How Businesses Can Use Bing Ads to Grow Their Revenue

Bing Ads (now called Microsoft Advertising) is a pay‑per‑click (PPC) platform that lets businesses run search and display ads across the Microsoft Search Network, Yahoo, and AOL, as well as on partner sites and apps. It is a powerful complement to Google Ads and a strong option for businesses that want to reach a different, often more cost‑effective audience. Paid search and display promotions appear above or below organic search results, in news feeds, and on video and article pages. You only pay when someone clicks your ad, making it performance‑driven like other PPC platforms.

Although Bing’s total search volume is smaller than Google’s, it still reaches millions of unique users, especially on desktop and among older, higher‑income, and B2B audiences. For many industries, the average cost per click on Bing is significantly lower than on Google, which can improve return on advertising spend.

Why Bing Ads Matter

Bing Ads matter because they add reach beyond Google and help you capture traffic you might otherwise miss. Research shows Microsoft Advertising reaches people who differ slightly from Google’s audience, often with:

• A higher percentage of users aged 35+ and higher household income.
• Strong B2B and professional‑services behavior, especially when LinkedIn‑based audiences are layered in.
• Lower competition and lower CPCs in many industries.

Running Bing Ads alongside Google Ads can increase overall visibility, drive more conversions, and sometimes lower your average cost per lead or sale.

Bing Ads Campaign Types

Microsoft Advertising supports several campaign types that businesses can use alone or together.

• Search Ads appear on Bing, Yahoo, AOL, and partner search results. These are text‑based ads triggered by search queries and are ideal for capturing intent‑based traffic.
• Dynamic Search Ads use your website content to auto‑generate headlines and match your ads to search queries. They are useful for covering more search terms without manually adding every keyword.
• Shopping Ads highlight products with images, prices, and retailer details, making them effective for e‑commerce and price‑sensitive audiences.
• Demand‑Side Platform (DSP) Ads (via Microsoft Audience Network) serve display, native, and video ads across partner sites like MSN, Outlook, Microsoft Edge, and Netflix, allowing for awareness and remarketing.

Each type works best when aligned with a clear goal such as traffic, leads, or sales.

How to Set Up Bing Ads

Microsoft Advertising campaigns are created inside the Microsoft Ads console, which is free to access. The basic setup usually includes:

• Creating a Microsoft Advertising account and setting up billing.
• Choosing a campaign type (search, dynamic, shopping, or audience).
• Naming your campaign and setting a budget and schedule.
• Defining your target audience using location, language, audiences, and device settings.
• Setting up keywords (broad, phrase, exact) or product feeds.
• Writing your ad copy, adding extensions, and setting bids.
• Adding the Microsoft UET (Universal Event Tracking) tag to track conversions.

Once live, you can monitor clicks, impressions, CPC, and conversions from the dashboard and refine bids, keywords, and creative over time.

Bing Ads vs. Google Ads

Many businesses think of Bing Ads as “just another search engine,” but it has a few key differences from Google Ads:

• Smaller but different audience: Bing reaches millions of users who often skew older, more B2B‑focused, and higher‑income.
• Lower CPC and competition: Average CPC on Bing is often 30–50% lower than on Google, which can reduce cost per acquisition in many industries.
• Simpler interface and easy import: Microsoft Ads lets you import existing Google Ads campaigns, which can speed up launch and testing.
• Strong B2B targeting: When combined with LinkedIn‑based audiences, Bing can be very effective for B2B lead generation.

Running both platforms together usually produces more complete search coverage and better ROI than relying on just one.

Best Practices for Better Results

To get the most from Bing Ads, many marketers follow a few core best practices.

• Import your Google Ads campaigns as a starting point, then refine keywords and bids for Bing’s audience.
• Use structured ad groups with tightly themed keywords to keep messaging consistent.
• Add ad extensions (sitelinks, callouts, call extensions) to increase ad real estate and relevance.
• Apply negative keywords to block irrelevant or low‑intent traffic.
• Test multiple ad variations and optimize based on CTR, conversion rate, and cost per conversion.
• Use Microsoft UET and conversion tags to track meaningful actions and let Bing’s AI optimize.

These habits help improve efficiency and lower wasted spend.

Targeting and Audience Options

Microsoft Advertising offers several targeting tools beyond simple keywords:

• Search audiences based on search behavior and inferred intent.
• Remarketing to users who visited your site or interacted with previous ads.
• Demographics and location for geographic and device targeting.
• LinkedIn‑based audiences (for B2B) targeting by job title, company, industry, and seniority.
• Contextual and content targeting on the Audience Network for display and native placements.

This mix lets you build precise, performance‑driven campaigns instead of relying only on broad search.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Many businesses underperform with Bing Ads because they treat them as a low‑priority channel. Common mistakes include:

• Launching campaigns without conversion tracking, so they cannot measure ROI.
• Using broad match with no negatives, which wastes budget on low‑intent queries.
• Not refining imported Google Ads campaigns for Bing’s audience and search behavior.
• Ignoring ad extensions and missing out on extra visibility and engagement.

Taking time to structure campaigns, track performance, and optimize creatively can make a big difference.

Bing Ads and Other Channels

Bing Ads work well on their own, but they are even stronger when combined with SEO, email, and other paid channels. A strong strategy might:

• Run Bing Ads to capture additional search‑intent traffic.
• Use the Audience Network for awareness and remarketing.
• Retarget engaged visitors with Google or Meta ads or email sequences.

This cross‑channel approach helps reinforce your message and improves overall return on ad spend.

Final Thoughts

Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising) remain a strong, cost‑effective complement to Google Ads for businesses that want to extend their reach and lower average CPC. When campaigns are built with clear goals, precise targeting, and strong conversion tracking, Bing Ads can become a reliable source of traffic, leads, and sales. For marketers who already use search advertising, adding Bing Ads is a smart way to diversify reach and improve the efficiency of their paid search strategy.