osoft is working to improve its advertising platform. Here are some reasons brands should consider it in 2023

ICYMI, Microsoft has ambitious goals: To double its ad revenue to $20 billion.

Why is this such big news? Google and Meta are starting to fade, leaving more room for emerging platforms such as TikTok and Amazon.

What about Microsoft Ads?

Microsoft’s search- and news advertising revenues have grown steadily over the past four quarters ( Q2: 32% HTML3: 18% HTML4: 15%, Q1: 16%).

Microsoft Ads has one advantage: It is cost-effective. It is typically less expensive than Google Ads, and allows you to target specific audiences with relevant ads at lower costs per click.

Microsoft Ads also provides detailed analytics that make it easy to monitor ROI and refine campaigns over time.

However, Microsoft is still far behind Google in terms users. Google has an average share of 83.84% in the global search market. This is down from 89.95% over the last three years. Bing’s share, however, has increased from 3.99% to 8.88%.

What do other advertisers think?

I interviewed Christine Askew from Workshop Digital (and 2022 winner of Best Bi-B2B Search Marketing Initiative), and Timothy Jensen, of M&T Bank (and SMX Next panelist for 2023 PPC Trends to Get ahead of) their opinions on why more brands should give Microsoft Ads a fair shot.

Is it a good thing to have Google search competition? Search marketers should look for Microsoft Ads competitors.

Google search is competitive, which encourages companies and investors to innovate, invest more in search technologies, create better user experiences, and make better investments.

The competition helps keep prices down and ensures that no search engine has too large a market share.

Search marketers can reap the benefits of a more competitive marketplace by creating better search options and competitive pricing.

Competition helps ensure search results are objective and unmanipulated.

Competition is good for the industry, and it helps users have a better search experience.

What has Microsoft done to improve their Ads Dashboard, features and product offerings?

Microsoft introduced a unified interface to allow for cross-platform optimization and better insights. They also include more detailed reports, data visualization and new tools for campaign management.

Microsoft also launched new features like audience insight and automated bid strategies to help users target their campaigns more effectively.

Microsoft has also improved its product offerings, including the ability manage multiple campaigns from one single dashboard, and the ability optimize campaigns for different devices.

These are just a handful of the most recent products and features that Microsoft has released:

• Expanding Shopping Campaigns to More Markets
• New type of advertisement for service providers
• Automotive Ads receive more places, global rollout
• Recent reports, previews in real-time and more are all part of the updates to the reporting dashboard
• Cashback incentives for advertisements
• New badges and levels, as well as a learning center
• Bing is creating a new online retail marketplace
• Shopping campaigns auto-updates are now available
• Netflix, Microsoft partner for ad supported subscription plan
• 5 new products and updates for ad products are launched
• Multimedia ads have been launched

Microsoft Ads: When will they get respect?

Microsoft has been playing long-game for a very long time. Microsoft’s history is long and includes many missed opportunities dating back more than a decade.

Microsoft Ads has struggled to earn the respect of search marketers. Microsoft has been improving its platform, such as the introduction of a more unified interface and detailed reporting.

Search marketers are also beginning to see the value in Microsoft Ads. This includes its ability to target campaigns across multiple platforms, and its automated bidding strategies.

It is possible that Microsoft Ads will be more widely known by search marketers as more people become aware of its benefits.

• Askew stated, “This may just happen with time. And by differentiating themselves from Google – their number one competitor”
• They improve the reliability of mapping search queries intent to keywords. Even exact match keywords can’t match to high volumes of irrelevant terms. Jensen stated that Microsoft should listen more to advertisers concerns regarding the direction Google is taking and be bold enough not to try to match every Google change.

What can Microsoft do to be more competitive in the ad market?

Jensen suggests a more complete integration with LinkedIn.

• “The LinkedIn profile targeting capabilities that we have are a great starting point. But we were promised more targeting options. Combining the Audience Network with group targeting, job seniority targeting and other options could make these tools more powerful. Jensen stated that a longer-term goal is to be able to run campaigns on LinkedIn via Microsoft Ads or vice versa with a wide range of targeting options.

Microsoft ads are a great option for brands and advertisers.

Microsoft provides more detailed reporting and data visualization. They also offer automated bidding strategies, audience insights, and automated bidding strategies. There are many ad formats available, including text, image and video ads.

Microsoft Ads are competitively priced making them a good choice for brands and advertisers with tight budgets.

