There’s no better time than at the start of a new year to get your PPC accounts in order. One of the biggest things that I do during this time is audit all of my accounts and make sure I’m taking advantage of all features. As you know, in the PPC world it’s easy to miss out on adding new features to your accounts.
This year, Bing is going to be high on my priority list, as the engine has recently released several new ad extensions (most are still in beta) that might be worth adding to my accounts. In this post, I’ll highlight each extension and explain what value they might bring.
Why Ad Extensions?
Before we delve into the new extensions, I wanted to take a moment to discuss the importance of testing ad extensions. Though it involves a bit of extra work on the account manager’s part, ad extensions have shown to improve overall performance for the advertiser. They help garner more space on the search results page, as well as feature additional information that has shown to increase overall headline CTR. Not every ad extension will be relevant to every advertiser, but you should certainly take the time to test the ones that appear relevant.
Callout Extensions
Most of us are familiar with this extension type, as it has been available in AdWords for some time now. This extension is not clickable, but gives advertisers the opportunity to add a line of text to their ad, as well as call out some features and benefits of their product or service. When using this extension, try and focus on highlighting items that don’t already appear in your text ad, but are still relevant to the user. It will add an element of interest to your ad and make it more compelling to your audience. Advertisers who have used Callout extensions in AdWords have reported an increase in CTR as a result of using this extension, so this is one that I’m eager to test on Bing.
Image Extensions
Bing is now giving advertisers the opportunity to add images to their search ads. With this new extension, you can upload up to six images, providing advertisers with a way to make their ad stand out among the rest. As is the case with other extensions, the image extension will help advertisers take up more real estate on the search results pages – and the addition of an image should help capture attention.
App Extensions
If you have an app that you’re promoting, this extension just might be for you. Bing’s new app extension appears on your ads and promotes downloads of your app to your audience. Available for IOS, Android and Windows apps, this extension can help you increase your app installs and draw more relevant traffic to your app than before. You’ll be able to track both clicks and app downloads as conversions.
ActionLink Extensions
If you’ve ever wondered how your PPC stats would change if you could have a stronger call-to-action within your ad, then ActionLink might be the perfect extension for you. With this extension, your call-to-action is featured as a button right within the body of the ad. Upon clicking, users will be taken to whatever conversion page you deem most relevant.
I can see this extension working well in industries where the users already know what they want and would value going directly into the conversion process. This might be trickier in industries where the advertiser needs to educate their users a bit more before arriving at the conversion page. The button definitely stands out within the body of the ad and, just as we see with other extensions, the ActionLink extension certainly will make your ad look different from the rest.
Review Extensions
We all know the importance that users place on reviews – especially when shopping online. To help highlight these reviews, Bing has added in a review extension that allows advertisers to add third party reviews to their search ads. This should help advertisers build more credibility with their audience, as many are comparison-shopping for items.
Final Thoughts
As I mentioned, these new extensions are mostly still in the beta phase, so you’ll probably need to reach out to your Bing rep if you want to get started now. Though we don’t have much performance data on these new extensions yet, I feel that they are certainly worth a test, especially as we gear up for a new year in PPC.
