Can advertisers track conversions for video views or engagements in Bing Ads?

Yes, advertisers can track conversions for video views or engagements in Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising), though the process is a bit different from typical website conversions. Since video views and engagements (such as interactions with video ads or watched content) are types of engagement rather than direct conversions, advertisers must use specific tools and tracking strategies to measure these actions. Here's how to track video views and engagements effectively in Bing Ads:

1. Tracking Video Views with UET (Universal Event Tracking)
While Microsoft Advertising doesn't have a built-in feature that directly tracks video views for video campaigns, advertisers can use UET tags to track video interactions on their websites or landing pages. Here's how it works:

Setting Up UET Tags to Track Video Engagements:
Step 1: Set Up UET Tag: First, you need to have the UET tag (Universal Event Tracking) installed on your website. This will track user behavior such as clicks, form submissions, page views, etc.

Step 2: Track Video Engagements: If your video is hosted on your website or landing page (e.g., as part of a landing page with a video embedded), you can configure the UET tag to track interactions with the video (e.g., play, pause, view completion).

For example, if you want to track when a user watches the video or engages with certain actions (such as clicking a "Learn More" button below the video), you can set up event tracking through the UET tag.

You may need to use JavaScript to send specific events to UET when a user interacts with the video, like clicking the play button or watching a certain percentage of the video.

Step 3: Create Conversion Goals: In Microsoft Advertising, you can create custom conversion goals to track specific actions, such as:

Video views (e.g., watching at least 25%, 50%, 75%, or 100% of a video).

Video engagement (e.g., clicking a CTA button after watching the video).

These goals can help measure how users engage with the video and track conversions that result from these interactions.

2. Using Microsoft Audience Network to Track Video Views (for Video Campaigns)
For video campaigns running on the Microsoft Audience Network (which includes placements on MSN, Outlook, and other Microsoft-owned properties), you can measure interactions such as views and clicks directly through the Campaign Manager. While this doesn't track video views as conversions directly in the same way that website actions do, it helps measure engagement and optimize campaigns based on user behavior:

Views & Clicks: Track basic video metrics such as views, click-through rates (CTR), and user interaction with the video ad itself.

Engagement: For engagement, Microsoft Advertising provides options to track users who watch your video ad to completion (if you're running video ads that appear across Microsoft properties or on YouTube through the Microsoft Audience Network).

Video Engagement Metrics in Microsoft Advertising:
Completed Views: Measure how many users watched your video ad until the end, or watched a specific percentage of the video.

Click-through Rate (CTR): Track how many viewers interacted with the ad, either by clicking on the video itself or on a call-to-action (CTA) within the video.

These metrics can help assess the level of engagement your video ads generate.

3. Tracking Engagement with Conversion Tracking (Using UET for Video Interactions)
To track how video views translate into meaningful actions (like sign-ups, purchases, or form submissions), you can implement UET tracking combined with conversion goals. For example:

Video Completion: If a viewer watches a video all the way through, this can trigger a conversion goal. This is useful for video ads that lead to a landing page or offer further calls to action (e.g., "Sign Up Now" or "Learn More").

CTA Clicks Post-Video: Track users who click on a CTA after watching your video ad, such as "Get Started" or "Buy Now." This can help connect video engagement with actual conversion actions, like sign-ups or purchases.

4. Use Dynamic Remarketing to Track Video Engagements
If you have video-based content that users engage with but do not convert immediately, you can use remarketing to re-target users who have interacted with the video or specific video content. You can track these users based on their engagement (such as watching a portion of a video) and serve them more targeted ads in future campaigns to drive conversions.

For example:

Remarketing Campaigns: Target people who watched a certain percentage of your video but didn't take the desired action (like completing a sign-up or making a purchase).

Audience Segmentation: You can segment your audience based on how much of the video they watched (e.g., those who watched 50% vs. those who watched 100%) and then tailor your remarketing ads accordingly.

5. Custom Conversion Tracking for Video Engagements
For more advanced tracking, you can use custom conversion tracking:

Custom Events: You can configure custom events in your UET tag to track specific actions, like when a user watches a certain percentage of the video or clicks on specific elements within the video (such as a CTA button or a link).

Goal Setting: Create conversion goals for actions that are significant for your business. For example, if watching a video leads to a phone call or a purchase later on, set up an offline conversion goal to track that purchase.

6. Attribution and Reporting
Once you've set up conversion tracking for video engagements, you can use Microsoft Advertising's attribution models to understand the role of video views in your customer journey. For example, video views can play a role in the assistive stages of conversion, where the user watches a video ad but doesn't convert immediately. You can analyze the assistive touchpoints to see how video interactions contribute to eventual conversions.

Key Metrics for Video Views and Engagements:
Video Views: How many users watched your video ad, with additional breakdowns for partial or complete views.

Click-through Rate (CTR): The percentage of viewers who clicked on your CTA or interacted with the ad in some way.

Engagement Rate: The level of interaction with your video (e.g., clicks, form submissions after watching).

Completion Rate: How many people watched the entire video or a significant portion (e.g., 75% or 100%).

Summary:
While Bing Ads doesn't have direct video view conversion tracking like Google Ads, you can track video engagements through the UET tag by setting custom conversion goals for actions like video views, click-throughs, or post-video engagements. You can also track video views and interaction rates directly within campaigns running on the Microsoft Audience Network, as well as use remarketing and attribution models to measure and optimize the impact of video content on your overall conversions.