Your Guide to Mastering Bing Ads: A Comprehensive Study

Are you an e-commerce business owner looking to expand your reach and drive more sales? If so, it’s time to consider Bing Shopping Ads as part of your digital marketing strategy. While Google Ads may be the first platform that comes to mind, Bing, Microsoft’s search engine, has been steadily gaining ground and offers a unique opportunity to reach a different audience. This comprehensive guide digs everything you need to know about Bing Ads and how they compare to Google Ads.

Understanding Bing Ads 

Bing Ads is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that allows e-commerce businesses to showcase their products directly in Bing search results. These ads appear at the top or side of the search results page and include product images, prices, and relevant information. Bing Ads increase visibility and provide potential customers with a more engaging and visual experience.

Bing offers the option to run search ads, similar to eCommerce ads. Advertisers can create and display text-based ads that appear alongside search results. This allows them to target specific keywords and demographics, which helps to drive traffic to their websites or landing pages and reach potential customers.

Benefits of Bing Ads for Ecommerce Businesses:

• Broader Reach: While Google dominates the search engine market, Bing has steadily grown. Did you know that Bing gets more than 900 million searches daily from people aged 25 to 34, accounting for 30.70% of all searches? The 18 to 20 age group follows closely behind with 22.17%. That means there are approximately 27 billion searches made every month. Additionally, with the introduction of Chat GPT, which also integrates with Bing Ads, the Bing network is experiencing much more traffic than before.
• Lower Cost-per-Click (CPC): Bing Advertising often offers lower CPC compared to Google Ads, making it a cost-effective option for businesses of all sizes. In fact, Microsoft Advertising might have a CPC that is up to 70% cheaper than Google Ads.
• Targeted Advertising: Bing Ads allow you to target your ads based on demographics, location, device, and other factors, ensuring that your ads are shown to the most relevant audience. This targeted approach can result in higher conversion rates and a better return on investment (ROI).
• Easy Import from Google and Facebook Ads: If you have campaigns set up on Google Ads and Facebook, you can quickly transfer them to Bing Ads for shopping or search purposes. Note that Pmax campaigns will be converted into smart shopping campaigns, which saves time and effort when creating new campaigns. It is recommended to import campaigns once a month to maintain momentum. Additionally, be sure to monitor bids and budgets while importing.

Bing Ads vs. Google Ads: A Comparative Study

While Google Ads remains the dominant player in the PPC advertising space, it’s essential to understand the differences between Bing Ads and Google Ads to make informed decisions about your advertising strategy. Let’s compare the two platforms across key aspects:

Reach:

Google undoubtedly has a larger audience and search volume compared to Bing. However, Bing’s market share is steadily growing and now holds a significant portion of the search engine market. There are several reasons that may contribute to the success of Bing network, including forming strategic partnerships, enhancing search algorithms and user experience, launching efficient advertising campaigns, offering distinctive features such as Visual Search, integrating with Microsoft products, and gaining popularity among certain user demographics or regions. With billions of monthly searches on the Bing Network, Bing Shopping Ads can help you tap into a different audience that may not be reached through Google Ads alone.

Cost-per-Click (CPC):

One of the significant advantages of Bing Shopping Ads is its lower CPC compared to Google Ads. Due to lower competition on the Bing platform, advertisers often find they can achieve lower CPC while reaching a sizable audience. This makes Bing Shopping Ads an attractive option for businesses with limited advertising budgets.

Targeting Options:

Both Bing Shopping Ads and Google Ads offer various targeting options to help you reach your desired audience. However, it’s worth noting that Bing’s targeting capabilities have improved significantly in recent years. You can target your ads based on demographics, location, device, and even LinkedIn profile targeting, making it an effective platform for reaching specific industries or B2B audiences.

Ease of Use:

If you’re already familiar with Google Ads, transitioning to Bing Ads should be straightforward. Microsoft Advertising has developed a user-friendly interface similar to Google Ads, allowing advertisers to navigate the platform easily. Additionally, importing campaigns from Google Ads to Bing Shopping Ads is a seamless process, further simplifying the transition.

How to Get Started with Bing Ads

Now that you understand the benefits of Bing Ads and how they compare to Google Ads, it’s time to get started with your own Bing search or Shopping Ads campaigns. Follow these steps to set up your first campaign:

Step 1: Create an Account

To get started with Bing Shopping Ads, visit the Microsoft Advertising homepage and click on the “Sign Up Now” button. Fill in the required information, such as your email address, phone number, and business location, and agree to the terms and conditions.

Step 2: Set Conversion Tracking

To set up conversion tracking in Bing Ads, navigate to your account’s “Conversion Tracking” section. Create a conversion goal by selecting the type of action you want to track and providing the necessary details. Choose between using the Bing Ads UET tag as your tracking method. If using the UET tag, install it on your website by adding the generated code. Save your settings, and Bing Ads will begin tracking conversions based on your configuration. Regularly monitor your conversion data to evaluate campaign performance and make informed optimizations.

If you prefer using Google Tag Manager (GTM) for managing your tracking tags, you can integrate Bing Ads conversion tracking by adding the Bing Ads UET tag through GTM. Create a new tag in GTM, select the Bing Ads UET template, and provide your UET tag ID. Publish the changes in GTM to start tracking conversions through Bing Ads while maintaining centralized tag management with GTM.

Step 3: Set Your Campaign Goal

Choose a campaign goal that aligns with your business objectives. Options include visits to your website, phone calls to your business, visits to your physical locations, conversions on your website, or online product sales. Select the goal that best matches your desired outcome.

