If you equate PPC advertising with Google Ads, you’re not alone. Google certainly has the majority of the search market. But does that mean marketers should ignore other platforms and put all their advertising eggs in one basket?
No.
Well-crafted Google Ads campaigns are great for maximizing traffic and conversions, but there’s more than one way to get PPC to work for you while optimizing your advertising spend. Bing PPC ads offer unique advantages that set the Microsoft-powered platform apart, making it an attractive option, especially when partnered with Google Ads.
Bing PPC for Beginners
Bing Ads is Microsoft’s version of Google Ads. Your Bing ads are run on Microsoft’s entire network and its partner networks Yahoo and AOL. Just like Google Ads, Bing Ads run at the top, bottom, or side of search engine results pages (SERPs).
Four attractive reasons for jumping on the Bing wagon include:
- Its growing market share. With over five billion monthly searches being made on the Microsoft network, Bing’s U.S. market share is close to 36%, a healthy pool of potential customers you might not be reaching on Google.
- Higher click-through rates. Surprised? The average CTR on Bing across all industries is 2.83%. That’s about 50% higher than Google Ads. When broken down by industry, the advantage still holds. And Bing’s expanded text ads deliver a much higher return when compared to Google Ads.
- Improved cost-per-click. CPC with Bing, on average, is over 40% less than with Google. Yet Bing ads still deliver good conversion rates.
- Less competition. While Google Ads has command of the search engine market, the space is crowded. That means much more competition and higher bid costs. Since fewer advertisers use Bing, you get better ad placements and less comparison shopping which can lead to better results.
Other worthwhile benefits include improved device targeting, greater transparency, and increased control over things like assigning different ad campaigns to different time zones.
Creating Bing PPC Ads
Now that we’ve established the enormous potential of Bing Ads for your business, here’s how to get started:
- Go to the Bing ads signup page and create an account.
- Choose your basic settings, which can include importing your Google Ads campaigns.
- Research keywords before writing your ads; remember, your ads are only as good as your targeting.
- Create your ads.
Lastly, you’ll need to decide on a budget for launching your campaign. Bing Ads has a handy feature called “Get performance estimates.” This gives you a good insight into what results you’re likely to see from your budget. As you test results, you may need to play around with the location, keyword, or bidding options until you find the mix that fits your particular business needs.
How much you spend depends on a variety of factors but, in general, Bing ads cost less due to fewer competitive bids. Want to do a quick comparison between your Google Ads and Bing Ads pricing?
Look at how much each platform recommends you spend on a given keyword. It’s not a perfect indicator, but it will give you a good idea of the gap between the two.
Bing Ads as Part of an Overall PPC Strategy
When used in conjunction with your Google Ad campaigns, Bing Ads can increase your reach, appeal to an older and higher-income demographic, deliver lower CPC and higher CTR, and potentially better ROI.
Are Bing PPC ads worth the effort? In our opinion, yes; they’re a fantastic opportunity to generate leads at a relatively lower cost. That’s something in which all advertisers should be interested. Bing Ads and Google Ads compliment each other. Bing makes for a fantastic, strong layered approach to PPC. In one sense, they feed off each other. It makes for a multi-dimensional strategy that expands reach and audiences. All good for businesses and our clients.
Atkins Marketing Solutions is ideally positioned to help you leverage both Google Ads and Bing Ads to build PPC campaigns that boost brand awareness while gaining a solid return on your marketing dollars. To learn how, contact us online today or call us at 714.904.4453.
Stuart Atkins
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