As a few of you’ve got already heard, I accepted the position of Microsoft Advertisements Liaison in June of 2025. Meaning I’ll begin sharing Microsoft-first methods. It doesn’t imply:
- Giving preferential therapy to Microsoft if one thing else is genuinely a greater reply.
- Telling you to do one thing as a result of Microsoft has a quota (this isn’t how Microsoft operates anyway).
- Ignoring the legitimate critiques of how Microsoft may serve the people we care about higher. I’d love as a lot of that suggestions as doable!
With that out of the way in which, this month’s query is:
“How can I make Microsoft Promoting worthwhile?”
Earlier than I put pen to paper, I requested my LinkedIn group whether or not they discovered Microsoft Promoting worthwhile. The bulk indicated they do make cash after they put money into Microsoft Promoting.
Screenshot from writer’s LinkedIn ballot, June 2025
Clearly, I’m thrilled that almost all advertisers see a optimistic return on Microsoft Promoting. Many commented that they see higher outcomes than different advert networks.
Nevertheless, if Microsoft Promoting all the time received for our prospects, we’d have a stronger market and thoughts share.
The opposite a part of this ballot requested customers what about Microsoft Promoting makes it lower than worthwhile. Nobody may voice precisely what makes it unprofitable, so as an alternative, I used earlier conversations and feedback.
On this publish, I’m tackling two core areas: First, I’ll stroll by frequent complaints I’ve seen in conversations and consumer experiences. Second, I’ll spotlight what worthwhile Microsoft Promoting accounts have in frequent.
Whereas this was initially shared in 2025, Microsoft Promoting usually updates and expands its instruments. The core concepts and techniques mentioned right here stay helpful, whilst particular options evolve.
Tackling Widespread Frustrations
Account Setup Issues
Let’s tackle the elephant within the room: Account setup could be irritating. Microsoft places safety on the middle of every little thing, which suggests compliance and verification play an enormous position.
In case your model e mail modifications otherwise you add a brilliant admin after setup, the account is perhaps suspended till verification is full.
To keep away from this, it is advisable put together. Be sure that your model e mail is appropriate and tied to the promoting account. Solely add customers you belief. For those who’re linking to an company’s supervisor account or MCC, do not forget that the advertiser should provoke that hyperlink.
Ought to You Import Or Begin Recent?
Microsoft has made main investments in import know-how. Now you can import from Google (Search, Purchasing, Multimedia Advertisements, Efficiency Max), Meta (Viewers Advertisements), and Pinterest (Viewers Advertisements) accounts, which might save time.
Nevertheless, importing isn’t the identical as optimizing. Microsoft has distinct guidelines of engagement that differ from different platforms.
For those who import and depart every little thing untouched, reaching profitability goes to be a problem. That’s why many advertisers select to import for effectivity, however observe up by tailoring campaigns to Microsoft’s nuances.
A few of these embrace:
- Advert group degree settings.
- Microsoft-specific extensions (disclaimer, name to motion, and filter hyperlink, simply to call just a few).
- LinkedIn concentrating on.
You may as well benefit from Copilot, which now helps with key phrase technology, artistic improvement, and concentrating on.
For those who’re tight on time, import first, then edit, particularly in Search, Purchasing, Efficiency Max, and Viewers campaigns.
Taking The Friction Out Of Conversion Monitoring (UET)
When you’ve arrange your account, the following huge problem is conversion monitoring: particularly, the Common Occasion Monitoring (UET) pixel.
As soon as UET is configured appropriately, it supplies dependable conversion knowledge. Nevertheless, the preliminary setup could be tough should you’ve by no means achieved it earlier than.
As a result of that is such a friction level, we’re going to spend a little bit of time speaking by every step:
Step 1: Create Your UET Tag In Microsoft Advertisements
What to do:
Check in to Microsoft Advertisements, navigate to Instruments > UET Tag, and click on “Create UET tag.”
Give it a transparent, descriptive identify (like “Fundamental Web site UET – June 2025”) and optionally embrace an outline for future reference. As soon as saved, you’ll get the monitoring code snippet.
Why it issues:
This tag is your entry level to all monitoring capabilities: conversions, remarketing, viewers concentrating on, and extra.
Widespread pitfalls:
- Creating a number of UET tags for one website unnecessarily. Except you’ve got distinct monitoring wants throughout enterprise items or privateness contexts, preserve it centralized.
- Obscure naming conventions. Naming it “UET Tag 1” is setting your self up for confusion later when troubleshooting or auditing.
