7 Reasons European Businesses Should Advertise on Bing If you ignore Bing, that's millions of searches you could be missing out on.

When I started investing in PPC (pay-per-click) advertising, all I knew about was Google AdWords. With 93.58 percent of market share in Europe, there is no denying that Google AdWords is the king when it comes to SEM (search engine marketing). Upon further digging, however, I discovered great features Bing search engine provides which are unknown to the majority of marketers.

One must be careful not to ignore the market share of Bing network, which includes 3 billion monthly searches in Europe and 12 billion monthly searches worldwide.

Make no mistake by getting deceived by Bing's 2.1 percent market share and Yahoo's 1.13 percent. Bing's market share may be vastly less than Google's, but if you ignore it, that's millions of searches you would be missing out on.

I have been using Bing ads for a while and have found the following advantages while using it:

1. You can start right away.

If you have been using Google Adwords for a while and are procrastinating on starting Bing ads because you don't want to start from scratch, good news -- you can easily import Google AdWords campaign directly in Bing.

This expands your reach on both the platforms in no time. In a few cases, not all the data gets imported, but the missing pieces can be added in the campaign later. Campaigns, ad groups, keywords, extensions, product ads, labels, etc. are necessary items that get imported to start off with Bing Ads.

You can easily import Google AdWords campaign directly in Bing by following these steps.

2. Bing ads are less competitive with cheaper CPC.

Since Bing ads are based on an auction mechanism similar to AdWords, less competition results in a cheaper cost per clicks (CPC). Hence you get more clicks with better ad positions while spending less on your budget, which ultimately leads to more traffic and high conversion.

According to Seer, its clients generated 76,000-plus in conversions that they might have missed if they weren't using Bing.

Similarly, a Search Engine People case study found CPC of Bing ads in the automotive industry turned out to be 32.5 percent lower than Adwords, and in the insurance industry, CPC was 59.2 percent lower. Hitachi had similar results with Bing ads; when it started out in 2015, cost per click was 75 percent of the amount spent on Google Adwords.

3. You have more control and better device targeting.

With the majority of the users searching on smartphones and tablets, it is a treat to marketers to have various targeting options based on the product they are promoting.

With Bing, you can integrate device targeting along with existing demographic targets such as location, age, gender, time, etc. Bidding can be controlled based on targeting the best performing devices and excluding the underperforming ones. And you can select mobile device targeting and use site-links to improve your conversion.

Follow these tips to set device targeting.

With this functionality, you can completely opt out of desktop targeting, which is unavailable in AdWords. You can take utmost advantage of various demographic targeting along with this feature to target based on devices.

4. You have ad group control.

In the case of one or more closely related ads, we use ad groups. Unlike Google, Bing offers additional settings at the ad group level. You can schedule different campaigns in different time zones, which is a treat if your campaigns are intended for a fragmented international audience.

Bing has instructions for creating ad groups.

At ad group level, you can control location, network, language and scheduling with ease which Google AdWords restricts us from. With this, you are exempted from starting new campaigns to make changes while quickly adjusting the settings.

5. There is transparency in search partners.

Another added advantage of Bing advertising is that it is transparent when it comes to disclosing the details of its search partners. You can see exactly where your traffic is coming from and filter your search partners accordingly.

Bing provides extensive reports on the metrics and performance of each search partner in a campaign including details from impressions to conversions. With these stats, you can opt out of underperforming networks from your campaign or ad groups. Google provides only two restricted choices: Google search or partners. You are blinded when it comes to the source of traffic while using AdWords.

6. You can set up universal event tracking.

Bing's Universal Event Tracking is a powerful tool that allows you to track customers after they click your ad. You need to create a UET tag and place it on your website, Bing will collect data that will allow you to track and remarket with customizable bids, ads and keywords for customers who have visited your website.

Follow these steps to create UET tags.

UETs can be set based on the number of people who have visited the particular page of your website, who have clicked and installed your app and time spent by visitors.

7. There are more extensions.

Bing has a wide range of extensions to enhance your conversions and connect with your audience. One example is Bing's Twitter extension. Location extensions allow you to target potential local customers easily. You can display your address, social info or contact number based on your requirement.

Are Bing ads right for your business or brand?

I would recommend you test your numbers and then scale up gradually.

With extensive insights and greater control, Bing ads might be worth your time and money. The millions of audience searches in its network is another reason to consider Bing ads in your marketing campaign.

Since Bing ads have different CPA (cost per acquisition) value when compared to Google Adwords, you can evaluate your expenditure and CPA with a tool Bing provides. It can be tested without spending a single penny. The CPA value is variable across different industries.

After evaluation, you can keep track of your budget and bring down costs drastically based on results. As they say, prevention is better than cure, so do your homework on your industry and audience before starting it off.

You need not start from scratch; import from your Google Adwords to have a head start and spend time on optimizing its performance.