Bloom was one of the few Canadian agencies invited to the Bing Summit at Microsoft’s headquarters in Seattle last month. As an official Bing partner, we work closely all-year-long with the Microsoft team to offer great results to our clients advertising on the search engine. I was excited to discover their new features, and hear their thoughts on recent digital marketing trends. Read on to learn more about these new features and my key takeaways of the event.
Privacy and Security: More than a European Trend
One topic that kept coming up in discussions and conferences was security and privacy. Microsoft did mention that users are much more sensitive to privacy issues than they were in the past. They also strongly suggested that any North American companies should take notice of European rules and legislation because we’ll start seeing similar restrictions in Canada and the U.S. soon enough. Just look at Facebook launching a new privacy feature to give its users more control over their data.
Digital privacy and data security shouldn’t be taken lightly. American businesses have the opportunity to proactively stay ahead of the curve by solidifying their privacy policies right now even before legislation is passed.
Microsoft Ads’ Upcoming New Features
Yes, that’s not a typo! The Summit was a great opportunity for Bing Ads to announce their big rebranding to Microsoft Ads. They also took the opportunity to share new features with the digital experts attending the event. For example, the new 3D ads feature got a lot of people talking. Bing users will have access to a special 3D view of a product in the Bing Knowledge Panel. This special tool will provide easier access to more detailed information on the product users are looking for. This new tool not only improve users’ experience on the search engine but it’s also seen as a product differentiator for advertisers.
With new features like that one, Microsoft Ads is, not only, improving their offering but also differentiating itself from its top competitor, Google Ads. It’s no secret that Bing’s market shares are lower than Google’s, therefore they are trying out new ways to appeal to advertisers (and it’s working!)
Discover other new features presented at the event here.
The Importance of Knowing the Customer’s Journey
One trend really left an impression with me and made me recognize how much advertising has changed over the last couple of years. According to Microsoft, major advertisers are starting to invest in a Customer Journey Officer. Essentially this new role is all about analyzing and optimizing every touch point in the customer’s buying process in order to offer a positive and coherent experience across channels. This new role really emphasizes how important attribution and omnichannel strategies have become for retailers.
Overall, I had a great time at this year’s Bing summit and everyone at Bloom is looking forward to testing Microsoft’s Ads new features. If you are not yet advertising on Bing, you are probably missing out on many opportunities. We’d be happy to help you extend your reach on search engines. Contact us here.