Step 2: Add The UET Tag To Your Web site
What to do:
Paste the code into the
part of each web page you need to observe. For those who’re utilizing a content material administration system (CMS) like WordPress or Shopify, most platforms provide a header script discipline or plugin.
For those who choose a tag supervisor, guarantee you’ve got a tag supervisor that fires on web page view and paste the code there.
Listed below are all accredited tag managers:
- Google Tag Supervisor.
- Qubit Opentag.
- Tealium.
- Ensighten.
- Sign.
- Adobe Dynamic Tag Supervisor.
- Adobe Expertise Platform.
Why it issues:
UET solely works when the tag is loaded persistently throughout your website. It must be current early sufficient within the web page load to catch person conduct successfully.
Widespread pitfalls:
- Putting the tag within the flawed location (just like the or footer), which might delay firing or break monitoring altogether.
- Solely tagging a subset of pages (like simply the homepage), which limits your capability to trace full-funnel exercise or construct significant remarketing audiences.
- Duplicating the tag by putting in it by each GTM and a CMS header. This will result in inflated or damaged knowledge.
Step 3: Customise For Conversions, Occasions, And Targets
What you are able to do:
As soon as the bottom tag is in place, outline what success appears like.
You possibly can arrange targets primarily based on URLs (thank-you pages, order confirmations), session period, web page depth, or customized occasions like clicks and scroll depth.
For ecommerce or lead technology, embrace income values or dynamic lead scoring if doable.
Why it issues:
That is the place you shift from “we tracked it” to “we all know what labored.” Customized configurations permit Microsoft Advertisements’ good bidding to optimize for actual enterprise worth, not self-importance metrics.
Widespread pitfalls:
- Obscure purpose definitions. For those who’re monitoring a generic “web page view” as a conversion, you’re not giving the platform something significant to study from.
- Lacking dynamic parameters like income or product class, particularly in ecommerce. For those who skip this, you’re shedding out on useful reporting and optimization alerts.
- Incorrectly carried out occasion syntax. One typo in your guide code and the entire monitoring chain breaks. All the time take a look at in staging environments or with a QA plan.
Step 4: Confirm And Troubleshoot Your UET Setup
What to do:
Set up the Microsoft UET Tag Helper browser extension to validate that your tag is current and firing appropriately.
Inside Microsoft Advertisements, go to Instruments > Conversion Monitoring > UET Tags and monitor whether or not the tag is energetic and knowledge is flowing.
Why it issues:
Simply because the tag is in your website doesn’t imply it’s working. Validation ensures that you just’re not losing media {dollars} as a result of misfiring or silent failures.
Widespread pitfalls:
- Assuming that tag presence equals performance. Some tags could present as current however received’t accumulate knowledge correctly as a result of cookie points, browser blocks, or incorrect implementation.
- Not accounting for browser-specific privateness limitations, significantly with Safari and Firefox, which prohibit third-party cookies and will block sure scripts should you’re not utilizing first-party integrations.
- Anticipating real-time conversion knowledge. Even with an ideal setup, there could also be a 24-48 hour lag between knowledge assortment and platform visibility.
You may have choices. You possibly can add your present conversions through feed, or configure UET utilizing Microsoft’s native integrations.
For ecommerce advertisers, Microsoft integrates immediately with platforms like Shopify and BigCommerce. These apps deal with the UET configuration with out requiring deep platform navigation.
For lead technology, I like to recommend working by the UET setup. However should you’re caught, importing offline conversions is a viable workaround.
No matter your path, you have to have conversion monitoring in place. Microsoft can’t optimize efficiency with solely clicks and impressions.
Can I Belief My Conversions?
The rise of bots is a respectable concern for all advert platforms. Microsoft takes these threats significantly and has a robust historical past of refunding for confirmed bot exercise.
Nevertheless, not each suspicious conversion is brought on by bots. They will outcome from misconfigured settings and well-intended people.
In case your location concentrating on is about to “Folks in, looking for, or viewing webpages about your focused places” your area, you may inadvertently welcome irrelevant site visitors.
Equally, many advertisers overlook to set advert schedules when importing campaigns, counting on Google’s bidding technique to compensate.
On Microsoft, utilizing advert schedules can considerably enhance your effectivity.
You may as well select between account time zones and person time zones for scheduling. This lets you allocate price range when your prospects are probably to transform.
The Fantasy That No One Makes use of Bing
A typical false impression is that nobody makes use of Bing. That merely isn’t true.
