Microsoft’s Bing Ads is a powerful advertising platform that small business owners can use to attract new customers and increase their brand recognition. However, there are a few things you should know to maximize the effectiveness of this pay-per-click (PPC) network.
Download the Bing Ads Desktop Editor
What is the Bing Ads Desktop Editor and why should you use it? It’s exactly what it sounds like: a desktop-based program that allows advertisers to create and manage their Bing Ads campaigns straight from their desktop. Rather than logging into your account via a web browser to manage your campaigns, you can simply fire up the Bing Ads Desktop Editor. It’s completely free to use with no strings attached. However, the Bing Ads Desktop Editor is currently only available for PCs, with a Mac version expected to be released sometime next year.
Stick With Phrase and Exact Match Targeting
While there are always exceptions to this rule, it’s generally best to stick with phrase and exact match targeting options for your Bing Ads campaigns. Bing Ads offers several different match types, including broad, phrase, exact, and content. Broad match will yield more traffic, but the overall quality tends to be lower than that of phrase and exact match. This is due to the fact that broad match triggers your ad anytime the keyword is searched for by a user, even if it’s included as part of a phrase search query.
Choose the Right Keywords
As with most search engine PPC networks, the success of a Bing Ads campaign relies heavily on your chosen keywords. These are the keywords which will trigger your ad; thus, you should carefully choose them to maximize your conversions and return on investment. So, which keywords should you choose for Bing Ads? Ask yourself, what would a typical customer search for if they were looking to buy my products or services? If you run an e-commerce store that sells personalized wedding invitations, then perhaps you should target keywords such as “buy wedding invitations,” “personalized wedding invitations,” “wedding invitation store,” etc. Because these keywords are closely related to your niche, they will likely yield a high conversion rate and ROI.
A/B Split Test Ads
Far too many advertisers make the mistake of using a single ad in their Bing Ads campaigns. Why is this a problem? Even if the ad has a high click-through rate (CTR) and is driving sales to your website, chances are there’s room for improvement. In fact, there’s always room for improvement with online ads, which is why it’s recommended that you split test two or more ads simultaneously. Once the two ads have ran for a week or so, delete the under-performing ad and replace it with a new one. Continue this cycle indefinitely and should you notice a positive improvement in your Bing Ads campaigns.
