Microsoft Automation Bootcamp - London 2 October 2019

Microsoft Advertising
Automation Bootcamp
Laura White
Nick Marshallsay
Microsoft Advertising. Intelligent connections.
MICROSOFT ADVERTISING

Objectives
• Implement the right automated bidding strategy for
your campaign
• Describe Microsoft Advertising Ad Automation
Opportunities and how to implement them
• Employ other Microsoft Advertising automation to
increase your efficiency

Customer situation
Keyword lists and
targeting options
are increasing.
Bid management
can be expensive
to outsource.
Third-party
providers lack
critical signals.
It’s hard to manage
bids efficiently and
in real time.

Helps you get as many
conversions as possible
Sets your bids to achieve
your target cost per
acquisition (CPA)
Target CPAMaximize Conversions
Helps you get as
many clicks as possible
Maximize Clicks
Modifies your bids
for better efficiency
Enhanced CPC
MSA family of goal-based bid strategies
***Max Conversions and Target CPA not available in all
EMEA markets AND require UET***

Our approach to automated bidding
Real-time,
data-driven
Advanced technologies,
always improving.
Scalable to all keyword
sizes, at no cost.
You maintain
control
Budgets, maximum cost
per click (CPC), targeting.
Exclusively focused
on your success
All decisions and
optimizations help you
achieve your goal.
Flexible offerings
Select different goals for
different campaigns.
Opt out at ad group and
keyword levels.

Bidding type You set bids Conversion tracking Compatible with third-party providers Campaign compatibility Markets*
Manual CPC Yes Not required
Yes, with any third-party
bidding provider
Text ads, Dynamic Search Ads,
Shopping Campaigns
Available to all markets.
Enhanced CPC Yes Encouraged but not required
Yes, complements
third-party bidding
Text ads, Dynamic Search Ads,
Shopping Campaigns
Available to all advertisers and campaign
targets, but bids will only be enhanced in the
following markets: US, CA, UK, AU, IN, FR, DE,
IT, ES, NL, SE and DE-CH.
Maximize
Clicks
No Not required
No, bids are exclusively managed by
Text ads, Dynamic Search Ads
(In pilot: Shopping Campaigns)
Available to all advertisers and
campaign targets.
Maximize
Conversions
No Required
Text ads,
(In pilot: Dynamic Search Ads)
Available to all advertisers for their campaigns
that only target US, CA, UK, AU, FR and DE.
(Pilot for text ads in IT, ES, NL, SE and CH).
Target CPA No Required
Text ads,
(In pilot: Dynamic Search Ads)
Available to all advertisers for their campaigns
that only target US, CA, UK, AU, FR and DE.
(Pilot for text ads in IT, ES, NL, SE and CH).
Target ROAS No
Required along with the “revenue”
parameter in UET or offline goals
Pilot to start in the fall (Oct/Nov)
for text ads and Shopping
Campaigns
US only at first. CA, UK, AU, FR and DE under
consideration for the next stage of pilot.
Choosing between bidding strategies
*The availability of automated bidding for Dynamic Search Ads campaigns and Shopping Campaigns is limited to the markets where those features are available. A current list of markets available can be
found here for Shopping Campaigns, and here for Dynamic Search Ads.

Getting started
You can select a bid strategy when creating
a new campaign, editing the setting of an
existing campaign, or from the menu option
of the Campaigns grid.
Note that campaigns need at least 15 conversions
during the last 30 days in order to enable
Maximize Conversions or Target CPA.

Best practices
General best practices: All automated-bidding strategies
1 Experiment Use the campaign experiments function to test out a bid strategy and compare the performance benefit.
2 Ramp up Try only a few campaigns at first. Allow for one week of system learning.
3 Max CPCs Use this setting if you see higher average CPCs than desired.
4 Performance grain Goals are set and measured at a campaign level, not an ad group level.
5 Performance volume More is better. Allows for shorter learning periods. Helps smooth out performance.
Target CPA and Maximize Conversions (and Target ROAS in Pilot)
5 Conversion window Best for goals that largely convert within a week of an ad click.
6 Offline conversions Daily uploading is needed for optimal bidding.
7 Set CPA target Use a campaign’s average CPA performance over the prior 30 days.

