PPC Live UK - February 2023 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKsF3KqJQpU

1. Don't Sleep on Microsoft's
Audience Network!
Sophie Logan | @MarketingSoph
#PPCLiveUK

2. • What is the Microsoft Audience
Network?
• Why is it important for your paid
media strategy?
• How do you run an Audience Ads
Campaign?
Agenda

3. What is the Microsoft
Audience Network?

4. Microsoft Audience Network:
“Drive highly personalized
engagements with your ideal
customers, powered by Microsoft AI.”

6. ● Native PPC Platform
● Access to various audience targeting methods
including demographics and interests
● Create ads using text, images, video and feed based
content
● Placements include Microsoft Outlook, MSN, Edge and
premium website such as CBS Sport and Fox Business

7. “Reach your target audience with text,
image or video ads, as they explore the
internet and Microsoft owned
properties by running an Audience Ads
Campaign.”

10. Why is it important for your
Paid Media strategy?

11. “Two networks, one powerful
result” - Microsoft Advertising

16. ● Reaching your target audience outside of Search
results
● Building awareness and consideration
● Reaping the results further down the line

17. Users exposed to Microsoft Audience Ads engaged with
brands at a higher rate:
● 3x more likely to search for a brand
● 4x more likely to visit a website
● 5.5x more likely to make a purchase
(Microsoft Study - February 2022)

18. Client X:
● 80/20 (Google Ads/Microsoft Advertising) split of budget and
time
● No increase in spend or change to the offer/product, just
general optimisations and management
● Historically a ‘secondary’ source of PPC leads for the client,
something to help top up their pipeline
● Started running Audience Ads at the beginning of November
2022

19. Client X - CTR for Brand Search Campaign
No other major campaign or account changes
Increased Brand Awareness from Audience Ads Campaign
= More people with the right intent searching for the brand?

20. Client X - Conversion Rate for Brand Search
Campaign
Traction wasn’t as quick as the increase in CTR
Increased Brand Awareness = More people with the right interests and
intent coming through to the site after having seen the Audience Ads?

22. How do you run an
Audience Ads Campaign on
the MSFT Audience
Network?

27. Campaign Settings
-
Advanced Campaign Settings
-
Other Settings

28. Campaign Settings - Advanced Campaign
Settings - Other Settings

29. Left: @BrettBodofsky
September 2022: No
longer applicable to opt
out via bid modifiers at
an Ad Group level.
If this is how you were
managing this, then it’s
time to act!

31. Start off by running a separate Audience Ads
Campaign to target the Audience Network
Benefits of running a separate Audience Ad Campaign:
● Better focus on suitable assets for the format through
the use of Multimedia Ads
● Can experiment with a separate test budget
● Evaluate performance and results differently

32. Step 1: Create Campaign - Select Audience Ads

33. Step 2: Name Campaign - Set Budget
Consider
including
‘Audience Ad’
in your
campaign
name

34. Step 3: Audience Selection Can add multiple
options. For
example: layering
location with job
function

35. Step 3: Audience Options Includes:
● Location
● Age and Gender
● Audience (Remarketing Lists, Dynamic Remarketing Lists, Similar
Audiences, In-market Audiences, Customer Match Lists and Combined
Lists)
● Company, Industry and Job Function (via LinkedIn profile targeting)
You can also add exclusions

36. Step 3: Audience Options (Personal Strategy)
My go to structure to begin building Audience Ads Campaigns in an
account
Ad groups and their targeting:
● Remarketing
● In-Market Audience
● Similar Audiences
All include location targeting
All exclude a Customer Match List

37. Step 4: Create Your Multimedia Ad (RDA)

38. Step 4: Create Your Ad (Tips)
● Utilise all available the asset options:
○ 15 short headlines (max 30 characters)
○ 5 long descriptions (max 90 characters)
○ 5 ad texts (max 90 characters)
○ 1 business name (max 25 characters)
○ 16 images - no need for logos
● Use a mixture of both long and short description and ad text lengths
● Images should not include text or buttons

39. Step 4: Create Your Ad (Tips continued)
● Images should be focused representations of your product/service -
avoid stock imagery
● Utilise the cropping feature to ensure your images look right for each ad
dimension
● Take your time

40. Step 5: Budgets, Bids and Launch
Bid strategy
options:
● Manual CPC,
● Manual CPM
● Enhanced CPC
Start with what
you feel
comfortable
with

41. Step 6: Optimisations
● No asset report
● Option 1 - reflect changes and amends you make to to your Google Ads
RDAs for your Audience Ads Campaign
Option 2- use your best judgement
● Keep working on your audience lists: adding fresh Customer Matches,
reviewing your Remarketing List set ups and exploring other audience
options. For example: seeing what effect the LinkedIn Profile Targeting
option has on your performance.

42. Step 7: Evaluate Performance
Performance indicators to keep an eye on:
● Are you seeing any improvement in the engagement levels for Brand
Search Campaign? Impressions, Clicks, CTR?
● Has your Conversion Rate improved for your Search Campaigns since
you started running your Audience Ads Campaign?
● Ideal goal - Did the campaign itself generate any direct Conversions?

43. NEW - Video Ads
In November 2022 it was announced that Video Ads can be run on the
Audience Network.
● Available in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany,
Australia and New Zealand only
● A reported 50% increase in Conversion Rate for those exposed to both
Search and Video ads compared to video only
● Video length between 6 to 120 seconds
● CPC, CPM and CPV available

44. Summary

45. ● Audience Network: Reach your target audience with text, image or
video ads, as they explore the internet and Microsoft owned
properties via Audience Ads Campaigns
● Opt out of ‘Audience Ads’ in your Search Campaigns
● Create an ‘Audience Ads’ campaign to specifically target the
Audience Network and take your time when crafting your ads
● Look for engagement and Conversion improvements across all of
your campaigns - How have things changed since launching your
Audience Ads campaign?

47. Thank you!
@marketingsoph
victressdigital.co.uk
#PPCLiveUK