When it comes to “Search” or “Pay-per-click” usually the first thing that comes to mind is: Google!
This goes for both advertising as well as organic search. When it comes to asking and typing in queries across the internet, Google is definitely king, and when it comes to search engines, they’re very often the first choice that businesses and digital marketers tap into. But just because Google takes the biggest slice of cake in the search engine industry, that’s no reason to completely take Microsoft Ads (formerly known as Bing ads) off the table.
How Microsoft Ads Can Benefit Your Business
There are three important points to take into consideration if you’re considering investing in Microsoft Ads for your Search Engine Marketing (SEM).
1. It’s A Whole Other Audience to Tap Into
It’s widely known that Google’s user base is massive. However, with over 13.7 billion monthly searches around the globe Microsoft Bing’s audience remains significant. Add to that the fact that Bing has 45.4 million searchers that Google cannot reach.
Of those users, it’s important to note that Microsoft Bing’s audience leans towards an older and more educated audience. Broken down, ¾ of that audience are over 35 years old, wherein 37% are college graduates, and 25% with a household income in the top 25%.
Given that, Bing users are an audience that’s fresh with new and exciting opportunities for business. Tapping into this network would be the perfect complement to an already successful Google Ads campaign.
2. Less Competition means Lower Cost-Per-Click
Bigger doesn’t always mean better. While some might look at Microsoft Ads’ small audience as a challenge, it could also be perceived as an opportunity. In fact, some might go so far as to say that the smaller audience is actually Microsoft’s biggest advantage!
A larger audience and user base also means larger competition (in terms of both quantity and quality). With small and big businesses alike all sponsoring ads on Google, reaching your ideal audience becomes more difficult. Your cost-per-click (CPC) is bound to increase because you’re not just competing with more advertisers, but you’re also competing with bigger businesses as well.
That’s where Microsoft Bing has the advantage. The small audience means lower advertising costs. Because there are less advertisers competing for attention on Bing, you get to enjoy a lower CPC. In fact, your ad spend on Microsoft ads are bound to be 70% lower than Google ads. So even if you run Google and Microsoft Ads side-by-side, you’re bound to get a lot more returns compared to if you just focused on Google Ads.
3. Find Your Audience with Detailed Targeting
When it comes to defining your target audience for your advertising campaigns, Google lets you identify users’ network, location, language, schedule, and ad rotation at a campaign level. On the other hand, Microsoft Ads lets you do all that, and more!
One thing Microsoft ads lets you do differently is allow you to target specific audiences based on the device and operating system that they’re using. This is only possible for certain campaign types for Google Ads. Imagine being able to target Android and iOS operating systems separately. Each one has its distinct demographic, advantages and disadvantages. And curtailing your ads to those specific audiences gives you a huge advantage. Microsoft Ads also lets you assign different time zones between each of your campaigns. This is perfect if you want to make sure that your ads are reaching the right audience at the right time.
Of course, you don’t have to choose between one or the other, between Google or Microsoft. Rather, the best way to go about reaching your audience is to advertise on both platforms. Set aside a budget for both platforms and you’ll hit practically all users searching throughout the web. And if you’re already running ads on Google but aren’t familiar with Microsoft Ads, that’s where our agents and experts are willing to lend a hand at helping you to achieve your digital advertising goals and reach your highest potential.