Diversifying where your business is being seen is incredibly important in today’s digital landscape. It helps you appear in many places and connect with diverse audiences. When working with businesses, we constantly seek effective ways to promote products and services. While Google Ads is often the most obvious choice as it dominates the search engine market, Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Advertising) holds its ground as an alternative, commanding 12% of the query volume.
We acknowledge the importance of exploring different platforms to maximise your objective, ROI (return on investment), and audience gathering. So let’s delve into the pros and cons of Microsoft Advertising for your business.
Pros of Microsoft Advertising:
Lower Competition = Lower Cost Per Click:
One advantage of Microsoft is the lower competition in comparison to Google Ads. This can result in lower costs per click (CPC) and a higher ROI for advertisers. Therefore, less competition and fewer advertisers on the platform will result in a lower CPC. With less competition, businesses can capture the attention of their target audience more effectively.
Access to Unique Demographics:
Microsoft has a unique user demographic, with a significant portion of its audience consisting of older individuals and working professionals. For businesses that want to target these users, Bing presents an opportunity to reach potential customers who may not be as active on other platforms.
Easy to set up
The ads interface on Microsoft is quite similar to Google Ads. You can easily import your Google ads account into Microsoft. You will need to make changes, such as adjusting the campaign structure and setting up conversion tracking.
Ad Positioning:
Because there is less competition, advertisers on Microsoft often achieve better ad placements, leading to more visibility and higher click-through rates (CTR). Also, Microsoft Search Ads are a little harder to decipher from an organic search, meaning more users will click on a paid ad without even realising it.
Cons of Microsoft Advertising:
Limited Reach:
While Microsoft still has users using the search engine, it bears no comparison to Google’s reach. If a business was to solely focus on the Microsoft search engine for advertising it may miss out on capturing other audiences. Therefore, as part of the marketing strategy you will need to ensure that you are still covering other platforms.
Smaller Audience Pool:
Microsoft users tend to skew to the older and more affluent, which may not align with the target audience of every business. Companies targeting a younger demographic may find that Microsoft Advertising does not provide the reach they intend.
Less Advanced Features:
While Microsoft Advertising offers many of the same basic features as Google Ads, it lacks many of the tools available on Google’s platforms. So compared to Google, reporting or analytics capability is more limited.
Limited Third-Party Integration:
Unlike Google Ads, which seamlessly integrates with various third-party tools and platforms. Microsoft Advertising also has limited compatibility with certain marketing tools and software. This can be challenging for businesses seeking to streamline their reports and advertising.
In conclusion, Microsoft Advertising offers a range of benefits for businesses looking to diversify their ads visibility. There are many reasons to consider incorporating Microsoft Ads into your advertising mix. However, it’s important to weigh these advantages against the platform’s limitations, including its smaller reach.
As a digital agency, Conversion Marketing can provide expert advice on what platforms will help you achieve your marketing objectives. Talk to our Microsoft Experts today!
