How does Bing Ads handle tracking conversions from social media interactions?

Bing Ads (now known as Microsoft Advertising) doesn't directly track conversions from social media interactions like platforms such as Facebook or Instagram do. However, it does offer features that can help advertisers measure and attribute conversions resulting from social media interactions, although the tracking process requires some integration and setup. Here's how Bing Ads can help track conversions that might be influenced by social media interactions:

1. UET (Universal Event Tracking) Tag
To track conversions from any source, including social media, advertisers need to implement Microsoft Advertising's UET tag (Universal Event Tracking) on their website. The UET tag is a small piece of code placed on the site that allows Bing Ads to track user behavior, such as page visits, button clicks, form submissions, or purchases. By placing the UET tag across key pages (like landing pages or confirmation pages), advertisers can track what happens after a user clicks an ad or interacts with a social media post that eventually leads to their website.

Set Up UET: After setting up the UET tag, advertisers can define specific conversion goals (e.g., purchase, sign-up, add-to-cart).

2. Conversion Tracking via URL Parameters (Tracking Links)
To track the effectiveness of social media campaigns and their resulting conversions, advertisers can use tracking links with URL parameters (UTM parameters) in their social media posts or ads. These parameters allow advertisers to identify traffic sources, such as a specific social media platform or a particular campaign.

Set UTM Parameters: When creating posts or ads on social media, advertisers can append UTM parameters to the URLs they are promoting. These parameters (e.g., utm_source, utm_campaign) can help identify traffic originating from social media platforms.

Track Conversion in Microsoft Ads: By integrating the UET tag, Microsoft Ads can track users who click on these specially tagged links and convert on the website. The UET tag helps in attributing these conversions to specific social media sources based on the UTM parameters.

3. Import Conversions from Other Platforms
If an advertiser is running both social media campaigns (e.g., Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads) and Microsoft Ads, they can use the import conversion feature to bring in conversion data from other platforms. Although direct social media conversion tracking isn't available in Bing Ads, advertisers can import data from platforms like Google Ads or Facebook Ads into Microsoft Advertising using a third-party tool or integration, helping to track and compare performance across platforms.

4. Attribution Models
Bing Ads offers different attribution models (e.g., last-click, first-click, linear, time decay) that help determine how credit is given to various touchpoints (including social media interactions) in the customer journey. By understanding which touchpoints lead to conversions, advertisers can optimize their bidding and budget allocation strategies.

For example:

Last-click attribution would give full credit for the conversion to the last touchpoint, whether it's an organic social post, a paid social ad, or a Bing Ads click.

Linear attribution would distribute credit equally among all touchpoints, helping advertisers understand the broader influence of social media interactions on conversions.

5. Microsoft Advertising and Social Media Platforms
While Bing Ads doesn't directly track social media interactions, advertisers can use Microsoft's LinkedIn Integration (since Microsoft owns LinkedIn) to better track conversions from LinkedIn ads. Through this integration, Microsoft Advertising can link ad impressions and clicks from LinkedIn with conversions on your website.

Summary
To track conversions from social media interactions, advertisers can:

Use UET tags to track conversions on their websites, which include social media traffic.

Implement UTM parameters in their social media links to identify traffic sources and measure conversions.

Import data from other platforms if running cross-platform campaigns.

Use attribution models to understand how social media influences conversion paths.

While Bing Ads doesn't have a built-in feature to track social media interactions directly, combining UET tags, URL parameters, and attribution models provides a comprehensive approach to measuring social media's impact on conversions.