An online ad strategy that goes beyond Google Ads can be a smart move for many sellers. Here’s why you should consider expanding your reach, and how to sell with Bing ads.
We talk a lot about Google Search because, after all, it’s the 800-pound gorilla in the world of web queries. Bing’s share of the search market is a fraction of Google’s. Compare Bing’s average 13 million searches per day vs Google’s 3+ billion. In desktop searches, though, Bing looks better.
The Bing network is growing quickly, too. Just take a look at Bing’s numbers:
- 34% of users use Bing for desktop searches
- 5.4 billion is how many monthly searches Bing runs
- 136 million unique users
One thing to note: 63 million users see Bing ads that are never seen in Google Ads. That’s a big opportunity worth a closer look.
Cost: Bing Ads vs. Google Ads
Bing’s overall performance makes up a lot for relatively lower volumes, and can give you better bang for the buck.
Bing PPC prices reflect the fact there’s far less competition among its bidding advertisers.
According to ReportGarden, The price for CPC averages $7.99 vs. a $20.08 cost for Google AdWords. The cost-per-click on Bing Ads can be up to 70% lower.
A recent rebranding, with bonus ad exposure
After a recent rebranding, Bing ads are now called Microsoft Ads.” The company has recently re-branded its advertising program to make a stronger connection with the corporate parent, and to reflect additional partner sites under its umbrella.
Microsoft also now owns Yahoo and AOL. Advertising on one of these platforms gets you all three. This opens up campaigns to searchers across all Bing, Yahoo, and AOL owned and operated sites, as well as their various partner sites.
Getting started with Microsoft Ads
Microsoft run on a PPC, auction-based system. The bidding goal is to position your ad on relevant search results pages (SERPs), either next to or above organic (unpaid) search results.
Opening an account and setting a budget
Opening an account is pretty simple. Register a valid email address and password, give your full name, and you’re in their system.
Once you’re enrolled, you’re ready to start placing your bids and trying to position your ads. There may be several paid search ads appearing on the same page with yours.
Whether your ad gets top billing on a SERP depends not just on winning the bid, but also on certain quality rankings assigned by Microsoft to its advertisers.
You can view a wide range of performance trends in your account to see how your performance is doing: ad clicks, the number of impressions), total spend, average cost-per-click, the click-through rate, your average ad position, the cost per acquisition, and how many conversions. You can also run performance reports in Bing Ads.
The higher your performance, the better ad position you’ll get.
While your first instinct may be to start with a lower budget, first try lowering your maximum bids. This may mean fewer customers visit your site. Increasing you quality score and learning how to build ads that show high performance will ultimately help you win a good ad position with a lower bid.
While only one ad shows at a time, running multiple ads lets you test different approaches to see what’s working best with your target customers. You can experiment with different ads for specific products or pages.
Review your budget and bid strategy. If your ad keeps pausing, your budget limit may be set too low. Competitive bids will leave your ads poised for better performance.
Choosing Keywords
There are several strategies to help choose your keywords.
- You have to imagine how prospective buyers would phrase their queries.
- Use the tools right in your account to find more keywords. In your Microsoft Advertising dashboard, click Campaigns at the top of the pag, then > Keywords tab,> Add Keywords. This will let you:
- Search for new keywords based on a sample one you enter
- Search a website for keywords.
- Search your destination URLs for keywords.
If you use professional SEO tools (or have a contractor who does it for you), services like SEMRush, Ahrefs, and Alexa will show you how much competition there is among other advertisers for that keyword. If your most preferred term has high competition, look for alternatives that may have less search traffic but are more honed-in to the specific features or brands you sell.
Writing a high performing ad
Be relevant.
Use your customer’s most popular search terms in your ad titles and text. Try to describe your unique value proposition, preferably in 9 words or less.
Be colloquial.
Use your customers’ language, with a style and tone you think are used by your best customers.
Be specific.
This clearer and more specific your offering, the better.
- Rather than saying “big discount,” specify an exact percentage, like “50 percent off.”
- Give it urgency – like an expiration date- so customers have a reason to click your ad right now.
- Offer a specific call to action, like a button that says “Shop Now” with a link to your store.
Click here for Microsoft’s simple, step-by-step guide to setting up a new ad campaign.
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