Introduction
True, there are many aspects that are involved with digital marketing, ranging from doing keyword analysis for your website, doing SEO work, doing PPC campaigns, etc. Although all of these are important, people put a lot of emphasis upon the latter. In this regard, the first place that comes to mind to do this is Google. Of course, this is the proverbial 800 lb. gorilla in the PPC space, with the most outreach that is currently available.
But Google can be quite expensive in the end you can literally see your PPC budget evaporate quickly in a flash. Are there other alternatives? Yes, there are, and one, in particular, is known as Microsoft Advertising, which is the focal point of this blog.
About Microsoft Advertising
Believe it or not, Microsoft Advertising has been around for quite some time, but the platform actually was under different brand names. For example, it was first called the Microsoft adCenter, then it became Bing Ads, and now to its current name.
With this rebrand, Microsoft has been making huge strides in implementing the latest technologies for people that launch their PPC campaigns through it. For example, it now fully encompasses such items as Big Data, Machine Learning, and even Artificial Intelligence.
The primary goal of all of this is to help predict the behavior of your prospects that you reach out after they click upon your ads. Also, keep in mind that the Microsoft Advertising platform actually consists of two other distinct components, which are as follows:
The Microsoft Audience Network:
With this, you will be able to closely examine the intents of your prospects, and both search and other relevant user profile data that can be accessed. More specifically, you have the following features that are available to you:
1.Gauging customer intent from these perspectives:
•Remarketing;
•Audiences that are interested in your products and/or services;
•Custom audiences (for example, are you looking at certain socio-economic factors, geolocation, etc.?);
•In-market audiences.
2.Latest data about your prospects:
•You can make use of LinkedIn “scraping” functionalities on prospect profiles;
•You can also do specific age and gender targeting as well for your PPC Ads.
3.Location/Device Tracking:
•As mentioned, you can track down your prospects where they are specifically located in terms of geography;
•You can even ascertain the exact mobile device they are using when they click upon your PPC ads. Because of this functionality, you will be able to closely refine and hone them in subsequently in order to get even better results in terms of the clicks that you are receiving.
The Microsoft Partner Program:
With this, the main intent is to help you to leverage your PPC brand and messaging to a much higher plateau.
Here is what is available to you:
1.Finding a partner:
Here, you can build up a quality relationship with a Microsoft certified partner. Thus, you will be able to select a company (or even a consultant) that you feel comfortable in working with, and most importantly, understand your needs in order to further propel the ROI that you are getting from your PPC ads.
2.Becoming a partner:
If you meet the qualifications as set forth by Microsoft, you can reach out to other online advertisers, and cultivate a solid and lasting partnership with them. The primary advantage of this is that this can create additional avenues for you to launch your PPC ads.
Related Post: The Seven Important KPIs for Your PPC Campaign
The Advantages of Microsoft Advertising
Now that you have a solid understanding of what it is and its major components, the next thought that is probably going in your mind is what are the advantages of Microsoft Advertising, versus using Google? Consider the following:
1.Sponsored Products:
This is an exclusive functionality that has been designed and geared towards manufacturers here in the United States, in a gigantic effort to boost their traffic for their PPC campaigns. This is a much-needed tool, especially right now, as the supply chain is starting to get slowly choked off with the COVID 19 pandemic.
2.A far greater reach:
Yes, Google is the juggernaut right now, but keep in mind that you only have one avenue in which to launch your PPC ads. It can be a risky proposition. But with Microsoft Advertising, you get access to two other major searches, including Bing: Yahoo and AOL.
This number translates into 11,000,000 extra searches at your disposal that have been conducted exclusive of the Google search engine.
3.You can break away from the competition and create your own mold:
Because Microsoft Advertising is so much underutilized than when compared to Google, you have greater assurances that your PPC ads will yield greater results, because of the sheer lack of competition that is present. For example, Microsoft Advertising still yields well over 4 billion searches on a monthly basis, which represents close to a quarter (25%) of the search engine market here in the United States. Additionally, the Microsoft Advertising platform constitutes 34.7% and 21% of the US and UK search markets, when it comes to prospects using their desktop computers. These numbers are nothing to sneer at, as they are rock solid.
4.A far better ROI is realized: (Consider some of these statistics)
There is a 29% lower cost per scale than when compared to using Google Ads;
The smartphone PPC cost per click is on average $0.49 when compared to the industry benchmark, which is currently rated at $0.58;
There is on average a 35% conversion rate than when compared to Google Ads;
When compared to other banner ad platforms (where you only get a 10% conversion rate), this greatly increases up to 40% when making use of Microsoft Advertising;
Most businesses should be able to realize a 25% ROI just within the first month of launching your PPC ads.
5.You can reach far more affluent audiences quickly and easily:
Source: https://blog.invoca.com/4-reasons-you-should-use-bing-ads/
The above represents the market share of Bing, based upon the income level of the individuals that make use of it. Further analysis reveals that an overwhelming majority of the affluent class (at 67%, where the income level is at $60,000 or greater) search through Bing. The bottom line is that if you place your PPC ads here you will be to tap into a rather wealthy market in which to sell your products and services. In other words, you have tremendous purchasing power by using Microsoft Advertising. Also, Microsoft even further claims that there are an additional 66,000,000 million end users that you can reach out to, which are totally inaccessible if you make use of Google for your PPC Ads.
6.You can reach far more affluent audiences quickly and easily:
As mentioned earlier in this article, the costs of placing ads through Google can be expensive, and it is further expected that this will only go up further. Also, consider these key statistics:
On average the cost of placing PPC ads with Microsoft Advertising is 70% lower than that of Google;
Based upon a recent survey conducted by Search Engine People, when it comes to the automotive and insurance industries, the costs of placing PPC ads 32.5% and 59% lower, respectively, than when compared to using Google Ads.
7.Unique Ad Extensions:
When compared to Google, you can get some customization for your PPC ads when you place them with Microsoft Advertising. For example:
You can implement rich pictures of your products with your PPC ads (known as image extensions);
Instead of just placing a URL which directs the end-user to your website after they click on your ad, you can actually point them to a direct Call To Action (CTA) landing page, in which they can take a particular action such as pay now, subscribe now or contact us (known as action link extensions).
Conclusions
Overall, this article has examined what Microsoft Advertising is, and some of the strategic advantages that it has over Google. The bottom line is that you will get a bigger bang for your PPC bucks at a much more affordable price, with a quicker ROI.
