Microsoft Advertising has rolled out to new conversion goal options for Search and Audience Network campaigns. Before you get started, you’ll need to ensure you have Universal Event Tracking (UET) set up properly to use either option.
Include in “Conversions.” With this option, you can tell Microsoft which conversion goals to include in your conversion metrics. For example, you may be tracking newsletter signups, but only want to prioritize and optimize your campaigns for whitepaper downloads and demo requests.
Any conversion-based automated bid strategies (maximize conversions and Target CPA) that you’re using in your campaigns will be optimized for the goals you mark in the Include with “Conversions” setting.
New and existing conversions goals will be marked to Include with “Conversions” by default. If you opt to remove conversion goals, you can still see aggregated performance with the “All conv.” column options.
You can see your conversion goals settings by going to Shared Library > Conversion goals.
View-through conversions. This new option is specifically for the Microsoft Audience Network. The Microsoft Audience Ads serve in native inventory on MSN.com, Microsoft Outlook and the Microsoft Edge browser, as well as syndication partner sites. Search campaigns can also be set to extend to the Microsoft Audience Network.
View-though conversions are impression-based rather than click-based. They capture when a users is shown an ad, doesn’t click, but ends up converting on your site at a later date.
As with standard display ads, Microsoft Audience Ads click-through rates tend to be lower than high intent search ads. Use view-through conversions to capture potential impression-assists of these native ads for a fuller picture of the role they play in the customer journey.
How to set up view-through conversion tracking. A new view-through conversion window setting will be available for all UET-based conversion goals. Go to Shared Library > Conversion Goals and select the conversion goal you want to edit.
View-through conversion windows. In the Goal Details area of the conversion settings is where you’ll define the view-through conversion window. This is length of time after an ad impression is served that you want to be able to attribute a conversion to that impression.
When thinking about setting your view-through conversion window, consider the goal of the campaign as well as the typical length of your sales cycle and the phase your target audiences are likely in when they’ll see your ads. The shorter the conversion cycle and further down the funnel your audiences are, the shorter your look back window.
How view-through conversions are counted. View-through conversions are set at one day by default. With that setting, users will need to convert within a day after the ad impression is served for a view-through conversion to be counted.
- Note that users who click on any of your Microsoft Advertising ads — either an Audience or a Search ad — won’t be included in the view-through conversion count. That helps avoid double-counting, but it also means that if a user saw an Audience ad, then saw and clicked on a Search ad, the Search ad (including brand search campaign ads) will get all of the conversion credit.
- View-through conversions are included in the All conv. column.
Why we care. These options give you more flexibility to measure and optimize your campaigns. They will also make it easier to compare campaign performance against other channels, particularly Google Ads, which has the Include in “Conversions” setting and view-through conversion measurement for Display (and Video) campaigns.
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Source: IAB