What insights can Bing Ads provide into the impact of view-through conversions on overall campaign ROI?

Bing Ads (now Microsoft Advertising) provides valuable insights into how view-through conversions (VTCs) impact overall campaign ROI (Return on Investment). By tracking conversions that happen after a user views an ad (but doesn't necessarily click it), advertisers can gain a more comprehensive understanding of the effectiveness of their ad campaigns, especially for brand awareness and upper-funnel marketing objectives. Here's how view-through conversions can enhance campaign ROI analysis:

1. Complete Measurement of Ad Effectiveness
View-through conversions capture conversions that occur after a user has been exposed to an ad but does not click on it immediately. This helps advertisers understand the full impact of their ads on customer behavior, which is especially valuable in the case of brand awareness or upper-funnel strategies where users may need multiple exposures to an ad before taking action.

Impact on ROI: View-through conversions can significantly improve the perceived effectiveness of a campaign by showing conversions that wouldn't have been tracked via clicks alone. This means a more accurate ROI calculation by incorporating conversions that happen outside the typical click-based tracking window.

2. Enhanced Attribution Models
View-through conversion tracking allows advertisers to assess the role of display ads (e.g., banner ads, video ads, etc.) in driving conversions even when there's no direct click-through. This contributes to a more sophisticated attribution model by factoring in the impact of brand visibility and ad recall.

Impact on ROI: With a more accurate attribution model, advertisers can understand the role of different touchpoints in the customer journey. This enables them to allocate budgets more effectively and optimize for conversions across various stages of the funnel (not just the final click).

3. Improved Budget Allocation
By understanding how view-through conversions influence ROI, advertisers can adjust their budget allocation. Ads that generate a higher volume of view-through conversions can be prioritized, even if they don't have the same click-through rates (CTR) as other ads. This can help boost brand awareness and drive long-term customer engagement.

Impact on ROI: If a particular ad or campaign generates a high number of view-through conversions with a relatively lower cost, it can lead to a higher ROI by recognizing the value of impressions that drive future conversions. Advertisers may consider re-allocating budgets to maximize the effectiveness of campaigns with high view-through conversion rates.

4. Understanding Customer Behavior
View-through conversions provide insights into customer behavior and help determine how users engage with ads over time. It can be especially insightful for campaigns targeting brand awareness or consideration phases, where users might see an ad and then decide to convert days or weeks later.

Impact on ROI: By analyzing the delay between ad exposure and conversion, advertisers can better understand the conversion cycle and the long-term value of their ads. This is crucial for campaigns where immediate conversions are not the main objective but rather nurturing potential customers who may convert at a later date.

5. Refining Campaign Strategy
By integrating view-through conversions into campaign analysis, advertisers can get a clearer picture of how their messaging and ad placements are driving awareness and interest. Understanding which ads are most effective at driving post-view conversions helps refine creative messaging, targeting, and bidding strategies.

Impact on ROI: With better insights into which campaigns are driving view-through conversions, advertisers can optimize their ads for the most effective messaging, targeting, and placements, improving overall ROI. Ads with strong view-through conversion performance might be considered more valuable, leading to increased investment in these areas.

6. Incremental Value of Ads
View-through conversions help measure the incremental impact of an ad, meaning the value of conversions that can be directly or indirectly attributed to the exposure of an ad. For example, if a customer sees an ad and later makes a purchase but doesn't click on the ad, the view-through conversion helps capture that value and shows the true contribution of the ad to the purchase.

Impact on ROI: Recognizing the incremental value of ads in driving conversions—even without direct clicks—allows for a more comprehensive understanding of advertising effectiveness. This helps brands assess the true lifetime value (LTV) of their campaigns and optimize accordingly, leading to improved ROI.

7. Cross-Device Conversions
Many users interact with ads on one device (e.g., mobile), but ultimately convert on another (e.g., desktop). View-through conversion tracking accounts for this behavior by capturing conversions that may not have been tracked in a typical click-through attribution model, helping advertisers understand the cross-device impact of their campaigns.

Impact on ROI: As consumers increasingly move across devices, capturing cross-device conversions through view-through tracking helps advertisers gain a holistic view of customer interactions and improve multi-channel attribution. This enables more accurate ROI analysis across all devices and platforms.

8. Refining Retargeting Campaigns
View-through conversions also play a significant role in understanding the effectiveness of retargeting campaigns, which are specifically designed to target users who have interacted with previous ads or visited a site but have not converted.

Impact on ROI: Understanding how view-through conversions impact retargeting allows advertisers to measure how often previous exposure (even without a click) leads to a future conversion. This helps determine the efficiency of retargeting efforts and optimize these campaigns to maximize ROI.

Conclusion
View-through conversions provide a holistic view of a campaign's performance and are essential in understanding the full impact of brand awareness and upper-funnel efforts. By offering deeper insights into how ads drive conversions beyond just clicks, Microsoft Advertising helps advertisers optimize their ROI more effectively. With proper attribution models, budget allocation, and cross-device tracking, advertisers can ensure they're not just tracking immediate responses but also nurturing long-term customer engagement and conversions.