Microsoft Ads, formerly known as Bing Ads, is a pay-per-click (PPC) advertising platform that enables businesses to display ads across the Microsoft Search Network, which includes Bing, Yahoo, and AOL, with unique advantages, such as a less competitive market and lower cost-per-click (CPC) rates. The platform is particularly valuable for businesses looking to diversify their online advertising strategy, access a unique audience, and extend their reach across multiple channels.

Microsoft Ads offers a wide variety of campaign types, each tailored to specific advertising goals. Whether an advertiser wants to reach customers actively searching for products, retarget past website visitors, or showcase products directly within search results, Microsoft Ads campaign types allow for precise targeting. 

This article provides a comprehensive guide to Microsoft Ads campaign types, offering insights into how each type can help achieve various marketing goals.

Overview of Microsoft Ads Campaign Types

For advertisers already familiar with Google Ads, Microsoft Ads is a natural extension of existing PPC campaigns. Its interface and campaign structure are similar, making it easy for marketers to integrate both platforms into a comprehensive strategy. Whether aiming to drive traffic, boost conversions, or build brand awareness, Microsoft Ads provides a powerful toolkit that offers access to a high-value audience. Additionally, it is ideal for B2B businesses and specific demographics, like an older and higher-income user base. 

Microsoft Ads provides several campaign types, each with unique benefits and applications. This flexibility allows advertisers to choose formats that align with their business goals, audience, and budget. Knowing the Microsoft Ads campaign types, their strengths, and limitations is crucial for maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS) and campaign efficiency.

Types of Microsoft Ads Campaigns

The different Microsoft Ads campaign types give advertisers the versatility to create ads that align closely with their marketing objectives, from broad brand awareness to targeted product promotion. Leveraging the right type of campaign for specific business goals helps drive higher engagement and more effective advertising.

Search Ads Campaigns

Microsoft Search Ads Campaigns allow advertisers to place their ads directly within Bing search results. These ads are triggered by keywords that users input when searching, making them highly relevant to the audience’s needs. As users type search terms, the platform matches the ad to those keywords, showing it to people with high intent for specific products or services.

Search campaigns are highly effective at capturing audiences with clear interest, as the keywords indicate specific intent. This type of campaign works well to drive traffic to your site or landing pages, helping generate leads and conversions from users already searching for related solutions.

• When to Use: Best suited for businesses aiming to attract potential customers who are actively looking for their offerings. Search campaigns are particularly valuable for lead generation and direct sales.
• Best Practices: To make the most of Microsoft Search Ads campaigns, conduct thorough keyword research to ensure relevance and reach. Use ad extensions like callouts, site links, and structured snippets to enhance ad visibility. Finally, craft compelling ad copy to attract clicks and improve the ad’s quality score.

Audience Ads

Microsoft Audience Ads campaign on the Microsoft Audience Network allows brands to expand their reach beyond search, leveraging visually engaging ads on platforms like MSN, Outlook, and Microsoft Edge. This campaign type provides display and native advertising options, allowing businesses to deliver ads in a more visual, immersive way to audiences as they browse content.

Audience Ads are ideal for reaching potential customers during their browsing journey, even if they’re not actively searching for a product or service. This campaign type can increase brand awareness and expand visibility across a wider, relevant audience.

• When to Use: Audience Ads are a good choice for awareness-building campaigns, especially if you want to reach a broad audience across various online spaces. They’re also effective when aiming to introduce new products or drive engagement at the top of the funnel.
• Best Practices: To optimize a Microsoft Audience Ads campaign, refine your audience targeting by leveraging custom audiences based on demographics or online behavior. Make the most of Microsoft’s creative tools, using high-quality visuals and compelling headlines to capture attention.

Shopping Ads Campaigns

Microsoft Shopping Ads campaign type showcases product images, prices, and details directly within Bing Shopping results. These ads are highly visual and can attract shoppers actively browsing for items, making them an effective format for driving e-commerce sales. 

This campaign type puts products front and center, allowing potential customers to see details before clicking through. These ads help increase the chances of conversions by targeting high-intent shoppers looking for specific products.

• When to Use: Microsoft Shopping Ads campaigns are ideal for e-commerce brands with a wide product catalog. They’re most effective for businesses looking to drive direct sales and increase visibility in Bing’s shopping space.
• Best Practices: To get the best results, ensure product feeds are accurate and up-to-date. Use high-quality images to enhance visual appeal, and optimize product titles and descriptions to help ads stand out in search results.

Dynamic Search Ads

Microsoft Dynamic Search Ads campaign type (DSAs) uses your website content to automatically generate ads, eliminating the need for extensive keyword research. Microsoft Ads scans your site, identifies relevant searches, and serves ads to capture traffic based on website content.

DSAs also help capture additional traffic that may not align with specific keywords, offering more flexibility in reaching a wider audience.

• When to Use: Microsoft Dynamic Search Ads are a great choice for websites with many pages, or for businesses that frequently launch new products. They can help fill gaps in keyword coverage and attract additional visitors interested in your content.
• Best Practices: Set up specific dynamic ad targets that align with your business goals, and regularly review ad performance to ensure it’s meeting expectations. Structure your site well, as Microsoft Ads relies on the organization and content of web pages to create relevant ads.

App Install Ads

The App Install Ads campaign type is designed specifically to encourage users to download a mobile app directly from the ad. These ads appear across the Microsoft Audience Network and are optimized to drive more app downloads with streamlined calls to action that link directly to app stores.

