Market vs. Geo-Targeting: How to Reach the Correct Audience in Microsoft adCenter

When working on their search campaigns, many SEM experts jump right to the standard optimizations, such as keywords, bids, negatives, and ads. However, one of the most basic questions is often overlooked: are my accounts set up to reach the right audience? In this post, we will compare the language/market setting with the geo-targeting feature to ensure your account is reaching its intended audience in adCenter.

First, think about the audience you are trying to reach. Do you want to show up on all Bing.com searches, regardless of physical location? Do you only want to show for users in the US? Do you want to show for Bing.ca users located in Canada? Your answers will probably vary by account or campaign, so carefully consider where you want your ads to appear for each of your search accounts. If you have differing landing pages or policies (such as shipping prices) for users depending on their location, be sure to include this in your consideration.

Now that you know where on Bing you would like your ads to show, let’s review the adCenter settings to ensure your campaigns are reaching the right audience. There are two settings you should focus on, and each controls a different aspect:

1. Language/Market: Set at the ad group level, this setting controls the Bing site on which your ads will show and required language of those ads and also determines how the Microsoft adCenter Editorial Guidelines are applied to your ad (guidelines can vary by market). This is a required setting, and once uploaded to adCenter, it cannot be changed. The “English – United States” option, which is most common for US advertisers, means your ads will show on the Bing.com results page when applicable. Using “English – Canada” means your ads will show on the Bing.ca results page in the English language. Other options can be seen in the screenshot below. Keep in mind that this setting does not limit your ads to users in a physical location. For example, a user located in Canada that navigates to Bing.com will see ads set up for the “English – United States” market. By pulling an adCenter geographical location targeting report, you can see in which countries your ads are appearing.

2. Geo-Targeting: This optional feature allows you to target your ads to reach users within the specified country, state, metro area, or city. Unlike the language/market setting, which is only at the ad group level, you can geo-target at the campaign or ad group level. You can specify most any country around the world with this feature, from Argentina to Zimbabwe. adCenter Desktop offers easy bulk targeting capabilities, allowing you to copy/paste targeting settings across multiple campaigns and/or ad groups. Geo-targeting can be exclusive (for example, only show ads to the United States), or incremental (for example, boost bids by 10% when a user is from the United States). The sample screenshot below demonstrates exclusive US targeting. To add incremental targeting, you would need to add an incremental bid next to the US on the top right and check “Display ads in other locations.”

Here are a few examples to demonstrate how these two settings can be used to reach your audience:

* In this scenario, two ad groups would need to be created, one in French and one in English, and each would need to house keywords and ad copy for the associated language.

By considering your target audience and ensuring your adCenter settings reflect this intended audience, you can improve the quality and relevance of your account. If you have any questions or tips for these adCenter settings, feel free to leave a comment below.

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