With Google’s control of the vast majority of the online search market and it’s domination in the arena of search engines it’s easy to overlook other search engines and tools in your digital marketing arsenal. Indeed Google has been seen to significantly boost the traffic being driven to websites, and lead to an increase in conversion rates when used properly, however, it might not be wise to leave search engines like Bing behind in the dust. If you truly want to develop your online business, it’s always worth seeing where you can progress and improve your digital marketing tactics. 

Some Bingformation

According to most recent statistics, Bing hosts an impressive number of approximately 65 million users worldwide from all demographics. When you look at the possibilities here, this can expand your market and potential website traffic theoretically by 65 million visitors. In reality, it would be difficult to get all these people’s attention, but the point here is that it’s a platform that should not be neglected at all. 

Bing is a search engine owned and operated by Microsoft, and currently ranks 2nd worldwide when it comes to search engine usage, behind Google. 

Why Bing?

For those who don’t actually use Bing as a search engine, it may seem counterintuitive to advertise on one that you don’t necessarily use, but the fact remains that the Bing market represents a non-negligible amount of potential when trying to boost your ROI. 

For one, the competition on Bing is lower than with Google due to the fact that fewer people advertise on it than Google. The lower competition rate provides an added bonus with it, the price point for the actual advertising is significantly lower per click. This can mean a number of different things to a business owner. As a result they might be able to launch more campaigns for varying products, and they could as mentioned before expand the market that their products can reach. Almost 12% of searches online come from Bing, this might not seem like much but from a business standpoint why deny the business a potential 10% of the market, if access and advertising for it was up to 50% cheaper? 

How Does It Work?

Similarly to Google Ads, Bing is also a Pay-Per-Click platform when it comes to advertising. The ads are auction-based but with the added advantage of being cheaper as mentioned before. The name for this service on Bing is called Audience Ads. Also similarly to Google Ads, when conceptualizing an Audience Ad campaign, the value of relevant Keywords in reaching your target audience is high. Therefore your research process before publishing the ad will be quite similar to the process you undertake with Google Ads. 

In some ways Bing has a leg up on Google Ads seeing as audience Ads allows you to target your audience in a more efficient manner and with less stringent restrictions than Google. Where Google allows you to view your demographic targeting on it’s display network, Bing allows you to have control over what ages and demographics specifically will see your ad. This can be a big deal for businesses with a business model that is suitable for people of a particular demographic, and also avoids any wasteful advertising (advertising that reaches an uninterested non-target audience).

Tips for Audience Ads

Here are a few things that are worth noting prior to expanding your advertising on Bing. 

• Research – Changing search engine platform does not mean changing your research methodology. Try to understand how your target audience goes about searching for products on Bing, at what times of day are they most active and what most influences their decision to make a purchase. Answering these questions will make your advertising on Bing more efficient.

• Keywords – Shift your focus to keywords that give you the best of both worlds. There are keywords that get the most impressions but also cost less. Before selecting a keyword, think what the search competition for that word could be. If your products are specific then so should your keywords be. 

• Avoid wide targeting – This relates to the previous tip, don’t go too wide or vague on your keywords as this can end up reaching an audience that is not profitable or that you are not interested in selling too, therefore wasting what you have spent on the advertisement. 

For those of you who are used to Google, the process of creating an Audience Ad could feel a little complex and different because the methodology takes a little getting used to, but this isn’t something you should go through yourself. At Methodika we recognize the value of advertising on multiple platforms and have experts ready to help you boost your conversion rates. Reach out to us for a free consultation on how we can help develop your business.