Should you advertise on Bing?

Is Bing a waste of time and money?

If you are reading this I’m willing to bet a few pennies that you know of, or have heard about Google ads, AdWords or Search engine marketing (SEM). Google has always dominated the SEM market, hence why people many times associate SEM with Google's AdWords - some people just call it Google Ads. I like to call it Google Ads myself as everyone seems to be on the same page.

However, Microsoft recently decided to join the party and launch their own SEM platform - Bing Ads. Now I believe people will appreciate that we distinguish between the two. Google Ads, Bing Ads. Now we are on the same page, right?

Are Bing Ads the right fit for you?

Having worked with Google ads for years I have lately seen CPCs (cost per clicks) “skyrocket”, increased competition, no right-hand side ads etc., which makes it increasingly more difficult and costly for businesses and advertisers to get a good ROI out of AdWords. We have been running Microsoft Bing Ads for service based clients and online retail businesses. The only thing I can say is we’ve seen nothing but very positive results. Our CTR (click through rate) for our Google campaigns are always good, but they seem to be as good, if not better, on Bing.

For one of our online retail clients, we've seen ROIs of 10-20 - so Bing is a must in any comprehensive marketing strategy. If you can rank well organically on Google it’s definitely worth trying Bing Ads if you already have a tight budget. The average CPC is much cheaper too. So, less competition, and cheaper clicks. What else is there to ask for?

How about search traffic?

The term “Googling” wasn’t invented for no reason. We rarely say, “search for X”. We say “Google X”. So obviously there are a lot of people using Google search to look for products, services, and other stuff. However, Bing/Internet Explorer is the default browser for Windows. We saw a client the other week, they used Bing when they did a search. We asked, “why?” – they said, “because it is the default browser”.

What I am trying to say is right now Google will have more search traffic. But it also comes at a cost. More competition and higher CPCs. One important thing to note is, we can see a lack and will power to change and adapt to new things with the older generation. Summary, you will most likely find an older demographic on Bing. Remember, older people usually have a great spending power too.

How many times haven’t you heard your parents say “I can’t use the internet really, I will click on a link and if I like what I see I will take action”. Ok, that exact sentence I’ve never heard my parents say, but we have older clients who basically say that stuff all the time. They don’t understand the internet like the younger demographic does. So if they find something, like a tile remover they like, or a tree cutter that looks qualified and reliable they will make that call there and then. They have no time to mess around.

Should you try Bing search ads?

Long story short. Yes. You should definitely tryit out. The support at the Bing AdCentre has always been great. Very helpful. You can also import your Google account to Bing so you don’t have to spend valuable time setting up another account.

Give it a shot. You won’t be disappointed. If you try it out but don’t get anything from it something is probably not right – that’s when you call us.

Need help to set it up? Then you can reach out to us too.