In a move designed to streamline campaign management and potentially boost conversions for advertisers, Bing Ads announced that Enhanced Cost-per-Click (ECPC) will become the new default bidding strategy for all new search campaigns. Let’s uncover what ECPC is, how it functions and what this change signifies for advertisers on the Microsoft advertising platform.
What Is Enhanced CPC?
ECPC by Bing Ads is an automated bidding strategy that leverages machine learning to optimize real-time bids. It functions like a conductor in a complex orchestra, constantly analyzing a vast array of signals to determine the optimal bid amount for each auction. These signals include:
- ECPC can identify searches with higher conversion intent and allocate more budget accordingly.
- Conversion rates can vary depending on the device, so ECPC can adjust bids to prioritize placements more likely to lead to conversions on a specific device.
- ECPC can prioritize bids for users in the target service areas of local businesses.
- It can analyze historical data to identify peak conversion times and adjust bids accordingly.
- Bing Ads considers your campaign’s historical performance data to predict future performance and optimize bids for better results.
How Does ECPC Work?
Here’s a breakdown of the mechanics behind ECPC:
- Advertisers establish a target conversion rate, representing the desired percentage of clicks that should culminate in a conversion (e.g., a sale, a sign-up or a download).
- Bing Ads’ machine learning algorithms analyze vast amounts of data to predict the likelihood of conversion for every single auction.
- Based on the predicted conversion probability and your target conversion rate, the algorithm automatically adjusts your bids for each auction, increasing them for searches with a higher predicted conversion probability and vice versa.
What Does This Mean for Advertisers?
The shift to ECPC as the default bidding strategy offers several potential advantages for advertisers on Bing Ads:
- Potential for increased conversions: The core benefit of ECPC is its ability to leverage machine learning to identify high-intent searches and allocate your budget more efficiently. This can translate to a significant conversion increase compared to manual bidding strategies where advertisers set a static bid for each keyword.
- Simplified campaign management: ECPC automates the often time-consuming process of bid adjustments. No more manually analyzing complex data sets and adjusting bids for every keyword.
- Focus on campaign goals: With ECPC handling the nitty-gritty of bid adjustments, you can focus on the bigger picture: developing and refining your overall campaign strategy. This allows you to concentrate on elements that directly impact campaign success, such as audience targeting, ad creative development and crafting clear calls to action.
- Improved data-driven decisions: ECPC leverages vast amounts of data to inform its bidding decisions. By understanding which factors contribute most to your conversions, you can gain valuable insights to optimize your campaigns.
New Conversions API Integration
Along with announcing ECPC as the new default bid strategy, Bing Ads also unveiled the integration of its new Conversions API. This API allows advertisers to seamlessly transfer conversion data directly from their websites to Bing Ads, streamlining the conversion tracking process and potentially improving the accuracy of ECPC’s bid optimizations.
What Is The Transition Plan?
Bing has announced that this will roll out in phases to allow enough time for advertisers modify their bidding strategies and transition to the new ECPC default. The following is the migration timeline provided by Bing:
- March: Manual CPC to eCPC migration commences
- April 5th: Newly created campaigns will no longer have option for Manual CPC
- April 30th: Existing campaigns not yet utilizing eCPC will be automatically transitioned
Don’t wait to the last minute and rely on the automatic transition. The sooner you make the transition, the sooner you can get a head start on the competition.
