keyword Performance Report offers insights into which keywords are driving the most clicks and conversions.
Search Term Report to see the actual search queries that triggered your ads, helping you refine your keyword strategy further.

Whether it’s adjusting your bids, refining your keywords, or testing new ad copy, the insights gained from thorough analysis are invaluable in maximizing the effectiveness of your advertising efforts on Bing.

Advanced tips for Bing advertising success

Use features like remarketing and Bing Shopping Ads to elevate your campaigns.

Remarketing with Bing Ads

Remarketing is a powerful strategy that allows you to re-engage with users who have previously interacted with your website but haven’t yet converted. Bing Ads offers robust remarketing tools that can help you stay top-of-mind and encourage those users to return and complete their desired actions.

Setting up and optimizing remarketing campaigns is straightforward with Bing Ads.

Head over to the ‘Shared Library’ in the left-hand menu.
Click on ‘Audiences,’ then hit ‘Create.’
Pick the audience type you want: remarketing list, dynamic remarketing list, customer match list, or custom combination list.

Bing Ads allows you to create custom audiences by uploading a list of customer emails or phone numbers. You can even use LinkedIn profiles.

You can then use this list to target users across the Microsoft Advertising Network. This feature is particularly useful for creating highly targeted campaigns aimed at specific customer segments, helping you deliver more relevant ads and improve conversion rates.

Exploring Bing shopping ads

Bing Shopping Ads offer a unique opportunity to showcase your products directly in search results. These ads display product images, prices, and other key details, making them highly effective at capturing attention and driving clicks.

Setting up a Bing Shopping campaign begins with creating a Microsoft Merchant Center account, where you can upload your product feed.

Once your feed is uploaded and approved, you can create a Shopping campaign in Bing Ads by selecting your product categories, setting your bids, and defining your targeting options.

With these ads, you can display your products prominently in search results, driving high-intent traffic directly to your product pages and increasing your chances of conversion.

Case studies & success stories

With its comprehensive features, it’s no shocker that many find Bing to be a strong alternative, steadily closing the gap in customer satisfaction with industry giant Google.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index reports that Bing has achieved a respectable customer satisfaction score of 75 out of 100, bringing it closer to Google’s score of 80 out of 100. This trend is evident in various case studies, one of which you can learn from here:

Youi’s success with Microsoft Ads

Youi, a leading Australian insurance provider, aimed to test the effectiveness of Native ads in boosting their search campaign performance by connecting upper funnel activities to downstream conversions.

Youi partnered with Microsoft for a six-week campaign using Microsoft Audience Ads. By using Microsoft’s first-party data and collaborating closely with their account teams, Youi optimized the campaign with bid adjustments and tested advanced models like last-touch attribution.

The campaign doubled conversion volume in the final two weeks. Microsoft’s study also showed a 3.2X lift in brand consideration and a 3X increase in search conversions for those exposed to the Audience ads.

Wrapping up

The internet has become increasingly competitive, so it’s critical to explore every available avenue to maximize your advertising success. Throughout this guide, we’ve uncovered the underestimated potential of Bing Ads and why it deserves a spot in your strategy.

Now that you’re equipped with the knowledge to succeed with Bing Ads, it’s time to take action. Start by setting up your Bing Ads account, explore its features, and craft campaigns to reach untapped audiences. The sooner you start, the sooner you’ll see the benefits of diversifying your efforts.

FAQs

What are Bing Ads called now?

Bing Ads are now known as Microsoft Advertising. Same platform, just a new name to better reflect its broader offerings.

Are Bing Ads cheaper than Google Ads?

Generally, yes. Bing Ads tend to have lower costs per click (CPC) compared to Google Ads, which can stretch your advertising budget further.

Is Bing better than Google Ads?

It depends on your goals. Google Ads has a larger reach, but Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising) offers lower competition and often cheaper clicks, making it a solid choice for certain niches.

What are Bing Ads good for?

Bing Ads are great for targeting an audience that’s slightly older, more affluent, and often less saturated with ads. Plus, if you’re looking for a cost-effective alternative to Google Ads, Bing is worth considering.

Are Bing Ads worth it?

Definitely! Bing Ads are worth it if you’re looking to diversify your advertising strategy and reach an untapped audience with less competition.

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