So far we’ve discussed how to develop a complete digital presence to give your customers a clear breadcrumb trail right to your door. This includes utilizing SEO, GMB, SEM, and Google Analytics to ensure you don’t miss out on any potential customers. Now we are going to shift gears from Google and discuss an often missed opportunity, Bing. We know, we know. Just the word Bing can bring back the early 2000s nostalgia. But just consider, while Bing does not have the same size audience as Google, it boasts a very targeted and profitable audience for dealership marketing. In this article, we will discuss what makes Bing’s audience so unique and how it can lead to a great opportunity for you to get ahead of your competition.
The Perfect Combination
So what’s so special about the demographic that uses Bing? Let’s take a step back. With Google taking up a big chunk of the market who still uses Bing? Bing is a web search engine owned and developed by Microsoft. Microsoft also develops the Windows operating systems. They claim there are over 1 billion users running Windows 10 (Source) with Bing installed as the default search engine. Bing is also used with Microsoft Edge, Cortana, Alexa, Internet Explorer, and Xbox. A lot of people install Chrome when they get a new windows computer but a large chunk of people leave the default settings, especially the more mature generations.
The audience on Bing, therefore, tends to be older and more financially secure. They are more likely to be married (aka have access to two incomes), have more buying power, and prefer luxury lines. There are also dozens of search engines partnered with Bing including MSN, Yahoo!, AOL, and DuckDuckGo. Some people use both Bing and Google, yet 66 million people use Bing exclusively (source). These statistics may seem surprising but they make sense when you consider the hold Windows has on the PC market and the fact that Microsoft works hard to leverage its web browser over Google. Now that you know about this valuable, exclusive audience on Bing, how can you take advantage of this opportunity?
The Benefits of Bing
Long story short, adding Bing to your marketing arsenal can help complete your digital presence and reach that mature audience. Let’s discuss some of the additional benefits of advertising on Bing. As mentioned, Bing has a smaller audience than Google, but that also means that there is less competition and that the average CPC is lower. To illustrate, the average CPC on Google is $2.35, while the average CPC on Bing is $1.73. Bing may be cheaper but it still brings quality conversions and a strong ROI. Bing has also been seen to be especially helpful during the holiday and truck seasons.
There are several different types of Bing ads worth mentioning. Audience ads are similar to Google’s display network. These image-based ads will display on msn.com and various other areas to target an audience. Bing is rolling out a powerful new add type currently in beta: Automated Inventory Ads. These ads are similar to Google’s dynamic inventory ads. It's a way to create a product ad that will connect your inventory via feed to serve in the Microsoft ads. You will see ads pop up in a search with an image, price, mileage, and a link to the VDP.
Audience Ads Example:
Automated Inventory Ads Example:
Click here if you want to learn more about Bing Ads (now called Microsoft Advertising).
Connecting the Dots
As we conclude this series, our hope is that you now have a better understanding of how to leverage SEO and SEM to help potential customers to find you in the forest of data we call the internet. As trends and algorithms constantly evolve, it’s important to regularly adjust your strategies. You must constantly ask yourself, “Can my customers find me easily with the digital crumbs I have left for them? Is the path to my dealership clear?” Like they say, “If you build it, they will come.”
We hope you enjoyed this series. If you haven’t already, please make sure to subscribe. Our next series will focus on how you can generate more revenue through your fixed operations.
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