What bidding strategy do you typically employ for Bing Ads campaigns?

The bidding strategy you choose for your Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising) campaigns depends largely on your specific goals, budget, and campaign structure. However, I'll outline a general approach to bidding strategies that I typically employ, based on different types of campaign objectives. You can adapt this approach depending on your specific needs.

1. Maximize Clicks (Traffic-Focused Campaigns)
When to use it:

Goal: Increase website traffic.

Best for: Top-of-funnel campaigns where you want to drive a lot of traffic to your site without worrying too much about conversions yet.

How I use it:

When my primary goal is brand awareness or generating traffic for a new product or service, I'll choose Maximize Clicks.

Maximize Clicks works well when I have a broad keyword pool and need to generate a high volume of clicks within a fixed budget.

Typically, I set a daily budget limit to ensure I don't exceed what I'm willing to spend, and I review performance to see if this traffic is converting (then pivot if necessary).

2. Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) (Conversion-Focused Campaigns)
When to use it:

Goal: Maximize conversions while staying within a specific cost per acquisition (CPA).

Best for: Lead generation campaigns, e-commerce sites, or anything focused on measurable actions.

How I use it:

Once I have enough historical conversion data (usually 15–30 conversions per month per campaign), I move to Target CPA bidding.

I use this when I want to automate bidding for conversions at a set cost and don't want to manually adjust each keyword's bid.

It's also useful if I need to optimize for efficiency—Target CPA will automatically adjust bids to reach as many conversions as possible at the desired CPA.

Tip: Start with a reasonable target CPA based on historical data. I usually begin with something a bit more flexible and then optimize over time as the system gathers more data.

3. Maximize Conversions (Conversion-Focused with Flexibility)
When to use it:

Goal: Get as many conversions as possible within the given budget, without specifically targeting a set CPA.

Best for: E-commerce campaigns where you want to scale quickly or lead gen campaigns where conversion volume is the primary objective.

How I use it:

I use Maximize Conversions when my goal is to drive the highest number of conversions possible, regardless of the CPA, but within my set budget.

This works well in cases where I have a sufficient conversion tracking system in place and want to let Bing Ads' algorithm handle the bid adjustments based on performance.

For high-conversion volume campaigns, I prefer Maximize Conversions as it adapts dynamically to changing conditions and trends, optimizing in real-time.

Tip: Keep an eye on the cost-per-conversion when using this strategy, as it can sometimes increase if the system identifies more expensive but potentially high-converting opportunities.

4. Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) (Revenue-Focused Campaigns)
When to use it:

Goal: Achieve a specific return on ad spend (ROAS).

Best for: E-commerce campaigns where maximizing profit from each ad spend is key.

How I use it:

For campaigns where return on investment (ROI) is the top priority, I use Target ROAS. This strategy helps ensure I achieve a specific level of revenue relative to my ad spend.

Once I have enough transactional data from my site (preferably tied to product value or revenue metrics), I use this to drive the system to maximize the value of conversions.

Target ROAS allows Bing Ads to optimize bids across the auction to get the best returns on my ad spend without having to adjust each bid manually.

Tip: It's critical to have good e-commerce tracking set up (e.g., tracking product revenue or transaction value) so that the system can optimize correctly based on your revenue goals.

5. Manual Bidding (High Control and Customization)
When to use it:

Goal: High control over keyword bids or low-volume niche campaigns where data isn't sufficient to rely on automated bidding.

Best for: Small campaigns, highly competitive keywords, or specific targeting where I want full control.

How I use it:

I use manual bidding when I want to closely monitor the performance of individual keywords and fine-tune my bids to maximize my results.

For example, if I want to bid higher on brand keywords or specific seasonal products, manual bidding is a good option.

It's also effective when I have a limited budget and need to optimize for the most valuable clicks without overpaying for less relevant traffic.

I often use manual bidding in combination with location, device, and time-based bid modifiers to ensure my bids are as efficient as possible.

6. Target Impression Share (Visibility & Awareness)
When to use it:

Goal: Achieve a certain impression share, especially for brand awareness campaigns.

Best for: Brand campaigns, visibility-focused campaigns, or top-of-funnel efforts.

How I use it:

Target Impression Share is great when I want to ensure my ads are showing at the top of the search results and are visible to as many people as possible.

For example, if I'm running a brand awareness campaign for a new product launch, I can use this strategy to ensure maximum visibility in the auction.

It can also be used when I want to dominate the search results in specific positions (e.g., the top of the page).

Tip: This strategy is more expensive because it prioritizes visibility, so it's best for campaigns where visibility is the top priority rather than ROI or conversions.

📊 Final Thoughts:
Maximize Clicks is a good starting point for traffic-focused campaigns, especially when testing a new product or service.

Target CPA and Maximize Conversions are great when conversion optimization is the goal.

Target ROAS is the choice for revenue-focused campaigns where you want to optimize for return on ad spend.

Manual Bidding offers the highest control, perfect for small or niche campaigns, but requires more attention.

Target Impression Share is for campaigns prioritizing visibility and brand recognition.