Multimedia Ads was added to the platform, giving it a unique feature advertisers won’t be able to find in other ad solutions.

• “I believe Microsoft has the reputation of being a follower of Google for months. Our team is always amazed when Microsoft releases new features that are different from Google. Askew stated that Microsoft Ads will be more popular if you are a trend-setter than a follower.

Why is it so hard for brands to run Microsoft Ads?

Askew stated that there is a misconception that everyone uses Google for their search engine of choice. However, in reality, 724 million unique desktop users worldwide used the Microsoft Search Network in December 2021 according to comscore Search.

• “A client asked me if people use Microsoft’s search engine. I answered him with this handy statistic. Advertisers who are experts in lead generation may focus on lead volume and conclude that Google is driving more leads at a lower cost per lead. However, in reality, there is also lead quality to be analyzed.
  
  One of my B2B clients has seen a lower lead volume and a lower cost per lead with Microsoft than Google. However, every month we continue to see a higher percentage of those leads convert into opportunities in Salesforce, which could lead to a contract/revenue. This is a sign that Microsoft generates higher quality leads than Google.

  We would be completely undervaluing Microsoft if we stopped looking at only lead volume. This is why many advertisers, who don’t have closed-loop data, may be reluctant to advertise with them.

Jensen stated that, aside from the obvious fact that volume is much lower than Google’s, performance can sometimes be unpredictable.

• While I have worked with brands that get great results from Microsoft, my experience is that leads are less quality and can be skewed month to month. This can happen in terms of both the number of conversions and their qualification. There is much to be desired in search query mapping to keywords. Jensen stated that the recent attempt to “force” Audience Network inclusion into campaigns (unless you choose for an account-wide exclusion), has not helped.

Microsoft Ads are better than Google Ads.

Microsoft has some advantages over Google Ads. They offer a single interface that allows cross-platform optimization and provides more detailed reporting.

Microsoft also offers different pricing options and a range of ad formats, which are likely to be cheaper than Google. Microsoft offers a wider global market that can prove to be beneficial to advertisers and brands seeking to increase their reach. Askew said:

• “Google is not as relevant to B2B industries than Google. Google has lower click costs, so you get more bang for your bucks.

  Microsoft offers different extensions than Google, which are now called assets. These include action assets and filter links assets. Microsoft Clarity (a less-known and free tool for user recording and heat mapping that can be used in order to understand user behavior while on a website) is also available.

  I believe that the audiences Microsoft has are more relevant to the B2B market than Meta, compared to Meta. Particularly since Meta has been slowly removing audience targeting options. B2B businesses need to get the audience targeting right.

Jensen stated that, despite its limitations, Microsoft’s LinkedIn integration offers a huge advantage with an unmatched level of B2B data.

• While volume can be difficult, I have seen excellent conversion data by layering on job functions or industries with the right brands. Their ‘underdog” status has an advantage. There have been some attempts to listen to marketers, and roll out helpful features. However, this is less common in recent years.

Are Microsoft ads better for B2B marketing?

It depends. It depends. Sorry.)

Microsoft offers a variety of ad formats including image, text and video ads. They also offer audience insights and automated bidding strategies.

Microsoft Ads also allows for cross-platform optimization, detailed reporting, and makes it easier to track campaign performance and measure it.

Microsoft’s competitive pricing and variety of pricing options make it a great choice for B2B campaigns that are budget-conscious.

Askew noted that volume of Google’s competitor would be less than itss. Brands could be cautious for this reason.

What about the Audience Network.

Brands can use the Microsoft Ads Audience Network to reach users across a range of platforms such as websites and mobile apps. This is especially useful for brands that want to reach a broad range of audiences, especially B2B.

The Audience Network also provides more data and insights that allow brands to tailor their campaigns to target audiences.

The Audience Network integration is also available in the Ads platform. This allows brands to manage campaigns across multiple platforms using a single dashboard.

Microsoft Ads has made great strides in recent years

Microsoft continues to grow with the aid of AI technology. Microsoft is investing heavily in machine intelligence and artificial learning, which will significantly improve its advertising capabilities in future.

Search marketers looking to get better results should not overlook Microsoft. Microsoft Ads can perform just as well as Google Ads if you have the right optimization strategy and target the right keywords.

The post Microsoft is improving their ad platform. This is why brands should try it in 2023.