If you’ve maximized your search advertising revenues on Google and Yahoo, it's time to expand to Microsoft.
Fellow Guru Trace Johnson recently outlined how to convert your AdWords campaigns to Yahoo Search Marketing. Fellow Guru Ehren Reilly followed up with how to convert those same campaigns to Microsoft adCenter.
Simple as that process is, a big question looms: should you invest any time in Microsoft adCenter? Yahoo's market share in paid search is about 20 percent. Significantly lower than Google's 65 percent to be sure, but a fifth of the market ain't too shabby. But is Microsoft's roughly ten percent worth the effort? The short answer is "Yes." Here's why:
There's no reason to turn down potential revenues: Clickable makes it so simple to manage your campaigns across three networks that there's no reason to turn down an opportunity to make money. You don't need to learn a new interface; just keep everything in one place.
Different networks have different audiences: Your performance won't be the same across networks, and Microsoft adCenter might just be the outlier that outperforms the rest.
Bing's market share is growing: While Microsoft's new search tool may not have lived up to the original hype, its share has grown in recent months, while Yahoo's has remained relatively flat.
Now's the time to start preparing for the Bing-Yahoo partnership: Soon enough, Yahoo Search Marketing will be absorbed by Microsoft adCenter, so it’s a good idea to invest early in learning the nuances that drive success. Of course, Clickable will be here to help along the way.
Otherwise, the process for adCenter is the same as that for AdWords and YSM: determine how much traffic is available, then tweak your revenue goals until you find the point of diminishing returns where increasing efficiency means decreasing total revenue.
What now? The vast and growing world of social media advertising: Facebook Self-Serve Ads, MyAds on MySpace, and more besides. Details starting next week.