Ah bing. The search engine that eagerly launched roughly 11 years ago. For many, the use of Bing is laughable and the butt of many marketing jokes. However, before you pass Bing off as The Google-Wannabe not worthy of your marketing efforts, think again. Bing has got some really great aspects which makes it a worthy contender for your marketing budget. Here are a few reasons why you should bother with Bing.
1. Bing doesn’t have the most search traffic, but it’s a close contender.
Of course, Google will probably always hold the largest majority of search traffic, however, Bing does hold over 10% of total global search traffic, which is on par with the Chinese search engine Baidu. And in the American market, the use of Bing is even greater.
In 2019, over 126 million American users performed 6 billion searches on bing, and this makes up roughly 36% of the total desktop search market in the United States alone.
So – to make sure you’re making the most of this potential traffic, ensure that your website is included in the Bing index by submitting it through the Bing Webmasters Tools (similar to Google Search Console).
2. Many devices use bing search natively
If you have a Microsoft desktop, you would have noticed that it came preinstalled with either Internet Explorer or Microsoft Edge which both are powered by Bing search.
Another MAJOR use of Bing is through Cortana and Alexa. Both of these are Microsoft products, which makes it no surprise that Bing is the search engine of choice. Alexa is also used in over 100 million households, meaning 100 million households probably use Bing without even realizing it. Alexa is also Facebook Portal’s voice assistant – so, go Bing! As voice search continues to increase as people prefer more ‘hands-free’ interaction, the use of Bing will likely increase too.
3. Less marketing competition: CPC is way lower (good for advertisers)
Because there are fewer users on the Bing platform, advertisers instead focus marketing budget on Google Ads. The benefit? There might be the ability to score cheaper cost-per-clicks on many keywords. The average CPC on the Bing platform can be up to 70% cheaper when compared to Google Ads. What this means is you’ll be able to get more clicks for less by spreading your budget through to the Bing platform.
4. For certain audiences, Bing is a no-brainer
One thing that should be noted about Bing, is that there are definitely certain demographics that use it more than Google search. The typical Bing user is over 35, and between the age of 55-64. One-third of this audience also has an average household income of $100,000+. So if you’re a business that targets the older, wealthier demographics, consider Bing search.
So – moral of the story? You should bother with Bing! It has more of a search market than you might think, it’s being integrated into different devices, has more affordable CPCs, and high spending audiences. Of course, it shouldn’t be the core source of your marketing focus, but it is definitely worth more than most give credit to.
Need more on Microsoft / Bing Marketing Suite? Continue reading.