Paid Search & PPC → Microsoft Advertising & Bing Ads

The B2B paid search channel
most of your competitors
aren’t running properly

Microsoft Advertising & Bing Ads for B2B is a approach in B2B marketing. Microsoft Advertising reaches a distinct, senior B2B audience through Bing, LinkedIn integration, and the Microsoft Audience Network. CPCs average 30–40% lower than Google for equivalent queries, LinkedIn profile targeting enables firmographic filtering that Google can’t match, and enterprise decision-makers are disproportionately represented in the Bing user base.

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38%of enterprise search queries are conducted on Bing or Microsoft Edge — particularly on corporate devices where Microsoft’s browser is the default

33%lower average CPCs on Microsoft Advertising vs Google Ads for equivalent B2B keywords — with similar or better conversion rates for high-intent queries

6.8%average higher household income for Bing users vs Google users — a proxy for the senior, higher-earning decision-maker audience that skews toward Microsoft products

Why Microsoft Advertising matters for B2B

Enterprise decision-makers
search on Bing more than
most marketers assume

The standard assumption in digital marketing is that Google has the audience and Bing doesn’t. For consumer marketing, that’s largely true. For B2B, the picture is more nuanced. Microsoft products — Windows, Edge, Office 365 — dominate corporate device management in enterprise organisations. When employees search on work devices, a significant proportion do so through Edge with Bing as the default search engine — often without changing it.

The demographic result is an audience that skews older, more senior, and more concentrated in large organisations than Google’s B2B searcher base. For enterprise-focused B2B companies, Microsoft Advertising offers access to a disproportionately valuable segment of the decision-maker audience at CPCs that are typically 30–40% lower than equivalent Google queries. Running Google Ads without Microsoft Advertising in a B2B context is effectively paying a premium to reach only part of the senior decision-maker audience you’re targeting.

The LinkedIn profile targeting integration is Microsoft Advertising’s most significant B2B differentiator. Job function, industry, company, and seniority filters — drawn from LinkedIn’s professional graph — can be applied directly to search campaigns. This enables a level of B2B audience precision on paid search that Google cannot match, and makes Microsoft Advertising particularly valuable for ABM-style targeted paid search against specific firmographic profiles.

Signs you’re missing B2B value from Microsoft

01You’re running Google Ads but no Microsoft Advertising — leaving a significant portion of your enterprise audience unreached at lower CPCs

02You imported your Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Advertising without B2B-specific optimisation — and performance has plateaued because the account is running consumer-oriented structure

03You’re not using LinkedIn profile targeting in Microsoft Advertising, which is the most powerful B2B audience filter available in paid search

04Your Microsoft Advertising account has lower volume than Google and has been deprioritised — despite per-lead costs that are often significantly better than Google at equivalent intent levels

05You have no Bing-specific keyword research — query patterns on Microsoft differ from Google, particularly for B2B categories, and a direct import without refinement misses these differences

Our approach

How we build Microsoft Advertising
to capture the B2B audience Google misses

Microsoft Advertising requires its own B2B strategy — not a Google import. LinkedIn profile targeting, Bing-specific query patterns, and the Microsoft Audience Network each require distinct configuration to deliver B2B pipeline rather than consumer traffic.

LinkedIn Profile Targeting Integration

We configure LinkedIn audience targeting within Microsoft Advertising campaigns — applying job function, seniority, industry, and company filters to search campaigns to ensure ads are shown specifically to the B2B decision-maker profile relevant to your ICP. Bid adjustments are calibrated per audience segment to concentrate spend on the highest-value seniority and function combinations.

Bing-Specific Keyword Architecture

We conduct Bing-specific keyword research rather than importing Google campaigns directly. Query patterns on Microsoft Search differ — particularly for B2B categories, where Bing users often use more formal, professional language and longer search queries. We also leverage Microsoft’s unique query data to identify high-value B2B terms with lower competition than on Google.