• When to Use: For businesses with a dedicated mobile app, App Install Ads are invaluable in building a user base, especially during the initial launch period or for specific marketing campaigns centered around app engagement, as they directly target audiences likely to engage with mobile applications. By guiding users straight to the download page, these ads reduce friction, increasing the chances of installs.
• Best Practices: Craft clear, action-oriented calls to action that encourage downloads. Target audiences based on mobile device type and app interests to reach the right users. Highlight unique app features or benefits that distinguish it from competitors.

Responsive Search Ads

Microsoft Responsive Search Ads (RSAs) adapt dynamically by testing multiple headline and description combinations to find the best-performing message for each user. Advertisers can provide a variety of options, and Microsoft Ads will automatically find combinations that perform best, optimizing for clicks and conversions.

• When to Use: Microsoft Responsive Search Ads are ideal for advertisers interested in testing different messaging combinations or who want to see which elements resonate best with their audience.
• Best Practices: Use diverse headlines and descriptions to cover different aspects of the product or service being advertised. Set up multiple variations and review performance regularly to identify which combinations perform best, then refine your messages accordingly.

Multimedia Ads

Microsoft Multimedia Ads combine rich media elements, such as images, video, and audio, to create visually engaging ads. They appear across the Microsoft Audience Network, using a variety of formats to attract attention and improve brand awareness.

Multimedia Ads are effective in creating a memorable visual presence. They help brands connect with users on an emotional level by using dynamic visuals, which can enhance user engagement and encourage interaction.

• When to Use: Microsoft Multimedia Ads are ideal for campaigns focused on brand awareness or for products and services that benefit from a strong visual component.
• Best Practices: Use high-quality creative assets that resonate with the target audience. Target users based on demographics, behaviors, and interests for the best reach. Regularly monitor engagement metrics, such as clicks and impressions, to gauge the ad’s impact and make adjustments as needed.

Local Inventory Ads

Local Inventory Ads showcase in-stock products available at nearby physical stores on Bing. These ads display local availability, driving potential customers to visit in person by showing that the items they’re searching for are in stock locally.

• When to Use: Local Inventory Ads are a powerful tool for brick-and-mortar businesses, helping increase foot traffic to stores. These ads provide customers with real-time inventory, which can boost in-store visits and conversions from users who prefer to buy locally.
• Best Practices: Ensure inventory information is up-to-date, as accuracy is critical for customer satisfaction. Use store location targeting to reach nearby customers and integrate with inventory management systems to keep data current.

Smart Shopping Campaigns

Smart Shopping Campaigns use automated bidding and targeting to optimize for conversions, combining Google’s machine learning with ad management. By automating ad delivery, these campaigns streamline the setup process for online retailers.

Smart Shopping Campaigns simplify the ad management process, making it easier for e-commerce businesses to drive conversions. They combine shopping ads, dynamic remarketing, and display ads to help reach users at different stages of the purchasing process.

• When to Use: Smart Shopping Campaigns are ideal for e-commerce businesses that want to leverage automation for easier ad management, particularly when promoting a wide range of products.
• Best Practices: Provide high-quality product feeds with accurate data and descriptions. Give the algorithm time to optimize, as it learns and adapts over time. Take advantage of targeting options to reach new audiences based on customer behavior.

Microsoft Ads Bidding Strategies

Choosing the right bidding strategy is essential for optimizing performance and aligning with the specific goals of each campaign type. Microsoft Ads offers several bidding strategies that can help advertisers reach their campaign goals, from increasing clicks to maximizing return on ad spend (ROAS). Let’s see some Microsoft Ads bidding strategies: 

• Manual CPC: With Manual CPC, advertisers set a specific bid for each keyword. This strategy gives complete control over bids but requires regular monitoring and adjustment to optimize performance.
• Enhanced CPC (eCPC): Enhanced CPC automatically adjusts manual bids by analyzing the likelihood of conversion. It raises or lowers bids based on conversion potential, making it ideal for advertisers looking to maximize conversions without fully automating their bidding.
• Maximize Clicks: This automated bidding strategy aims to get the most clicks within the campaign budget. 
• Maximize Conversions: Maximize Conversions uses Microsoft’s AI to find audiences with the highest conversion potential. 
• Target CPA (Cost-Per-Acquisition): Target CPA bidding aims to get conversions at a specified cost per acquisition. 
• Target ROAS: Target ROAS optimizes bids to achieve a specific return on ad spend. 

Choosing the Right Strategy

The best Microsoft Ads bidding strategy depends on the goals of each campaign type. Here’s a guide to choosing the most effective approach based on objectives:

• For Clicks: Campaigns focused on traffic, such as Search Campaigns and Responsive Search Ads, can benefit from Manual CPC or Maximize Clicks strategies. These options allow advertisers to either control individual bids or automate bidding to generate the most traffic.
• For Conversions: When the goal is to increase conversions, such as in App Install Ads or Dynamic Search Ads, consider Enhanced CPC, Maximize Conversions, or Target CPA. Enhanced CPC gives a balance of control and automation, while Maximize Conversions and Target CPA provide fully automated options tailored to conversion-focused objectives.
• For ROAS: E-commerce campaigns, especially Microsoft Shopping Ads and Smart Shopping Campaigns, often benefit from Target ROAS bidding. This strategy is designed to optimize bids based on return on ad spend, helping advertisers balance ad costs with revenue generation.
• For Brand Awareness: For campaigns that aim to increase brand visibility, like Audience Ads and Multimedia Ads, Maximize Clicks can be effective. This strategy helps maximize ad exposure without focusing strictly on conversions.