How do you create a conversion goal in Bing Ads?

Creating a conversion goal in Microsoft Advertising (formerly Bing Ads) involves several steps to define what specific actions on your website or app you want to track as conversions. These actions could be form submissions, purchases, sign-ups, or other significant interactions. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to create a conversion goal in Microsoft Advertising:

Steps to Create a Conversion Goal in Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads)
1. Sign in to Microsoft Advertising
Go to the Microsoft Advertising platform at ads.microsoft.com.

Sign in to your account.

2. Set Up Universal Event Tracking (UET) Tag
Before you can create a conversion goal, you need to have the UET (Universal Event Tracking) tag installed on your website. The UET tag is responsible for tracking visitors' actions and passing data back to Microsoft Advertising.

Steps to Install the UET Tag:
Navigate to UET Tags:

In the top menu, click on Tools and then choose UET tags under the "Measurement" section.

Create a UET Tag:

Click on +Create UET tag.

Give your tag a name (e.g., "Main Website UET").

Save the tag.

Install the UET Tag on Your Website:

After creating the tag, you'll get a unique UET tag code.

Place the UET tag code in the header of every page on your website or use a tag manager like Google Tag Manager to implement it.

3. Create a New Conversion Goal
Once the UET tag is installed and working, you can set up a conversion goal to track specific actions that count as conversions.

Steps to Create a Conversion Goal:
Navigate to Conversion Goals:

From your Microsoft Advertising account, click on Tools in the top menu.

Under the Measurement section, select Conversion goals.

Create New Goal:

Click on the +Create Conversion Goal button to start setting up a new conversion goal.

Choose Conversion Goal Type: Microsoft Advertising offers several types of conversion goals you can set up. Choose the one that fits your needs:

Website Conversion: Tracks specific actions on your website (e.g., purchases, form submissions, etc.).

Import from Google Ads: Import conversion data from Google Ads, if applicable.

App Conversion: Tracks app installs and in-app actions.

Offline Conversion: Tracks conversions that happen offline (e.g., phone calls or in-store purchases).

Define the Goal Details:

Goal Name: Give the conversion goal a descriptive name (e.g., "Purchase Conversion" or "Lead Form Submission").

Category: Choose the category that best describes your goal. Categories include:

Purchase (e-commerce transactions)

Lead (form submissions or sign-ups)

View of a key page (e.g., a thank-you page or thank-you message)

Other (a custom action)

Conversion Window: Set the time window in which the conversion should be tracked after the ad interaction (e.g., 30 days). The default is 30 days, but you can adjust this based on your business cycle.

Conversion Value: Optionally, assign a value to each conversion (e.g., $100 for a purchase or $50 for a lead). This helps track the ROI of your campaigns.

Select the Tracking Method:

Track Conversion with the UET Tag: Choose this option if you're tracking conversions based on actions that occur on your website or app. Ensure that the UET tag is properly implemented on the pages where the conversion action occurs.

Track Events: If you want to track specific events like button clicks, you can set up Event Tracking within the UET tag by defining custom parameters.

Set up the Conversion Action on Your Site:

If your conversion action happens when a user lands on a specific page (e.g., thank-you page or confirmation page after a purchase), you can set up a page view conversion.

To do this, select Website Conversion and then define the page (or URL) that indicates the successful conversion (e.g., a "Thank You" or "Order Complete" page).

For more advanced setups, you can track custom actions (e.g., button clicks, video views, etc.) through custom events on the UET tag.

Review and Save the Goal:

Once you've configured the goal, review all settings and click Create to save your new conversion goal.

4. Test Your Conversion Goal
After setting up your conversion goal, it's crucial to verify that it's tracking properly. You can use the UET Tag Helper tool to test and troubleshoot if the tag is firing correctly.

To Test the Goal:
Go to your website and perform the action you're tracking (e.g., complete a purchase, fill out a form).

Check your Microsoft Advertising account to see if the conversion is being recorded in your conversion reports.

5. Monitor and Optimize Your Campaigns
After the conversion goal is set up, Microsoft Advertising will start tracking the relevant actions. You can monitor conversion performance by going to Campaigns and adding conversion metrics to your reports. This helps you see how well your campaigns are performing in terms of driving conversions.

Conversion Metrics: You can track metrics like Conversions, Conversion Rate, and Cost per Conversion.

Optimize Campaigns: Use these insights to adjust your bids, keywords, or ads to optimize for higher conversions.

Key Tips for Creating and Using Conversion Goals
Use Different Conversion Goals: If you have multiple types of conversions (e.g., purchases and sign-ups), create separate goals to track each one distinctly.

Track Conversion Value: Assigning values to conversions helps you understand the ROI of your campaigns and optimize accordingly.

Set Up Multiple Goals: You can create more than one goal and track different actions separately. For example, tracking purchase as one goal and newsletter sign-ups as another.

Conclusion
Creating a conversion goal in Microsoft Advertising allows you to track specific actions (like purchases, form submissions, or page views) that occur as a result of your ads. By setting up the UET tag, defining your goal, and assigning a value to it, you can accurately track the performance of your campaigns and optimize for better results.