Microsoft Audience Network Configuration

The Microsoft Audience Network extends reach to display placements across MSN, Outlook, and Microsoft Edge — properties with strong enterprise professional audiences. We configure audience campaigns targeting in-market B2B segments, retargeting lists, and customer match uploads to create a complementary display layer alongside search campaigns.

Why Harmonic

What makes our Microsoft Advertising approach
capture genuine B2B value

Most Microsoft Advertising for B2B is a direct Google import running on autopilot. Capturing the full B2B opportunity requires LinkedIn targeting, Bing-specific optimisation, and active management.

LinkedIn targeting applied at the keyword level

We don’t apply LinkedIn audience targeting as a broad account filter. We calibrate bid adjustments by audience segment — paying premiums for C-suite and VP searches while reducing bids for junior function searches on the same keywords. This concentrates budget on the most valuable decision-maker segments without excluding broader coverage entirely.

Bing-specific negative keyword management

The Bing user base in B2B categories has different off-ICP traffic patterns than Google. We build Bing-specific negative keyword lists based on search term data from the Microsoft ecosystem rather than applying Google negative lists directly. The irrelevant queries that surface on Bing are often different from those that surface on Google.

Separate reporting to justify the channel investment

We maintain separate pipeline attribution for Microsoft Advertising vs Google Ads — tracking cost per pipeline-qualified lead, ROAS, and conversion rates independently for each channel. This prevents the common mistake of blending channel performance and either under-investing in Microsoft because its volume is lower or over-investing because its CPCs look cheaper without accounting for conversion quality.

Import management that preserves B2B optimisation

When clients move from Google-only to dual-channel, we import Google campaigns as a starting point but immediately apply Bing-specific modifications: LinkedIn audience layers, Bing keyword adjustments, and negative keyword refinements. The import is a foundation, not a finished account.

What you get

What a Microsoft Advertising programme
adds to your paid search portfolio

Deliverables build on an existing Google Ads programme to add the Microsoft channel without duplicating management overhead.

Microsoft Advertising Account Audit or Setup

Audit of existing Microsoft Advertising accounts, or full account setup for new advertisers — including campaign structure, keyword architecture, and conversion tracking configuration.

LinkedIn Profile Targeting Configuration

Job function, seniority, industry, and company audience segments configured in Microsoft Advertising with bid adjustments calibrated to your ICP and deal economics.

Bing-Specific Keyword Research

Keyword research using Microsoft’s query data to identify B2B terms with favourable CPC/competition dynamics on Bing vs Google, plus Bing-specific negative keyword lists.

Microsoft Audience Network Campaigns

Display campaigns targeting B2B professional audiences on MSN, Outlook, and Microsoft Edge properties, coordinated with search campaigns to create multi-format presence.

Cross-Channel Conversion Tracking

Conversion tracking configured consistently across Google and Microsoft Advertising, with separate attribution reporting to enable meaningful cross-channel comparison.

Monthly Cross-Channel Performance Reports

Reporting comparing Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising performance on cost per pipeline-qualified lead, ROAS, and impression share — with budget allocation recommendations.

How we work

How we add Microsoft Advertising
to your paid search programme

Audit and LinkedIn targeting configuration first. The LinkedIn audience layer is the most significant B2B differentiator and should be in place before any significant spend goes live.

Week 1–2

Account Setup & LinkedIn Targeting

Account setup or audit, LinkedIn audience configuration, and conversion tracking implementation. Google campaign import with immediate Bing-specific modifications applied.

Account SetupLinkedIn Targeting

Weeks 2–3

Bing Keyword Refinement

Bing-specific keyword research, negative keyword list build, and campaign structure refinements based on initial data from the imported campaigns.

Keyword RefinementsNegative Keyword Lists

Weeks 3–5

Audience Network Launch

Microsoft Audience Network campaigns configured and launched with B2B audience targeting. Initial performance data reviewed and bid adjustments calibrated.

