If you are running pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, then you’re probably already familiar with Google Adwords (or Facebook). But chances are, you’re not investing some of your advertising dollars into the Bing/Yahoo network. If that is the case, you may need to rethink that strategy and seriously consider Bing/Yahoo as an addition to your digital advertising efforts.
In 2010, Bing (Microsoft) and Yahoo’s partnership did exactly what they hoped for – increase search volume to the Bing search engine and by so doing, improve their advertising market share (which Google dominated by 80%-85% prior to the partnership).
Today, the Bing ad platform has the ability to show ads not only on their own search engine, but on their syndicated partners like Facebook, Amazon, Monster, WebMD, CNBC, and Viacom. According to recent data, Bing/Yahoo now owns a little over 30% of search market share in the United States (up from 20% in 2015). This number is expected to grow considering that Yahoo signed a deal with Google to allow Google’s ads to show for some Yahoo search results!
If you’re still asking yourself how advertising on Bing would increase your ROI, here are a few compelling reasons:
- Conversion rates are generally better on Bing than on Google. Since the Google and Bing search engines are utilized by different audiences, the reach for both search engines is also very different. What this means is that if you’re only advertising on Google, you’re missing out on a section of your target audience on the MSN network. This audience group is typically older (25-54), generating more sales and higher conversion rates, and is a primary target for a B2C businesses.
- Less competiton than on Google. Compared to Google, competition for keywords on the Bing network is much lower. This helps your advertising dollars go a longer way to produce more traffic to your website. In addition to that, cost per click is much lower on the Bing platform. In fact, recent data shows that for most verticals, cost per click is 42% less on the Bing network than it is on the Google search network.
- Diversify, Diversify, Diversify! If you are business who is looking to dominate your market in a particular geo-target, it a no-brainer to advertise on both the Google and Bing networks. Adding another paid search source to your current one diversifies your traffic and keeps you competitive, even if one source goes down.
If you’re ready to try the Bing ad network, here’s a word of advice: start small or as a test and then when you see success, ramp it up. New campaigns don’t always take off flying on the Bing network, however, results are almost always better than on the Google platform. Also, monitor your traffic analytics constantly to get a good sense of changes in your paid traffic sources. This is especially important if you have new campaigns running on the Bing network. If you want to see how PCG has used the Bing network for clients, check out our latest case study.
About the Author
Kwasi is PCG's Paid Search Director. When he’s not analyzing digital advertising data, Kwasi likes to travel, spend time with family, and watch sports.