Web Marketing All-in-One For Dummies, 2nd Edition
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The pay per click (PPC) ads alongside Bing search results are provided through MSN adCenter. You can create an account and campaigns using adCenter for your web marketing needs. Microsoft has been making strides to improve its PPC service’s interface, tools, search quality, and volume, by adding programs such as Bing Travel, adCenter Desktop (an offline PPC ads editor), product search, and expanded reporting options.

To create an MSN adCenter account, follow these steps:

  1. Go to the MSN sign-up page.

  2. Fill in the User Information, Company Information, Market Setting, and Marketing Preferences fields.

    You’re taken to the Signup Is Complete page with several options.

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  3. Click the Create a New Campaign link.

    The General Settings page appears.

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  4. Enter the name of your campaign in the Campaign Name text box.

    Name your campaign something descriptive.

  5. Choose the time zone you are in or that you want to use as the default for your campaign from the Time Zone drop-down menu.

    For example, if you live in Seattle but are creating a campaign to show ads to customers in New York, choose the Eastern Time option instead of Pacific Time.

  6. Enter the amount of budget you want to spend per day or the amount you want to spend per month in the Campaign Budget text box.

    Choose Monthly from the drop-down menu if this is your monthly budget.

  7. (Optional) Choose the default language for your campaign from the Language and Market drop-down menu.

    The default language setting is English and Spanish. If you’re targeting a different type of English or language, change here.

  8. Click the blue Locations link and choose the location where your ads will be shown:

    • All locations worldwide: This is the default and means that every country that shows adCenter ads is enabled. Change this to the countries you’d like to show ads in.

    • Selected cities, metro areas, states/provinces, and countries/regions: Choose this option if you want to target a specific region. You can then click the drop-down arrow to narrow your locations.

    • Near a business or other location: This option allows you to target a specific address or location of your choosing.

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    At this time, you can set an incremental bid for each targeted location. If you are new to PPC, leave this setting at +0% for now.

  9. Choose the ad type.

    Text ad is the default choice. Choose it unless doing a mobile ad.

  10. Enter your title, text, display URL, and destination URL.

    As you enter the destination URL for your ad, adCenter begins generating a suggested keyword list with traffic estimates based on that site.

  11. Select Keywords from the Bid Type drop-down list and enter the keywords you want to bid on into the Keyword box.

    If you’re familiar with the different match types, you can identify which ones you would like to use. If you are unfamiliar with match types, type the keywords in by themselves.

  12. (Optional) To add any of Google’s suggested keywords, click the Add button next to the keyword.

    Add as many or as few suggestions as you feel are right for your new campaign.

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  13. Click Save.

    The Bids, Targeting and Advanced Settings page appears.

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  14. Set the maximum bid for both the search and content networks in the Set Bids section.

    These bids apply to the Search and Content networks and can be different amounts. Take this step regardless of which network you plan on running. You can always edit later.

  15. (Optional) Specify any targeting and demographic options in the Advanced Targeting Options section.

    You can target traffic by a specific time of day, day of the week, or device. By default, all devices are enabled.

    You can also target by demographic in incremental bids. Leave this section disabled for now until you’re more versed in PPC.

  16. Click the Ad Distribution link and set up your distribution.

    By default your ad group/campaign is enabled to all three networks that adCenter has to offer. For the least complicated and best start, choose the radio button for Bing and Yahoo! Search. And uncheck the box for the Content Network.

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    If you want to run your campaign on additional networks, set up separate campaigns so that you can track your progress and costs more efficiently.

  17. Set the pricing model:

    • Cost per Click (CPC): This is the default option; you pay only for clicks incurred by your ads.

    • Cost per Impression (CPM): You pay per thousand impressions.

  18. Set your schedule.

    This is the start and end dates for your campaign. If you have a specific date that the campaign needs to start or end, change that here. If you don’t have an end date, leave the None radio button selected.

  19. (Optional) Enter your exclusions.

    Fill in this section if you’re running a content or syndicated search targeted campaign and know of some websites that you would like to exclude from your advertising. If you don’t have any specific sites, leave this section blank.

  20. (Optional) Enable conversion tracking in your campaign by selecting this check box.

    adCenter displays the code needed for the conversion goal page on your site. For more on how to install conversion tracking on your site, see the adCenter Help Center.

  21. Click Save.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

John Arnold is the author of E-Mail Marketing For Dummies and coauthor of Mobile Marketing For Dummies.

Ian Lurie is President of Portent, Inc.

Marty Dickinson is President of HereNextYear.

Elizabeth Marsten is Director of Search Marketing at Portent, Inc.

Michael Becker is the Managing Director of North America at the Mobile Marketing Association.

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