How do you monitor competitors' ad positioning and performance?

Monitoring competitors' ad positioning and performance is essential for staying competitive and optimizing your own Bing Ads or search campaigns. There are several tools and techniques you can use to keep a close eye on your competitors' strategies. Here's how you can monitor their ad positioning and performance effectively:

🛠� 1. Use Auction Insights in Bing Ads
Auction Insights is one of the most direct and reliable ways to monitor how your ads are performing in comparison to competitors within the same auction.

What You Can See:

Impression Share: The percentage of impressions your ads have received compared to the total available impressions in your targeted market. If your impression share is lower than a competitor's, it indicates they are winning more auctions than you.

Average Position: How your ad position compares to competitors' ads in the auction. A lower average position can signal that your bids need to be adjusted.

Overlap Rate: This shows the percentage of times your ads and your competitors' ads appear in the same auction.

Position Above Rate: The percentage of times your competitor's ad appeared above yours in search results.

Top of Page Rate: The percentage of times your ad was shown at the top of the page, compared to competitors.

How to Use It: Regularly monitor the Auction Insights to understand how often your ads are competing against specific competitors, and adjust your bidding strategy or ad quality to increase visibility and position.

🔍 2. Use Competitive Intelligence Tools
Several third-party tools are available that help you spy on your competitors' ads and get insights into their bidding strategies, ad copy, and keywords. These tools gather data by tracking paid search ads across multiple platforms.

SEMrush: This tool offers competitive analysis for keywords, ads, and overall campaign performance. You can see the keywords competitors are bidding on, their ad copy, estimated traffic, and ad spend. SEMrush's Ad History feature allows you to see which ads competitors have run and when.

SpyFu: SpyFu helps you track your competitors' PPC ads, keywords, and ad copy. It shows data on which keywords they're bidding on, their ad performance, and the ad budget they're allocating to those campaigns. This can help you spot opportunities or weaknesses in your competitors' strategies.

iSpionage: This tool lets you track competitor ad copy, keywords, and landing pages. It also provides PPC intelligence, such as bid ranges and traffic estimates, allowing you to understand how your competitors' ads are performing in relation to yours.

AdBeat: Known for analyzing display ads, AdBeat provides insights into competitors' ad creatives, landing pages, and even the networks they're using to display their ads.

SimilarWeb: Provides insights into the overall traffic performance of competitors' websites, including PPC traffic sources. You can monitor trends in their paid search traffic and overall campaign growth.

📊 3. Monitor SERP (Search Engine Results Page) Manually
You can manually monitor competitors' ad positioning and performance by regularly checking the Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) for keywords you're targeting.

What to Look For:

Ad Position: Track where your competitors' ads appear on the SERP (e.g., top of the page, bottom, or side of the page).

Ad Copy: Compare your competitors' ad copy to your own. Are they using compelling calls-to-action, promotions, or pricing that you're not?

Landing Pages: Check if competitors' landing pages are optimized for conversions and if their messaging aligns with the ad copy.

Extensions: Take note of any ad extensions they use, such as sitelinks, callout extensions, or structured snippets, which might be contributing to their success.

Tools to Assist:

Google's Keyword Planner or Bing Keyword Research Tool: These tools allow you to track the performance of keywords and see which ads show up in the SERPs for your targeted terms.

🔄 4. Track Competitor Ad Copy and Messaging
In addition to tracking ad positioning, regularly monitor the messaging your competitors are using in their ads. You can do this through:

Manual Checks: Regularly search for your targeted keywords and pay attention to the messaging competitors are using in their ads.

Ad Copy Tools: Tools like AdBeat, SEMrush, and SpyFu provide detailed reports on your competitors' ad copy, making it easy to understand their creative strategies and any changes they've made.

Significant Changes: Keep track of significant messaging shifts, such as promotions, new product offerings, or seasonal campaigns. These could give you clues about their strategy, and you can adjust your ads accordingly to stay competitive.

📈 5. Monitor Competitor Keyword Strategy
By analyzing the keywords your competitors are bidding on, you can identify new opportunities or gaps in your own keyword strategy. This can also help you determine if competitors are targeting more competitive, expensive keywords, or if they're focusing on long-tail keywords for higher ROI.

Tools to Use:

SEMrush and SpyFu offer features to identify competitor keyword lists, including the exact keywords they're bidding on.

Google Keyword Planner allows you to monitor competitors' keyword trends and compare search volumes, CPC, and competition levels for keywords.

Keyword Gap Analysis: Tools like SEMrush or SpyFu provide keyword gap analysis, which helps you identify keywords your competitors are bidding on that you might be missing, or keywords they're underperforming on that you could take advantage of.

📅 6. Regular Performance Review and Adjustments
Set up a schedule to regularly monitor competitor activity and review performance metrics in your own campaigns. This will allow you to make timely adjustments in response to competitive changes.

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs):

CTR: Track changes in CTR based on competitor activity. A dip in CTR may indicate that your competitors' ads have become more compelling.

Conversion Rate: Compare your conversion rates with your competitors to determine if their landing pages or ad messaging is outperforming yours.

Impression Share and Position: Monitor your impression share and ad position relative to your competitors to ensure you're maintaining visibility in the auction.

Refine Strategy: Based on competitor activity, adjust your ad bids, ad messaging, keywords, and landing pages to remain competitive.

🧑�💼 7. Competitor Monitoring via Social Media and Blogs
Don't forget to also check your competitors' social media and industry blogs to track any new campaigns, product launches, or offers they may be promoting. Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn may offer insights into your competitors' paid ads, especially if they run paid social ads alongside paid search campaigns.

Social Media Monitoring Tools: Tools like Hootsuite, BuzzSumo, or Brandwatch can help you track your competitors' social media activities, including paid campaigns.

Conclusion
To effectively monitor competitors' ad positioning and performance, you need a combination of manual checks, auction insights, and third-party tools to track competitor activity in real-time. Use competitive intelligence tools to track their ad positioning, ad copy, keywords, and overall strategy. Regularly adjust your bidding, messaging, and targeting to stay competitive and capture high-value traffic.