How does conversion tracking support local businesses and SMBs on Bing Ads?

Conversion tracking is a crucial tool for local businesses and small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) using Bing Ads (now part of Microsoft Advertising) because it helps them measure the effectiveness of their advertising efforts and better allocate resources. Here's how conversion tracking supports local businesses and SMBs:

1. Measure Return on Investment (ROI)
Conversion tracking allows local businesses and SMBs to track specific actions on their website that align with their business goals, such as purchases, phone calls, or form submissions.

By tracking these actions, businesses can calculate the return on investment (ROI) for their advertising spend. This ensures that their marketing budget is being spent efficiently, focusing on what drives actual results.

2. Understand Customer Behavior
Conversion tracking helps local businesses understand how users interact with their ads and what happens after they click or view the ad.

It can track actions such as:

Click-to-call (especially important for local businesses with phone-based conversions)

Online purchases

Store visits (if location extensions are used)

Lead form submissions

This information allows SMBs to analyze the customer journey and fine-tune their campaigns to meet user needs and expectations.

3. Improve Ad Targeting and Campaign Optimization
Conversion tracking provides valuable data that helps optimize ad targeting. For instance, if SMBs notice that certain keywords, locations, or times of day result in higher conversion rates, they can adjust their campaigns to focus on those elements.

By understanding which ads and keywords lead to conversions, businesses can allocate their budget more effectively, focusing on high-performing ads and pausing or adjusting underperforming ones.

This leads to more cost-effective campaigns, especially important for local businesses with limited marketing budgets.

4. Track Offline Conversions
For local businesses with physical stores, Bing Ads offers features that allow SMBs to track offline conversions, such as store visits.

Location extensions can be used in conjunction with conversion tracking to capture how online ad interactions drive foot traffic to a physical location. This is particularly beneficial for SMBs that rely on in-person visits for sales.

Businesses can also use tools like call tracking to measure when ads lead to phone calls, an important conversion metric for local services like plumbers, restaurants, or real estate agencies.

5. Use Conversion Data for Retargeting
Conversion tracking enables local businesses and SMBs to create remarketing campaigns for users who have already interacted with their ads or website but did not convert.

For example, an SMB can show ads to users who previously viewed a product but didn't make a purchase. This increases the likelihood of conversions by reminding potential customers about the business.

Audience targeting based on previous conversions helps businesses reach the right people at the right time, improving the efficiency of their marketing efforts.

6. Improve Ad Messaging and Creative
By analyzing which ads or messaging lead to more conversions, local businesses can optimize their ad creatives. For example, if one ad copy leads to a higher number of leads or sales, businesses can use that insight to refine their future messaging.

Conversion tracking also provides feedback on how different devices and ad formats (e.g., text vs. display ads) perform, which is crucial for businesses that want to target users across multiple devices.

7. Drive Local Campaign Effectiveness with Location Data
Bing Ads allows businesses to use geographical targeting to serve ads to users in specific locations. Conversion tracking helps SMBs identify which geographic areas deliver the best results.

For instance, a local restaurant can use this data to focus its advertising budget on areas with high foot traffic or convert online orders from nearby locations.

This enables SMBs to tailor their marketing strategies to specific local demographics, increasing the likelihood of generating sales from their targeted area.

8. Better Reporting and Insights
Conversion tracking provides SMBs with a detailed overview of their ad performance, including what's working and what's not. The data from conversions can be used to build comprehensive reports that show trends, areas of growth, and areas that need improvement.

These insights help SMBs understand their ad performance over time, which is crucial for making informed decisions and adjusting marketing strategies accordingly.

9. Customizable Conversion Goals
SMBs can set up custom conversion goals that align with their specific business objectives. For example:

Sign-up for a newsletter

Requesting a free consultation

Making a purchase

These goals can be adjusted as the business grows or shifts focus, allowing conversion tracking to remain relevant and helpful in tracking progress.

10. Cost-Effective and Scalable
Conversion tracking is a cost-effective tool for SMBs, especially those with smaller budgets. It helps ensure that ad spend is being used to attract users who are likely to convert, preventing wasteful spending on irrelevant traffic.

As SMBs grow, conversion tracking data can scale to provide more advanced insights, supporting more complex and targeted campaigns.

Summary
Conversion tracking in Bing Ads empowers local businesses and SMBs by:

Tracking valuable actions, whether online or offline, such as purchases, form submissions, and phone calls.

Optimizing campaigns based on performance data, leading to better ROI.

Enhancing customer insights, helping businesses understand customer behavior and improve targeting.

Adapting to local needs, whether for driving foot traffic to physical stores or targeting specific geographic locations.

For local businesses with limited resources, conversion tracking is a powerful way to ensure their ad dollars are spent wisely, reaching the right audience and driving measurable results.