Microsoft Promoting extends far past Bing Search. It contains placements on MSN, Outlook, Xbox, DuckDuckGo, Baidu, and extra by the Viewers Advertisements.
Listed below are the stats (supply):
- 1 billion distinctive customers per 30 days throughout Microsoft’s community.
- 200 million month-to-month distinctive guests are reached solely by Microsoft’s Show & Native promoting stock.
- 63 million client subscribers interact month-to-month with Microsoft’s owned-and-operated properties.
- 500 million+ month-to-month readers entry content material through Microsoft’s Show & Native advert ecosystem.
- 3 billion+ minutes performed on Microsoft Informal Video games are a part of this engaged viewers.
Even inside Bing, search adverts are available in wealthy codecs: normal search, buying, multimedia, and vertical adverts.
Moreover, Copilot has launched AI-specific advert sorts like Showroom Advertisements. Showroom Advertisements mix paid and natural listings with dynamic filters to assist customers discover precisely what they need.
Microsoft placements attain distinctive customers you possibly can’t entry anyplace else. With viewers concentrating on instruments and contextual alerts, these placements are sometimes larger high quality than they seem at first look.
What Worthwhile Microsoft Advertisers Do In another way
As soon as we take away these friction factors, profitability turns into far more achievable. Profitable advertisers persistently interact with their accounts.
They Don’t Set And Neglect
Studying durations matter. Anytime you make a serious change (price range, bidding technique, or conversion monitoring), it is advisable permit two to 4 weeks for efficiency to stabilize.
Nevertheless, “set it and overlook it” received’t get you far. Profitable advertisers assessment their search phrases weekly.
Microsoft provides you entry to detailed search time period experiences, which let you make knowledgeable choices about match sorts and optimization methods.
For those who’re operating precise match solely, chances are you’ll hit low search quantity. Testing phrase or broad match can broaden your attain – and reviewing search phrases helps validate or problem your assumptions.
They Refresh Inventive Incessantly
Microsoft Promoting provides solutions for artistic updates, and Advert Studio makes modifying and creating property simple. Advertisers who monitor and take a look at artistic persistently see stronger efficiency over time.
Advert Studio permits you to deliver your individual artistic or work with Copilot to generate new property. It might assist you to format for all Microsoft stock.
They Monitor Share Of Voice
Share of Voice (just like impression share on Google) reveals how usually your adverts seem relative to your competitors. However don’t cease on the proportion.
Totally different advert sorts occupy completely different search engine outcomes web page (SERP) positions, and a few usually tend to be eligible for Copilot placement.
Understanding which codecs you utilize, and after they serve, will assist you to prioritize the fitting artistic and bidding methods.
They Use Impression-Primarily based Remarketing
Impression-based remarketing permits advertisers to construct audiences primarily based on customers who noticed an advert – even when they didn’t click on.
You possibly can’t remarket search to go looking, however you possibly can remarket throughout all different mixtures.
Begin with Viewers Advertisements as your first contact. Construct remarketing lists from these impressions. Then re-engage these customers with stronger provides or artistic in later funnel levels.
You possibly can apply extra aggressive tCPA or tROAS bidding as a result of these customers have already proven curiosity.
Matching the artistic to the viewers’s most popular expertise (visible or textual content) creates a robust flywheel.
They Keep Open To New Advert Varieties
Some Microsoft advert codecs, like Viewers Advertisements or PMax, launched to lukewarm reception. These early impressions don’t mirror as we speak’s efficiency.
Viewers Advertisements are actually nearer to Google’s Demand Gen, and Microsoft’s PMax tends to serve extra usually in Copilot placements. This isn’t favoritism; Search, Purchasing, and Multimedia adverts are additionally eligible for Copilot placements.
For those who run solely Search campaigns, you’ll want to layer in all accessible advert extensions. Microsoft provides a number of distinctive choices that enhance your footprint and engagement.
Ultimate Takeaways
- It is extremely doable to be worthwhile with Microsoft Promoting.
- The instruments from 2015 and 2016 have developed. Don’t let outdated perceptions block your alternative.
- Perceive conversion shortage. Microsoft reduces budgets when conversions are low should you’re utilizing Max Conversions or Goal CPA. For those who can’t attain 30 conversions in 30 days, swap to enhanced cost-per-click (eCPC) or add micro-conversions to take care of optimization.
Microsoft Promoting is a strategic platform in its personal proper – not only a Google backup.
With the fitting consideration and techniques, it may turn out to be a high-performing a part of your PPC combine.
Extra Sources:
Featured Picture: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
