If you have read any of my past blogs, you might know a thing or two about me and how I adapt to new marketing strategies; I don’t. I might not be good at change, but at least I know this about myself. When I was first asked to dive into Google Ads, I resisted because I didn’t know enough about it to realize how valuable it can be. The same can be said for Microsoft pay-per-click advertising (PPC) on Bing, Yahoo, and other sites. When I was asked to explore this, I resisted because all I knew about Bing was a bunch of jokes. It turns out Bing is no joke, and neither is Microsoft Ads.
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Microsoft Ads Work
I’m going to talk a lot in this blog, but let’s get the most important thing out of the way, Microsoft Ads work. Don’t stop reading, but do write that down.
As more and more users flock to the internet, not all of them end up on the tried and true Google. Yes, some go to Bing, others go to Yahoo. If I’m honest, Google is my search engine, but I get a lot of my news when I take my daily trip to Yahoo. The people not using Google are still seeing ads, and those ads could easily be yours. So why aren’t they?
Did you know that, on average, the cost-per-click (CPC) of Bing ads is 33% less than that of Google Ads? That means that not only can Bing ads bring you the leads and sales you are looking for, but they can usually do so for less money. In other words, if your ROI is important to you, which it should be, you might want to consider Bing.
More Than Just Bing & Yahoo
With Microsoft Ads, you might not have the same potential audience size that you would with Google, but you are casting a very wide net. The Microsoft advertising network includes Bing, Yahoo, MSN.com, and websites owned by AOL. The type of user on each of those sites can vary greatly. This means that Microsoft Ads allows you to reach a diverse audience.
It’s worth mentioning that the “little pieces” in the Microsoft advertising network are not that little. In fact, Bing owns 34% of the desktop search engine-use market share. That translates to roughly 5.4 billion searches a month. These are not numbers to sneeze at.
When Cost Matters
For most of my clients, budget is the sole limiting factor of their PPC accounts. So, if you are looking to maximize your bang for your buck, you really need to consider Microsoft Ads. Earlier I mentioned that Bing clicks cost an average of 33% less than Google clicks, but we can dive deeper into those numbers. Our friends at Spin Tech made an A/B comparison of three campaigns that were set up to run with the same ads in the same locations at the same time. Not only did the Bing ads run for considerably less money, but they also outperformed Google Ads with higher click-thru rates. That means that not only can you save money with Microsoft Ads, in many cases you can improve performance.
As you know, clicks and click-thru-rate are one thing, but ad clicks that convert into actions are where the real money is made. It just so happens that the same study by Spin Tech found that Microsoft Ads were more likely to produce a higher conversion rate at a lower cost-per-acquisition (CPA).
It’s Just That Clear
So, what I am telling you is that there is an ad platform that costs less than Google Ads and, at times, can be more effective. If that isn’t enough information to get you to try running ads on Bing, I’m not sure what is. With that said, maybe this will help; Microsoft makes it easy for those already using Google Ads to get started with them by automatically importing your ads, keywords, ad groups, and campaigns. So, if you want to give it a go, you’re only a few clicks away.
