Is Your Product Perfect For Boomers? Try Bing Ads Over Google AdWords
If the first company you think of when you think “effective PPC ads” is Google AdWords, you’re not alone. The company name has become a household verb for any online queries, and it seems that Google reigns supreme over the internet as a whole. This is, for the most part, true, if you’re targeting Millennials and Gen Z shoppers - but if you’re targeting Gen X, Baby Boomers, or older, consider their Google’s biggest rival: Bing.
While it’s true that Bing holds a small percentage (about 20%) as compared to Google, there’s an interesting phenomenon happening - Bing’s share of internet users is actually growing, whereas Google’s is (very slowly) decreasing. Currently, the alternative search engine boasts about 116 million people - only slightly less than the entire population of Japan.
The best part? If you make products that suit those over 40 years old, those who use Bing are the perfect targets. They’re almost entirely in Western countries, with the vast majority of them (over 80%) in the US. More than a third of them have a household income that’s six figures - or more. They’re also likely to be blue collar workers who are technological laggards, so keep that in mind if your products fall into that category. The best part? They spend 22% more in online shopping than their Google peers, and are more likely to be searching for products they wish to purchase.
In short, it just makes good sense for any brand targeting retirees, Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and upper middle class blue collar workers to use Bing Ads.
Still not convinced? Keep in mind that Bing Ads are almost always much less expensive to bid on than Google Ads. The average you’ll spend on Bing for a click? A mere $1.07, which is a hefty reduction to Google’s average of $1.83, especially when you remember that you’re often buying hundreds, if not thousands, of clicks. This can make a huge difference for your brand’s marketing and advertising budget, especially if you’re on a tight constraint.
Additionally, get ready for upgrades in your audience - Microsoft, the owner of Bing, is actively targeting younger generations with targeted advertisements and even incentives to use their product. As Microsoft continues its game of consumer catch-up, while also innovating impressive new ideas, it’s logical to assume that Bing’s user base will increase at a healthy pace.
So what’s holding every brand from advertising on this cheaper search engine, with arguably higher quality users (from a retail perspective)? It’s user interface. Google AdWords is a truly user friendly platform that’s easily picked up - not so for Bing Ads.
The biggest difference is that you cannot create negative audiences, or groups of people who should not see your ad. This can make targeting a bit trickier, especially if your product is ill suited or offensive to some groups, or if you’d like to avoid having your ads shown to existing customers.
Additionally, you won’t be able to download Bing’s audience lists, which means you must manually select audiences individually for each campaign. If you are a small brand playing around with only a few campaigns, this may not be much of a hindrance, but if you have several campaigns going at once, and would like to A/B test each of them, this may turn into a very time consuming hurdle to overcome. This is made twofold by the fact that Bing Editor isn’t nearly as comprehensive as Google AdWords’, which means you’ll also need to edit each campaign individually, even if you’re making the same edits to each. Again, this will mostly delay A/B testing.
Bing Ads can be extremely useful and effective for brands targeting older audiences, blue collar workers, and upper-middle-class and wealthy households, and offer solutions for brands with constrained budgets. However, with a difficult interface to contend with, it’s best to leave much of the setup to a trained professional to ensure that your ads are being served to those most receptive to them. Reach out to Ulku Logistics today, and get started! EndFragment
