Pay Per Click Advertising
Marketing for vacation rental managers isn’t always crystal clear. There are plenty of helpful guides out there, but the waters of digital marketing are deep and murky – particularly when dipping your toe in the ocean of PPC (pay-per-click advertising) such as Google Ads and Bing Ads.
Alright, enough with the water metaphors, let’s dive in deeper to vacation rental marketing.
What Is Bing Ads?
Recently rebranded to Microsoft Advertising, most people still commonly refer to this advertising channel as Bing Ads even though it is encompasses ads that appear on three major search engines:
- Bing
- AOL
- Yahoo
Yes, AOL still exists! We were surprised too. The truth of the matter is Google is still the most popular search engine, but Bing is the second. That’s why many online marketers believe it is worth the investment.
Comparing Microsoft Advertising (Bing Ads) to Google Ads
Although they function in the same way and have many of the same capabilities, there are many differences between the two largest PPC ads platforms.
Who uses Bing? That is the main difference for many marketers. The demographic that uses Bing tends to be older and less tech savvy. You’re probably going to find empty nesters and retirees (55 – 64) with a decent household income. There are plenty of industry leaders who say the purchase intent is higher for that age group.
Who advertises on Bing? Not too many people, honestly. Less competition on Microsoft Ad space leads to fewer companies fighting for the top spots. There is a greater chance that your ad will place top 3 on the first page of search results. That is the prime location for any advertiser. Combine this with the promising user intent to buy and your ads that get clicked have a better chance of producing bookings.
What does it cost? Clicks are cheaper using Microsoft Advertising. There is no question that the cost of Google Ads is far higher due to the higher search volume and number of businesses fighting for ad space. Even though Bing Ads can look “easier” than Google, standard rules apply for any type of PPC. You still have to create different ad creatives and test. Optimizing is a crucial step that can be overlooked by campaigns run in-house. After a few months of finding what works, you may find the cost-per-click decrease as the CTR (click-through-rate) increases.
All of this adds up to a very important final difference. Lower cost + less competition = potentially better ROI (return-on-investment). This will not be true for everyone, but if your main audience group trends towards the older generation, this may be the ideal digital advertising space for you.
Where Should I Choose To Spend My Advertising Dollars?
Depending on your business and unique needs, you may find that using both advertising platforms covers all of your bases. The best way to describe how these competitors fit together is by describing Bing Ads as a “gap filler”.
If you already advertise on Google Ads, then we highly suggest considering adding advertising dollars to your online marketing budget for Microsoft Advertising. If you only have limited resources, Bing Ads might fit your smaller budget since it is less expensive and less competitive.
However, if you have a reasonable budget and want the biggest splash (I lied about being done with the water metaphors), Google Ads is still the #1 way users discover brands and search the Internet. Google Ads will always deliver more traffic and the potential for most bookings.
Are You Losing Money?
If you feel like a ship lost at sea, send us an SOS signal. If you are running your own vacation rental ad campaign and have further questions, reach out to consult with one of our marketing professionals. We are experts in the VR industry and have years of experience as a digital marketing agency for vacation rental managers. We are happy to help and can provide a free 15-minute PPC account review.
