What Are Microsoft Ads and How Do They Complement Your Existing Search Marketing Strategy?

What’s the first thing you think of when you hear the words “Search” or “Pay-per-click”? Naturally: Google!

That proves true as well for advertising on search engines. Because Google holds the lions share of search results and queries across the internet. Google might always be the first choice of search engine that any business or digital marketer will tap into. However, that’s no reason to completely dismiss Microsoft Ads (formerly known as Bing ads).

What’s so great about Microsoft Ads?

In this article, we’ll discuss three important points to take Microsoft Ads into consideration if you’re looking into investing in Search Engine Marketing (SEM).

1. An Entirely New Network to Tap Into

Everyone knows just how massive Google’s user base is for search, and rightly so. However, also important to note is that Bing itself has 45.4 million searchers that Google can’t reach, not to mention 13.7 billion monthly searches around the globe.

To detail this audience even further, the demographics of Bing users lean towards an older and more educated audience, with 37% having graduated from college, 25% having a household income in the top 25%, and almost 3/4 of Bing users being over 35 years old.

Tapping into this network not only gives your business an entirely fresh stream of exciting opportunities but an audience that’s ripe for business.

2. Less Competition, Lower CPC

One thing often counted against Microsoft and Bing ads is its smaller audience. But if you take that into careful consideration, this smaller audience is actually Microsoft’s biggest advantage!

With the larger audience being concentrated on Google it becomes more difficult to reach your ideal audience. Your cost-per-click (CPC) is higher because you’re competing with countless more entrepreneurs and businesses. It’s a constant battle for attention where those with the bigger budgets end up as the winners.

Because of that, Microsoft and Bing have a slight advantage: lower advertising costs. Because you’re competing for attention with a smaller number of businesses on Bing, you get to enjoy a lower CPC. The amount you spend on Microsoft ads is 70% lower than Google ads. That’s a huge advantage especially if your budget for advertising is not as big as other, bigger businesses.

3. More Specific and Detailed Targeting

In defining your target audience for your ad campaigns, Google allows advertisers to identify the network, location, language, schedule, and ad rotation at a campaign level. Microsoft ads, on the other hand, not only lets you set all those details for your ad campaigns, but it also allows you to assign different time zones between each of your campaigns.

Microsoft Ads also allows more flexibility and detail in choosing your target audience. For one, Microsoft allows you to target specific audiences based on the type of device they’re using and the operating system (OS). So if you have a clear demographic of where your customers are coming from (iOS or Android, mobile or desktop), you can reach that specific audience. If your ideal customers are primarily on mobile, Microsoft ads also allow you to exclude desktop in your ad campaigns, something you cannot do over on Google.

In the end, it’s not about which platform is better (Google or Microsoft). Rather, if you want to get the most out of your advertising budget, the best option is to advertise on both platforms. Combining both Google and Microsoft ads allows you to reach practically all of users searching throughout the web, leaving no one out. And if you’re already advertising on Google but aren’t familiar with Microsoft, our agents are more than willing to lend a helping hand and get your campaigns started and optimised so they reach their highest potential.

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