What tools and resources does Bing Ads provide for setting up conversion tracking?

Bing Ads (now Microsoft Advertising) provides a range of tools and resources to help advertisers set up and manage conversion tracking effectively. These tools help you measure the success of your campaigns and optimize them for better performance. Here are the key tools and resources available:

1. Universal Event Tracking (UET) Tag
The primary tool for conversion tracking in Microsoft Advertising is the Universal Event Tracking (UET) tag. UET tracks various types of user interactions on your website (such as page views, clicks, form submissions, or purchases) and enables conversion tracking.

How to Set It Up:
Create a UET Tag:

Go to your Microsoft Advertising account and navigate to the Tools menu.

Select UET Tag under the "Measurement" section.

Click Create UET Tag, give it a name, and set up the desired parameters for tracking specific events (e.g., add to cart, form submissions, or purchase).

Install UET Tag on Your Website:

Once the UET tag is created, you'll be provided with a snippet of JavaScript code.

Add this code to every page of your website where you want to track user actions, usually in the header or just before the closing </body> tag.

2. Microsoft Advertising Conversion Tracking Setup Wizard
Microsoft Advertising provides a step-by-step setup wizard that guides you through setting up conversion tracking on your account. This is ideal for advertisers who are new to conversion tracking or want an easy walkthrough.

Features of the Conversion Tracking Setup Wizard:
Walkthrough to create and set up UET tags.

Integration with Google Tag Manager for easy tag deployment.

Instructions for tracking different types of conversions (e.g., purchase, form submission, etc.).

Guidance on configuring your conversion goals (e.g., sales, leads, etc.).

3. Microsoft Advertising Conversion Import Tool
If you track conversions offline or via other tools (like a CRM system), Microsoft Advertising offers the Conversion Import Tool. This allows you to upload offline conversion data and associate it with online ad interactions, providing a more complete picture of your campaign performance.

Key Features:
Upload offline conversions from sources like CRM systems, call centers, or in-store visits.

Link online clicks to offline outcomes, giving you insights into how online ad clicks lead to offline actions.

Import data via CSV files, making it easy to upload bulk conversion data.

4. Automated Tagging (Auto-Tagging)
Microsoft Advertising also supports auto-tagging, which automatically appends a tracking parameter to your URL for conversion measurement. This feature is particularly useful for measuring conversions from external traffic sources.

Benefits:

Automatically tags your URLs for tracking purposes, saving time.

Provides better insights into ad campaign performance across different traffic sources.

5. Attribution Modeling Tools
Attribution models are essential for understanding how ad interactions across multiple touchpoints contribute to conversions. Microsoft Advertising provides several attribution models to help you optimize conversions.

Attribution Models Available:
Last Click: Credits the last ad interaction before the conversion.

First Click: Credits the first ad interaction.

Linear: Distributes the credit evenly across all interactions.

Time Decay: Gives more credit to interactions closer to the time of conversion.

Position-Based: Gives more weight to both the first and last interactions.

By understanding how different attribution models work, you can make informed decisions about which ad interactions to prioritize in your campaigns.

6. Conversion Tracking Reports
Once your conversion tracking is set up, Microsoft Advertising provides detailed conversion reports to help you analyze how your campaigns are performing.

Reporting Tools:
Conversion Summary: Overview of your total conversions, cost per conversion, and other relevant data.

Conversion by Device: Break down conversions by device type (mobile, desktop, tablet).

Conversion by Audience: View conversions segmented by audience types.

Custom Reports: Customize reports to focus on specific actions or behaviors that are most important for your business.

You can also access reports within the Microsoft Advertising Dashboard, where you can filter data by campaign, ad group, or even individual ads.

7. Integration with Google Tag Manager (GTM)
For easier management of UET tags and other tracking codes, Microsoft Advertising integrates with Google Tag Manager (GTM), a free tool that allows you to quickly deploy and manage tracking tags on your website.

GTM Benefits:

No need to manually edit the website code—tags can be managed through the GTM interface.

Supports a variety of third-party tags, not just UET, making it a one-stop solution for managing all tracking and marketing tags.

8. Microsoft Advertising Help Center and Resources
Microsoft Advertising offers comprehensive documentation and support to help with setting up conversion tracking. The Help Center includes guides, tutorials, and frequently asked questions (FAQs) that can be useful for troubleshooting and understanding the specifics of conversion tracking.

Microsoft Advertising Blog: Stay updated on new features and best practices for conversion tracking and campaign optimization.

Webinars and Training: Microsoft Advertising also offers free webinars and tutorials on conversion tracking and other key advertising features.

9. Advanced Tracking Features
Custom Conversion Goals: You can set up custom conversion goals based on specific user actions that matter to your business, such as a form submission, adding items to a shopping cart, or downloading a white paper.

Enhanced Ecommerce: For e-commerce advertisers, Microsoft Advertising supports advanced conversion tracking like purchase tracking, product view tracking, and cart abandonment tracking, helping you better understand the entire user journey.

10. Call Tracking
If phone calls are a key conversion for your business, Microsoft Advertising offers call tracking. You can set up call extensions and call-only ads to track when users call your business directly from an ad.

Track call duration and other details related to phone conversions.

Phone call attribution helps you connect calls to your ad interactions, improving the accuracy of your conversion reporting.

Conclusion
Microsoft Advertising provides a comprehensive suite of tools for setting up and managing conversion tracking, ranging from basic UET tags to advanced integration with Google Tag Manager and offline conversion import tools. By using these resources effectively, advertisers can measure the success of their campaigns, optimize based on conversion data, and drive better ROI.