What targeting options does Bing Ads offer, and how do you leverage them?

Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) offers a robust suite of targeting options to help advertisers reach the right audience at the right time with the right message. Leveraging these effectively can dramatically improve your campaign performance. Here's a breakdown of the main targeting options and how to use them strategically:

🎯 Targeting Options in Bing Ads & How to Use Them
1. Location Targeting
✅ What It Is:
Target users based on country, state/region, city, zip code, or a radius around a point.

💡 How to Use:
Focus ad spend on high-performing regions.

Use radius targeting for local businesses or events.

Exclude locations that have poor performance or no relevance to your offering.

Example: A dentist could target people within a 10-mile radius of their office and exclude areas they don't serve.

2. Demographic Targeting
✅ What It Is:
Target users by age, gender, and household income (in the U.S.).

💡 How to Use:
Bid higher on segments that convert well (e.g., females 25–34).

Create tailored ad copy for different demographics.

Exclude age groups or genders that consistently underperform.

Example: A luxury skincare brand may increase bids for females aged 35–54 in high-income brackets.

3. Device Targeting
✅ What It Is:
Choose whether your ads appear on desktop, mobile, or tablet devices.

💡 How to Use:
Increase mobile bids for campaigns where on-the-go conversions are common.

Reduce tablet bids if performance is weak.

Optimize landing pages for device type.

Example: A food delivery service may boost bids on mobile during lunch and dinner hours.

4. Day & Time Targeting (Ad Scheduling)
✅ What It Is:
Control which days and hours your ads are shown.

💡 How to Use:
Show ads during your business hours or peak engagement periods.

Increase bids during high-converting time slots.

Decrease or pause ads during off-hours to save budget.

Example: A B2B SaaS company might run ads only Monday–Friday, 9 AM–6 PM, when decision-makers are online.

5. Audience Targeting
✅ What It Includes:
Remarketing lists (site visitors, cart abandoners)

Custom audiences (email list uploads)

In-market audiences (people actively researching products/services)

Similar audiences (lookalikes of your converters)

LinkedIn profile targeting (by company, industry, or job function)

💡 How to Use:
Serve personalized offers to returning visitors.

Reach users who are ready to buy via in-market audiences.

Use LinkedIn data for precise B2B campaigns.

Example: A B2B software company could target marketing managers in the healthcare industry using LinkedIn profile targeting.

6. Keyword Targeting
✅ What It Is:
Choose search queries you want your ads to appear for using:

Broad match

Phrase match

Exact match

Negative keywords

💡 How to Use:
Use exact match for high-converting, intent-rich queries.

Use broad match modifiers to expand reach while maintaining control.

Add negative keywords regularly to eliminate irrelevant traffic.

Example: An online course for "Python programming" might use:

Keywords: [learn python], "python online course"

Negatives: "snake care," "python pet food"

7. Geographic and Demographic Bid Adjustments
✅ What It Is:
Adjust your bids based on location, device, demographics, audience, or time.

💡 How to Use:
Boost bids in cities or zip codes that drive more revenue.

Lower bids on devices or age groups that don't convert.

Example: Increase bids by 20% in NYC and for users aged 25–34 if they drive higher ROAS.

8. Ad Group & Campaign Level Targeting
✅ What It Is:
Apply targeting settings at different levels depending on how granular you want your targeting.

💡 How to Use:
Keep broader targeting at the campaign level.

Fine-tune individual ad groups for specific products, audiences, or demographics.

Example: One campaign can target a broad audience, while ad groups target niche products (e.g., "Men's Shoes" vs. "Women's Running Shoes").

9. Dynamic Search Ads (DSAs)
✅ What It Is:
Bing automatically targets relevant search queries based on the content of your website.

💡 How to Use:
Use for large sites where manually managing keywords is tough.

Great for discovering new keyword opportunities.

Example: An e-commerce store with hundreds of SKUs can use DSAs to ensure all products are discoverable.

10. Language Targeting
✅ What It Is:
Serve ads to users based on their browser's language settings.

💡 How to Use:
Match your ad copy and landing page language.

Useful for multilingual or international campaigns.

🚀 Putting It All Together
To leverage these targeting options effectively:

Start broad, then refine using audience and performance data.

Segment campaigns by device, geography, or audience for better control.

Test & iterate: A/B test different segments, bidding strategies, and creatives.

Align your targeting with your funnel — e.g., use in-market for mid-funnel, remarketing for bottom-funnel.