Microsoft Advertising formerly Bing Ads is the advertising industry’s underdog. Because Google has a wider reach, most marketers will typically neglect Microsoft’s capabilities, considering them as a backup alternative at best.
In this article I will tackle 7 Microsoft Advertising Features You Might Now Know About.
Because of Google’s dominance in the search industry, PPC marketers may overlook Microsoft Advertising. Too often, campaigns are just cloned from Google Ads with little consideration given to specific settings for Microsoft Advertising.
The search marketers that put in the extra effort to adapt campaigns for each platform are the ones that succeed. Also, each ad platform has capabilities that distinguish it from others, and users react in different ways to each service.
For several businesses, Microsoft Advertising is a new trend. It is the underappreciated tool that advertisers may employ to maximize the performance and impact of their campaigns.
Microsoft Ads has highlighted its goal of parity by introducing new and innovative tools and opportunities. Undoubtedly, these tools are valuable in terms of enhancing PPC success.
1. Action Extension
Action extensions, which are exclusive to Microsoft Advertising, place a call-to-action button underneath your ad in results pages, directing to the webpage of your choice.
As a result, these add-ons make your adverts stand out and give the user a reason to click. When in development, action extensions raised CTRs by 20% overall, according to Microsoft.
To add action extensions to your campaign, Go to the Ad Extensions page and choose Action Extensions from the menu bar. Extensions may now be configured at the profile, campaign, or ad group level.
You may also adjust the language to attract your intended audience. Ideally, compare many extension variations to find which one works the best. Only one will be displayed at a time, and the data may be viewed on the Ad Extensions page.
2. Review Extension
You might remember that Google Ads disabled review extensions at the start of 2018. These extensions, however, are still active in Microsoft Advertising.
You may use these extensions to display good third-party feedback within your search ad. Promoting these reviews increases searcher confidence in your company and results in a bigger, more visually appealing ad.
Moreover, it is important to remember, that you cannot just obtain a quotation from a review aggregation site such as Yelp.
Individual customer ratings are not permitted, according to Microsoft’s requirements, and reviews may only be from trustworthy, well-established, and known sources.
Go to the Extensions page and pick Review Extensions from the dropdown menu to create a review extension.
Then, at the account, campaign, or ad group level, you may establish a review extension. Now, specify the text, choose whether it is an exact quotation or a paraphrase, specify the source, and include the source URL.
Lastly, after you’ve added the extension, make sure it’s been accepted. Because the Microsoft team is highly picky in granting extensions, you might have to speak with support for clarification if it is denied.
3. Image Ad Extension
Nothing beats being able to physically display your items. Search ads are fantastic for discovering clients at the proper point of the journey, but if you’re running shopping campaigns, you’re only going to be able to lure them with words.
Their unique image extensions allow you to include a picture within your search ad, making it more visually appealing. Furthermore, using their multi-image ad extension, you may incorporate a carousel of photos for added impact.
4. Competition Tab
The environment on Bing might differ greatly from that on Google, and you should be aware of the competitive situation on both platforms. Microsoft’s Competition tab provides in-depth information about your top search competitors.
You may get a breakdown of stats comparing your visibility to rivals who appeared for the same search keywords.
Also, you can track:
- Impression share
It is the percentage of available impressions obtained by each brand.
- position
You can see the average position of advertisements in search results. The lower values indicate higher positions.
- Overlap rate
It is the number of occurrences your brand appeared in the same SERP as a rival.
- Position above rate
This is the number of times a competitor’s ad appeared above yours.
- Top of page rate
The percentage of times an ad appeared above organic search results.
- Outranking share
The number of times your ad appeared above a competitor’s ad.
5. LinkedIn Profile Targeting
With Microsoft’s acquisition of business networking site LinkedIn, they gained access to detailed B2B (Business-to-business) audience targeting capabilities. Through LinkedIn’s first-party data, advertisers may target their ads by business, sector, and job function. These powerful B2B targeting possibilities make a compelling argument for B2B advertisers to invest in Microsoft-specific advertising.
The campaign will keep reaching people who search for your targeted keywords, but you may monitor statistics for LinkedIn users and make positive or negative bid changes based on results.
Advertisers may now only put bid modifiers on existing terms for search advertisements, but with the Microsoft Audience Network, you may establish bid modifiers or target your audience directly. This option enables B2B marketers to reach their defined target only through a display campaign, which was developed specifically for advertising within the LinkedIn platform.
6. Experiments
Experiments have been available in Google Ads for several years; however, this feature is fresh to Microsoft Advertising.
For example, if you want to see if Target CPA bidding outperforms Manual CPC, you might retain your original campaign on manual bidding while changing the trial campaign to Target CPA.
You may also pick the end date for the experiment or just let it continue forever until you’re ready to discontinue it. When the experiment is activated, you may examine performance statistics on the same page.
7. Ad Customizer by Audience
Ad customizers are an essential tool in the arsenal of e-commerce advertisers. Customizers deliver a customized message that is very relevant to both the searcher and your product offering. They may be used to input prices, dates, search locations, and a variety of other information. As a result, the advertising is more relevant, and the CTR and conversion rates are increased.
Take Advantage of Microsoft Advertising
There are several advantages to adopting Microsoft Advertising, such as its reach, lesser competition, and reduced CPC. Fundamentally, it has the potential to provide great returns at a lesser cost. It’s one of many methods you should have in your arsenal if you want to increase your sales and build your business.
