A few years ago, if you’d suggested advertising on Bing to someone you could have received one of two responses. You may have received a blank stare, or the person in question letting out a snort before claiming that Bing would never rival Google.
Well that’s not exactly true. Bing is gaining an ever-increasing share of search engine traffic. They also own Yahoo, which is gaining a similar share. So now it is not only just feasible for you to start using Bing Ads, but desirable as well.
Bing has less competition
Whilst Bing is gaining momentum, it still has a way to go before it can actually rival Google. Because of this, and because of the nay-sayers mentioned above, Bing is quite frequently overlooked when planning a digital marketing strategy. With Google AdWords, when certain keywords are bid on by a number of different people this increases the cost-per-click for that word. Lower competition means a lower cost…
Bing Ads cost less than Google AdWords
This is dependent on what campaign you are running, and what keywords you are bidding on, but typically Bing is cheaper. As above, there is a considerably smaller amount of people bidding on keywords for Bing Ads, which lowers the cost. Also, Bing users are statistically more likely to spend online, whereas Google does cater to a lot of “browsers”. More conversions means more returns on investment. With that investment being relatively small (dependent on your campaign), the opportunity for large ROI’s is there.
It’s not just Bing
Bing owns Yahoo too, and all ads are displayed across both platforms in most countries. As we’ve already said, both search engines are gaining an increased market share, and should be considered as one entity (especially when it comes to ads). As each percentage increases, your ads will be reaching more and more people over more than one platform, all for one price.
Different demographics
When marketing, one of the most important things to consider is your intended audience. If you’re not putting your time, money, and effort into the correct platforms, you run the risk of receiving a poor return on your investments. Google and Bing actually have different types of people that use them, so it makes sense to advertise with Bing to reach this audience. There are greater numbers of male users for Bing and Yahoo, whereas females more frequently use Google. Majority of Google users are younger than 45, while the opposite is true for Bing and Yahoo.
So, you’re saying I should quit Google AdWords?
It does seem that way, but no. Bing is still growing, so your potential reach is smaller than that of if you used Google. Also, with the demographics shown above, you may be missing a vital part of your target audience.
Bing is currently a cost-effective, easy way to add a little extra fuel to your marketing campaign and spread your reach. Whilst it may work for some smaller businesses by itself, it doesn’t yet have a big enough share of the market to run entirely by itself for anyone hoping for large ROI’s.
But, it is growing, and will soon be able to rival Google.