Microsoft Advertising, previously known as Bing Ads, is a huge opportunity for digital advertising. It might not have the reach and sheer size of Google Ads, but when it comes to effectiveness and results, it can definitely compete.
Myth #1 – Nobody uses Bing
Whilst Google definitely dominates the market, it’s not true that nobody uses Bing. In fact, there is a substantial percentage of traffic that uses Bing as a key search engine.
26% of UK internet searchers use Bing and 82% of the world’s computers use Windows, with Bing as a default search engine built-in to the system. This is a large amount of traffic that can’t really be ignored if you want to achieve ecommerce success. When visualised as a total, Bing Ads reach 63 million searchers that aren’t reached with Google Ads.
This is a big opportunity.
Myth #2 – Microsoft Advertising is only a supplementary strategy
Many retailers see Google Ads as the core advertising strategy, with Microsoft Advertising supporting this with a simpler strategy to just capture any remaining opportunity.
Whilst this is a valid strategy depending on your aims and objectives, it’s not the only approach to take.
In fact, Microsoft Advertising can be a powerhouse strategy for some brands. In our experience, we have seen this work incredibly well for B2B brands and retailers with an average customer base over the age of 35.
Almost 75% of Bing users are over 35 and so if this fits with your target market, it could be the core strategy to explore.
Myth #3 – It’s not profitable to advertise with Microsoft Advertising
Because Google is usually the go-to search engine for digital advertising, many retailers expect that as a result, Microsoft Advertising just isn’t going to be profitable and they are going to see a lower ROI.
However, due to the fact there is less competition from other retailers, Microsoft Advertising can sometimes be cheaper than Google Ads. This of course depends on your industry, your average basket value, your conversion rate etc.
Bing Ads see an average 33.5% cheaper CPC than Google Ads, and often sees better ad positions too.
Microsoft Advertising isn’t to be overlooked
We can’t say whether you’ll definitely see better results on Bing than Google, but we’d definitely recommend exploring it. We help retailers achieve success on both platforms and it all depends on the brand.