Step 4: Select Keywords

Research and select the keywords that are relevant to your products or services. Use tools like Microsoft’s Keyword Planner to find popular and relevant keywords your target audience will likely search for. Incorporate these keywords into your campaign to ensure your ads are shown to the right audience.

Step 5: Create Compelling Ads

Craft compelling and engaging ads that capture the attention of your target audience. Write concise, relevant, and powerful headlines that include your primary keyword. Use a solid call to action to encourage users to click on your ad and take the desired action. Remember to highlight the unique selling points of your products or services to entice potential customers.

Step 5: Set Budget and Launch Campaign

Set your daily and monthly budget for your Bing Shopping Ads campaign. Microsoft Advertising gives you complete control over your budget, ensuring you only spend what you can afford. Once you’ve set your budget, review your campaign settings, and launch your Bing Shopping Ads campaign.

Step 7: Monitor and Optimize Performance

Regularly monitor the performance of your Bing Ads campaign to identify areas for improvement. Analyze key metrics such as click-through rate (CTR), conversion rate, and return on ad spend (ROAS). Make your campaign adjustments based on the data’s insights to optimize your ad performance. You can hire an e-Commerce PPC agency or e-commerce PPC experts to do this efficiently for you.

Importing Campaigns to Bing Platform

If you already have existing campaigns on Google Ads or Facebook Ads, you can import them into Bing Ads. This allows you to leverage your existing campaigns and extend your reach to the Bing audience. However, it’s important to note that you can only import campaigns from Google and Facebook once a month. Follow these steps to import your campaigns:

1. Go to the Campaigns page in your Bing account.
2. Click “Import from Google Ads” or “Import from Facebook Ads” option.
3. Sign in with your Google Ads or Facebook Ads account credentials and grant permission for Bing to import your campaigns.
4. Review the campaigns, ad groups, ads, and keywords eligible for import. Make any necessary adjustments if some elements are not qualified.
5. Click “Import Campaigns” to transfer your campaigns from Google Ads or Facebook Ads to Bing platform.

FAQs

Is it beneficial to run Google and Bing Ads together?

Yes, running Google and Bing ads together can be helpful. It expands your reach by targeting audiences on both platforms, diversifies your advertising efforts, potentially lowers competition and cost, allows you to target unique audience segments, and provides valuable cross-platform data insights. By utilizing both platforms, businesses can maximize their advertising effectiveness, reach a wider audience, and gain insights to optimize their campaigns.

How to import manual, automatic, and Google feeds into Bing ads?

To import manual, automatic, and Google feed campaigns into Bing Ads, follow these steps:

1. Sign in to your Bing Ads account and navigate to the “Campaigns” tab.
2. Click the “Import” button and select “Google Ads” as the import source.
3. Choose the campaigns you want to import, including manual and automatic campaigns, and any associated Google Merchant Center feeds.
4. Review the settings and mappings for your imported campaigns to ensure they align with Bing Ads requirements.
5. Click “Import” to initiate the import process, and Bing Ads will begin importing your campaigns, ad groups, keywords, and ads.

You can quickly replicate your advertising efforts on the Bing Ads platform by importing your campaigns from Google Ads, including manual, automatic, and Google Merchant Center feeds.

Why is Bing Ads important?

Microsoft Advertising, formerly known as Bing Ads, provides businesses several advantages. Firstly, it offers access to an influential audience beyond Google, as Bing is the second-largest search engine worldwide. Secondly, Bing’s user demographics differ from Google’s, providing opportunities for businesses to target specific segments. Moreover, Bing Ads typically have lower competition, which can lead to lower cost-per-click rates. This makes it an attractive platform for businesses with budget constraints or highly competitive industries. By utilizing Bing Ads, businesses can expand their reach, target unique demographics, and potentially achieve cost-effective advertising results.

What is Bing Ads API?

The Bing Ads API offers advertisers placing multiple ads or developers creating advertising tools a way to access Microsoft Advertising programmatically. By using the Bing Ads API, managing numerous large campaigns or integrating marketing with other in-house systems becomes more efficient.

What plugins are supported in Bing ads?

Bing Ads supports various plugins to enhance advertising capabilities. Some of the notable plugins include:

1. Bing Ads Conversion Tracking: This plugin enables conversion tracking and helps measure the effectiveness of ad campaigns.
2. Bing Shopping Campaigns: This plugin facilitates creating and managing shopping campaigns, enabling businesses to showcase their products on Bing’s shopping search results.
3. Bing Ads for WordPress: This plugin integrates Bing Ads with WordPress websites, providing seamless ad management and optimization.

These plugins enhance the functionality and performance of Bing Ads, enabling advertisers to leverage additional features and tools for effective ad management.

Conclusion

Bing Shopping Ads offer ecommerce businesses a valuable opportunity to expand their reach and drive more sales. While Google Ads may be the go-to platform, Bing’s growing market share and lower CPC make it a viable alternative. You can tap into a broader audience and maximize your advertising efforts by leveraging Bing Shopping Ads alongside Google Ads. Follow the steps outlined in this guide to set up and optimize your Bing Shopping Ads campaigns, and watch your ecommerce business thrive in the digital landscape.

Remember, continuous monitoring and optimization is the key to success with Bing Shopping Ads. Regularly assess your campaign’s performance, test different variations of your ads, and refine your targeting to achieve the best possible results. With the right strategy and commitment to optimization, Bing Shopping Ads can be a powerful tool for driving ecommerce success.

If you’re ready to take your ecommerce business to the next level with Bing Ads earlier known as Microsoft ads, contact us at info@hustlemarketers.com to consult with our PPC specialists. We’re here to help you create compelling and high-performing Bing Ads campaigns that deliver results.