How do you track conversions for specific actions like newsletter sign-ups in Bing Ads?

Tracking conversions for specific actions like newsletter sign-ups in Bing Ads (Microsoft Advertising) is achievable using the Universal Event Tracking (UET) feature. UET allows you to track various user interactions on your website, including when a user signs up for a newsletter or completes any other goal on your site.

Here's a step-by-step guide on how to track conversions for specific actions like newsletter sign-ups in Bing Ads:

1. Set Up the UET Tag
The first step is to set up the UET (Universal Event Tracking) tag on your website. This tag is a small piece of code that captures user interactions (such as clicking a button, submitting a form, or visiting a specific page).

Steps:
Create a UET Tag:

Go to Tools > UET Tags in the Bing Ads interface.

Create a new UET tag (give it a name like "Newsletter Sign-Up").

Add the generated UET tag code to every page of your website, or at least the pages where you want to track conversions (like the thank-you page after a successful newsletter sign-up).

Add the UET Tag to Your Website:

Place the UET tag on your website's header section or use a tag manager (e.g., Google Tag Manager) to deploy it.

2. Define the Newsletter Sign-Up Conversion Goal
Once you've installed the UET tag on your site, the next step is to create a conversion goal that tracks when a user successfully signs up for your newsletter.

Steps:
Go to UET Tag Setup:

Navigate to Tools > UET Tags > Create Conversion Goal.

In the Goal Setup, select the type of goal you want to track (for a newsletter sign-up, this could be a Destination goal or an Event goal depending on how your website is set up).

Destination Goal (Thank-You Page):

If your newsletter sign-up form redirects users to a Thank You page or confirmation page after they successfully sign up, you can set up a Destination Goal.

Step 1: Choose Destination as your goal type.

Step 2: Set the URL of the thank-you or confirmation page (e.g., www.example.com/thank-you).

Step 3: Select the UET tag that's tracking the sign-up page.

Event Goal (Form Submission):

If you don't have a thank-you page or want to track the form submission itself, you can use an Event Goal.

Step 1: Choose Event as the goal type.

Step 2: Define a custom event, such as a button click or form submission. This might require adding event tracking to your newsletter sign-up form (using JavaScript, for example, to fire an event when the form is submitted).

Step 3: Set the UET event action you want to track, such as form-submit or newsletter-signup.

3. Assign a Conversion Value (Optional)
If your newsletter sign-up is valuable to your business, you can assign a conversion value to this goal. For example, you can assign a dollar amount that represents the lifetime value of each newsletter subscriber or the expected revenue generated from a lead who signs up.

Steps:
During the goal setup, you'll have the option to assign a conversion value. This helps to track not just the number of sign-ups, but also the potential value they bring to your business.

This value is useful for understanding how much each conversion (newsletter sign-up) is worth and allows you to use Target ROAS or Target CPA bidding strategies.

4. Use Bidding Strategies to Optimize for Newsletter Sign-Ups
Once you have the newsletter sign-up conversion goal in place, you can optimize your campaigns to drive more sign-ups.

Target CPA: If you have an idea of the cost you are willing to pay for each newsletter sign-up, you can use Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition) bidding. This allows Bing Ads to optimize your bids to get as many sign-ups as possible within your target cost.

Maximize Conversions: If you want Bing Ads to automatically optimize your bids to maximize the number of conversions (sign-ups), you can select the Maximize Conversions bid strategy.

Target ROAS: If you've assigned a conversion value to your newsletter sign-ups, you can use the Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend) bid strategy to maximize the return on investment for your campaign.

5. Track and Analyze Conversion Data
Once your newsletter sign-up goal is set up and data starts coming in, you can track and analyze conversions in the Campaign Overview or Reports sections of Bing Ads. Some key metrics to monitor include:

Conversion Rate: How many clicks result in a newsletter sign-up.

Cost per Conversion: How much you're paying for each newsletter sign-up.

Total Conversions: The total number of sign-ups generated by your ads.

Conversion Value: If you've assigned a value to the sign-ups, you can track how much revenue or potential revenue each sign-up generates.

6. Create Remarketing Lists for Newsletter Sign-Ups
After tracking the sign-ups, you can create remarketing lists based on user behavior. For instance, if someone clicked on the sign-up button but didn't complete the form, you can target them with additional ads to encourage them to finish signing up.

Create Remarketing Lists: Set up remarketing lists for users who visited your sign-up page but didn't complete the conversion (e.g., didn't reach the thank-you page).

Target the Lists: Run campaigns specifically designed to reach those who didn't complete the sign-up and remind them to subscribe to your newsletter.

7. Advanced Reporting and Attribution
For deeper insights, use Advanced Reporting and Attribution Models to understand how your ads and various touchpoints contribute to newsletter sign-ups. Microsoft Advertising allows you to compare performance across different channels, devices, and keywords to optimize for future campaigns.

Summary:
To track newsletter sign-ups in Bing Ads:

Set up UET tags on your website to capture user actions.

Create a conversion goal for newsletter sign-ups, either based on a destination (thank-you page) or event (form submission).

Optionally, assign a conversion value to track the revenue generated by sign-ups.

Use bidding strategies like Target CPA or Maximize Conversions to optimize for sign-ups.

Track conversions and analyze performance using Bing Ads reports and attribution models.

Create remarketing lists to re-target users who engaged but didn't convert.