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

Bing Ads (now known as Microsoft Advertising) offers several automated bidding strategies to help you streamline campaign management and optimize bids for different goals. These strategies can be particularly useful for advertisers looking to leverage machine learning and automation to save time while maximizing performance. Here's a breakdown of the key automated bidding options available on Microsoft Advertising and how to use them effectively:

1. Maximize Clicks
What it is: Automatically adjusts your bids to help you get the most clicks within your daily budget.

When to use it: Best for campaigns where the goal is to drive traffic to your website, without focusing on conversions.

How to leverage it:

Use when you're in the discovery phase and want to test a lot of keywords.

Great for top-of-funnel campaigns or when you're trying to increase awareness.

Keep an eye on the CTR to ensure you're not just getting traffic, but relevant traffic.

2. Target CPA (Cost Per Acquisition)
What it is: Aiming to achieve a target cost per conversion (CPA), Microsoft's algorithm will automatically set bids to help you achieve that target.

When to use it: Ideal when your main goal is to optimize for conversions while controlling costs.

How to leverage it:

Set a realistic target CPA based on past performance or industry benchmarks.

Let the system adjust bids dynamically to get the most conversions for the set CPA.

Monitor performance—if you're getting more conversions than expected, you can tighten the CPA target to improve efficiency.

3. Maximize Conversions
What it is: Automatically adjusts bids to get the maximum number of conversions for your budget.

When to use it: Best suited for campaigns that are conversion-focused, and you want to maximize your return on investment (ROI) for a fixed budget.

How to leverage it:

Ideal for lower-funnel campaigns, such as remarketing or lead gen, where conversion tracking is set up correctly.

Enable conversion tracking and have enough data before using this, as the system needs a steady flow of conversions to optimize effectively.

Review your budget—if your budget is too small, the system may not have enough room to maximize conversions.

4. Target ROAS (Return on Ad Spend)
What it is: Automatically adjusts bids to help you achieve a specific return on ad spend (ROAS). This strategy helps you maximize revenue while controlling your return.

When to use it: Perfect for e-commerce or sales-driven campaigns where you need to ensure a profitable return.

How to leverage it:

Set a realistic ROAS target based on historical data.

Ensure that conversion tracking and value-based conversion tracking (if using e-commerce) are set up so the system can track revenue properly.

Monitor your ROAS over time—if it's consistently higher or lower than your target, adjust your bid or ROAS target accordingly.

5. Enhanced Cost-Per-Click (eCPC)
What it is: eCPC automatically adjusts your manual bids to help you get more conversions, while aiming to keep your CPC within your target range.

When to use it: This is a hybrid strategy that's best for advertisers who are already using manual bidding but want to let Microsoft Advertising optimize bids for better performance.

How to leverage it:

Use it when you have sufficient historical data and are ready to scale conversions while maintaining some level of manual control.

Keep an eye on your CPA and conversion volume—eCPC is great for campaigns with a steady flow of conversions but could also drive up costs if the algorithm detects a more competitive auction.

6. Target Impression Share
What it is: Automatically sets bids to help you achieve a specific impression share. It can help you target top positions in the auction (e.g., top of the page, absolute top of the page).

When to use it: Ideal for campaigns where visibility is a priority, such as branding or awareness campaigns.

How to leverage it:

Use for brand-related keywords where you want to dominate the top ad position.

Use this strategy to increase visibility in highly competitive auctions, but keep in mind that it may result in higher costs, especially for premium placements.

Choose between targeting the absolute top (which costs more) or targeting any top positions to control budget more effectively.

7. Manual Bidding with Dynamic Search Ads (DSA)
What it is: Though not fully automated, you can use manual bids with Dynamic Search Ads to get automated ad creation based on your website content, while adjusting bids manually for optimization.

When to use it: When you want to leverage Dynamic Search Ads (DSA) to automatically generate ads based on your website content but still have control over bidding.

How to leverage it:

Use it if you have a large inventory of products or services and want to target all relevant queries automatically.

Review search term reports regularly to refine negative keywords and adjust manual bids for high-performing keywords.

🧠 How to Leverage These Automated Bidding Options:
Start with Clear Goals:

Choose the strategy that aligns with your business objectives (e.g., Target CPA for lead generation, Maximize Conversions for sales, Target ROAS for e-commerce).

Make sure your conversion tracking and website data are in place to allow the system to work efficiently.

Test and Learn:

Start with trial periods for each automated bidding strategy and test how well the system aligns with your performance targets.

Monitor key metrics (like CPA, ROAS, CTR, and conversion rate) and make necessary adjustments based on performance.

Leverage Smart Bidding with Ad Scheduling & Geo-Targeting:

Use ad scheduling to optimize bidding during high-conversion hours or days.

Implement geo-targeting bid adjustments to increase or decrease bids based on regional performance (e.g., higher bids for locations that perform better).

Review Performance Regularly:

Use the Bid Simulator and Performance Reports to adjust your strategy, fine-tune your goals, and ensure you're getting the best ROI.

Make periodic adjustments to target CPA or ROAS based on results.