Audience Network LiveBid Calibration

Monthly

Cross-Channel Optimisation

Monthly review comparing Microsoft and Google performance, with budget allocation recommendations based on relative cost per pipeline-qualified lead. Ongoing keyword, bid, and LinkedIn targeting optimisation.

Cross-Channel ReportsBudget Recommendations

Common questions

Microsoft Advertising — answered

The questions we hear from B2B marketing teams evaluating whether to add Microsoft Advertising to their paid search mix.

Is Microsoft Advertising worth running alongside Google Ads for B2B?+

For most B2B companies targeting enterprise or mid-market buyers, yes. The combination of lower CPCs, access to the corporate device search audience, and LinkedIn profile targeting makes Microsoft Advertising a cost-effective complement to Google rather than a competing channel.

The case is strongest for companies targeting large enterprises, where Microsoft’s corporate device penetration means a higher proportion of the decision-maker audience is reachable on Bing. For SMB-focused B2B companies where buyers are more likely to use personal devices and Google, the incremental value of Microsoft Advertising is lower.

Can we just import our Google Ads campaigns into Microsoft Advertising?+

Import is a reasonable starting point, but it’s not a finished Microsoft Advertising account. At minimum, you should apply LinkedIn audience targeting (unavailable in Google), review the search term report for Bing-specific irrelevant queries, and adjust bids to account for the different CPC environment.

The accounts that perform best on Microsoft Advertising are those that treat it as a distinct channel with its own keyword research, audience configuration, and optimisation logic — using the Google import as a structural starting point rather than a complete solution.

How does LinkedIn targeting in Microsoft Advertising work?+

Microsoft Advertising’s LinkedIn profile targeting allows you to layer LinkedIn audience attributes — job function, job title, industry, company name, and seniority — onto standard search campaigns as bid adjustments. You can increase bids for searches from, say, VPs of Marketing in the SaaS industry at companies with 500+ employees, without excluding other searchers entirely.

It’s important to understand that LinkedIn targeting in Microsoft Advertising works as bid modifiers, not hard audience filters (unlike LinkedIn Ads where you can restrict delivery to a specific audience). This means your ads still show to the broader search audience; you’re adjusting the economics of the auction for different audience segments rather than limiting reach.

What budget should we allocate to Microsoft Advertising vs Google Ads?+

A common starting point is 15–25% of total paid search budget allocated to Microsoft Advertising. This reflects the lower volume available on Bing while still generating enough data to optimise and measure the channel’s pipeline contribution meaningfully.

The right allocation shifts over time based on performance data. If Microsoft Advertising is generating pipeline-qualified leads at a lower cost than Google — which is common for enterprise-focused B2B companies — the allocation should increase accordingly. We review channel allocation monthly and recommend adjustments based on relative ROAS rather than maintaining a fixed ratio.

Does Microsoft Advertising have conversion tracking as robust as Google Ads?+

Microsoft Advertising’s conversion tracking is comparable to Google for standard web conversions — form fills, page visits, button clicks — and supports offline conversion imports for connecting closed-won CRM data back to campaigns. Universal Event Tracking (Microsoft’s equivalent of Google’s Global Site Tag) installs in the same way.

The one area where Microsoft Advertising lags Google is in the volume of conversion data available for Smart Bidding — because Bing has lower search volume, campaigns accumulate conversion data more slowly. This means Smart Bidding algorithms on Microsoft may need more time to calibrate than on Google, and manual or target CPA bidding may be appropriate for longer before transitioning to fully automated strategies.

Ready to reach the B2B buyers
your Google campaigns are missing?

We’ll audit your Microsoft Advertising presence, configure LinkedIn profile targeting, and build a Bing-specific keyword strategy that captures the enterprise audience at lower CPCs.

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The B2B paid search channelmost of your competitorsaren’t running properly

Enterprise decision-makerssearch on Bing more thanmost marketers assume

How we build Microsoft Advertisingto capture the B2B audience Google misses