In the world of search, Google is and always has been king. The whole saying “content is king” is only valid because of Google anyway. If there wasn’t a platform for discovery the way Google entertains all our 5 billion searches each day, no content would be found and of course there would be no use in publishing so much content in the first place. A question or problem pops in your mind, you jump on your phone or laptop, pull up the google page or just simply a browser search bar, and type away… moments later you are shown many different entries from the results found by Google. Some are organic results, but the first ones on the page are usually paid search ads set by advertisers.
Now the question that remains is if Google is always the best at what it does in terms of search ads and bringing us the best leads at the lowest cost per lead? If anyone can give me a higher volume of leads, or lower cost per lead then I would love to tango with them. Even at the same cost and volume, if I can have leads who are better poised to convert to customers that would be a big win wouldn’t it?
And there we are. On the lookout for a better advertising system. At least in a certain way, and even if it is for a specific segment of our audience. The world’s second largest search engine Bing Ads, or as it is now called Microsoft Advertising, surely does catch our attention.
Can Bing Ads be Better than Google Ads for Me? How?
There are several ways that Bing can help us when it comes to search ads. Lets have a look:
1. Lower cost
Google Ads has the lion’s share of search traffic. That has been historically above 90 percent for most of the last 20 years. But just from 2013 we have started to see Google lose its grip and with it, its market share only to see Bing grab it up. Google to Bing search volume ratio was at 26 at the start of 2010. But has now declined to just 11. That means Bing has been able to really show itself and find some leg space and now needs to be taken seriously. (Source: Statista)
Nevertheless, Google Ads is still a lot more popular than Bing Ads. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing for Bing, nor for us as an advertiser. It means Bing has less advertisers, with lower competition. Lower costs per click is a natural consequence. Bing boasts a lower CPC of nearly 30 percent across many sectors. That is good for you as a budget conscious advertiser especially if you haven’t established a strong positive ROI, or are in the first couple years of your business. Startups can especially benefit from this, as well as businesses who seek more validation data at a lower price.
2. Better Social Extensions
If you have a strong social media presence and a well established brand, it can pay off to show off (even just a little bit). Bing gives your ads a good nudge by showing off the number of Twitter followers you have. That surely beats Google’s ad extensions which will show a glimpse of a brand’s Google+ followers. Reason being Google+ never really took off and no one is actively using it. Kudos to Bing and Microsoft for it.
If you are targeting the U.S. (North America) and Japan, or Americans and Japanese around the world, then you may want to seriously consider Bing Ads because of the high Twitter usage.
3. Difference in Demographics Compared to Google
When looking at all the right reasons to advertise on Bing, you also need to see the advantage the Bing demographic can bring you. If you are looking for marketing in the B2B space, or to a more business and finance savvy audience, Bing is the channel you don’t want to lose. In general, Bing’s user demographic leans towards blue-collar when compared to Google. Let’s have a quick look at the major demographic characteristics of its users:
- More than 70% of users are 35 years of age and older with the average age being around 45
- 38% of those who use Bing have a household income of more than $100,000
- 46% of users are married
- 85% of Bing users are in the United States
Looking at a more elderly, business savvy, and financially successful audience in your marketing that happens to be skewed American? Maybe business owners, high ranking partners, senior employees, decision makers, or even expats looking to set up a business abroad in a company who can potentially be your key to a winning contract? You’ll have to start to gain the benefits.
4. Search Demographic Targeting
I personally think one of the best features and game changing options Bing provides is the ability to control the demographics of its search campaigns.
You can increase or decrease bids for specific genders or age groups and this is a radical improvement compared to Google, who only offers demographic targeting in its Display Network. Meaning you can show a banner advertising “safe diets during pregnancy” to an only female audience in Google, but if a search for the same keyword “safe diets during pregnancy” is done by men and women alike, you won’t be able to exclude the men.
This is where Bing can shine in specific use cases since it allows you to control which age and gender groups to focus on in your search campaigns.
5. Higher Clickthrough Rates
As you probably know already there are two types of search results when you search for anything on Google or Bing: organic results and paid results. With organic results its all about SEO and how to rank high up in the listings by providing good reliable content that visitors find engaging and helpful. Paid results are the ones you can pay Google Ads or Bing Ads to return for your business. That makes sense since for ranking high in the organic results it might take a business 6-12 months and even more.
Now if you’re in a highly competitive industry where you can’t seem to rank in organic results, it will be very important to take advantage of search ads to cover for you and be able to take a small share of the traffic you need. And being able to rank well inside the advertising system (Google or Bing Ads) will still be a challenge or at least cost you more.
One of the items that can help you rank in higher ad positions within the search results, is your ad’s click through rate. With Bing because of less competition, you automatically see higher positions for your ad and with that higher click through rates of the ad. This in turn helps your ad position once more.
