Bing is planning to roll out functionality that would allow advertisers to target ads using LinkedIn audiences.
As both Bing and LinkedIn are Microsoft products, this seems like a logical move for the company. And it’s a move that could give Bing a significant lift in the never-ending battle against Google and the behemoth that is AdWords when it comes to PPC advertising.
This was announced in a rather strange fashion – as a user posting in the Bing Ads Feature Suggestions back in 2016 got a reply from an Admin at Bing Ads.
In order to improve Bing ads to create a better experience, the user asked for:
Allow Bing advertisers to target LinkedIn Audiences
Now that Microsoft owns LinkedIn, I (and my B2B clients) would love to be able to target their massively valuable audiences. Please add these into Bing Ads so we can take over the world together.
The response from an Admin at Bing ads was:
Thanks for your input and interest. This functionality will be available before the end of the year.
It’s fair to say then, that while we won’t have this functionality imminently, it won’t be long until marketers and advertisers can begin utilising LinkedIn audiences in search engine marketing within Bing ads. This could open up some unique and interesting opportunities to find new business.
Now, when it comes to the benefits of using LinkedIn audiences for Bing ads over simply using LinkedIn in itself to advertise – there are a number of reasons it could be more lucrative for B2B businesses. For instance, with LinkedIn ads the minimum cost-per-click tends to be quite high, which is sometimes not suitable for smaller brands. However, if this audience can be used alongside Bing ads, it creates new opportunities. Also the potential for identifying LinkedIn users searching for specific terms and being to bid for them on the platform itself could create further opportunities with more likelihood of conversions.
The Microsoft Audience Network also begin using LinkedIn data earlier this year. It uses LinkedIn profiles alongside search/online activity and Microsoft demographic data to serve relevant advertisements across MSN, Outlook, Edge and so on.
Bing advertising has proven to be a good option for many B2B brands, due to a number of factors. This includes:
- Lower ad spend than AdWords
- Lower competition than AdWords
- Better return on ad spend than AdWords
- Specific audiences more inclined to use AdWords
One big factor is the fact that if someone will search for your goods or services at work, and they have upgraded to Windows 10 at their workplace, the default browser may be locked to Microsoft Edge. Which is then locked to Bing. Which means there is good reason for people to be using Bing at work to search for particular goods or services. Seems logical.
Consider the following statistics from Bing:
- 24% of the UK desktop search market.
- 960 million monthly desktop searches on the Bing Network in the UK.
- 18.5% share of the French desktop search market.
- 12.9% share of the German desktop search market.
For more information on why Bing advertising may work for your business, check out our blog post:
Is Bing Advertising Worth It? 6 Reasons to Consider Bing Ads
