Microsoft Advertising is the most consistently underrated channel in paid search. Smaller audience, certainly, but also fewer advertisers competing, cheaper clicks, and a user base skewed toward desktop, corporate machines and older, higher-income demographics. For B2B and considered purchases, that mix is often better than it sounds.
The practical case is simple: an account can be imported from Google in an afternoon, then optimised for its own reality. For many businesses it becomes the cheapest cost per lead in the portfolio, running quietly alongside everything else.
How I run Microsoft Ads
- Structured import from Google, then divergence where the platforms genuinely differ
- Bid and budget strategy tuned to lower volume, which needs different patience
- LinkedIn profile targeting layered on, a genuinely unique B2B advantage
- Microsoft Shopping feeds for retail
- Conversion tracking through UET, verified rather than assumed
- Reported separately, so its efficiency is visible rather than buried in a blended average