GETTING SET UP
We recommend having at least 30 conversions
in the previous 30 days (15+ conversions are
required) and using the average CPA from that
period as the new Target CPA value.
CONVERSION PERIOD
Conversions can occur up to a week
or more after a click was made. We
recommend ignoring this phase
when evaluating performance.
LEARNING PERIOD
Our platform usually needs two weeks for the learning phase
of new bid strategies. Avoid changing budgets or conversion
goals during this period, as it might start learning over. We
recommend ignoring this phase for the evaluation.
CAMPAIGN PERIOD
We recommend running your
campaigns for two to four weeks after
the platform learning period and using
this period for evaluation.
EVALUATION PERIOD
Review the performance of the campaign
period in aggregate and make adjustments
as needed. We recommend adjusting your
Target CPA values within +/- 20%.
How to assess the performance of a bid strategy:
Target CPA example
Getting
set up
Platform
learning
2 WEEKS
Run
campaign
2-4
WEEKS
Conversion
delay
1 WEEK
Evaluate
and
adjust

1 Alternative auto-bidding strategies:
2 Target CPA and Max Conversion not offered for Microsoft shopping campaigns
3 CPA target at ad group level
4 CPA target at device type level
5 Portfolio bid strategy
6 Bid-strategy reports
7 Bid-strategy status
8 Minimum bid
Functionality not available in our current offering

Manual CPC
Bid is set by advertiser or any tool provider
Text Ads, DSA, MSC supported
Labour intensive
No UET or conversion tracking required
Goal: Max control from advertiser

Enhanced CPC (Default for new campaigns)
30%
100%
Goal: Increase conversions
Bid: +30% higher on searches most likely to convert
-100% on searches less likely to convert
NO UET required but strongly recommended (+ conversion
goal)
Bid adjustment is applied on top of tool provider’s bid

maximize clicks
Note: You can set a Max CPC
Goal: Get the most traffic
Bid is set by Microsoft Advertising in real time
No bid set by advertiser or tool providers
Bid + Bid adjustments might be higher than your Max CPC

Target CPA
Goal: Reach CPA
You can set a Max CPC
Set budget& target 30 days average CPA bid is set by
Microsoft Advertising in real time
NO bid set by advertiser or tool providers

maximize conversions
Goal: Get the most conversions
Must have UET & conversion goals+ 15 conversions in the last 30
days

Target ROAS (Pilot Soon***)
Goal: Get the Return on Ad Spend
Must have revenue parameter in UET + conversion goals/offline
goals

• You set bid strategy at the campaign level, but
you can override a campaign's bid strategy at the
ad-group level
• A bid strategy needs to run for about a month to
build up enough data to bid optimally.
• Changing your bid strategy setting, campaign
budget, or conversion settings — or adding or
removing ad groups or keywords — will restart
this learning period.
• Bids start changing automatically within two
hours of turning on a bid strategy.
Bid strategy best practices

What is are Microsoft Advertising scripts?
• JavaScript code
• Automatically create, change or delete items in your account based
on custom criteria.
• You can make hundreds (or thousands) of changes across your
account all at once, without needing to make the changes
manually.
• For example:
• Schedule campaigns linked to a launch or sale.
• Have an ad pause automatically when the item it is advertising is out of stock.
• Make a rule across your account to increase broad-match keyword bids.

Do you even need
scripts?....
Automate functionality

API
Where do scripts fit in in automation?
ScriptsAutomate in UI
Automation Complexity

Who is running scripts on Google?

Automate
Optimization Tasks
& Reporting with
Microsoft
Advertising Scripts

Learning objectives Understand how to implement Scripts
within Microsoft Advertising
Describe Microsoft Advertising Scripts
and how they simplify campaign
optimization and reporting
Discover resources and practical
examples of Scripts

Overview of Microsoft
Advertising Scripts

Advanced automation saving you time that doesn’t
require technical developers or extensive coding
1. Handle campaign management heavy
lifting
2. Improve performance by fine tuning
keyword bids or ad status
3. Provide tailored visualizations of
performance data and insights
4. Automate repetitive manual tasks

Campaign
management
Bid and budget
management
Gather performance
data
Easily search with filters
Negative keyword list
management
Multi-account access
So, what features can I
use to enhance my
campaign performance?
What features does Microsoft Advertising Scripts support?

Campaign
management
Bid and budget
management
Gather performance
data
management
• Updating and managing campaigns (Example - Update your campaign
budget, update campaign status.)
• Creating, updating, and managing ad groups, ads, and keywords
Example use case
Schedule campaigns linked to a launch or sale.
Pause entities when an out of stock or 404 error message is seen.

Campaign
management
Bid and budget
management
Gather performance
data
management
• Updating and managing budgets
• Creating, updating, and managing ad groups, ads, and keywords
Example use case
Schedule intra-day bid adjustments based on custom events.Easily move budgets
between campaigns.
Maintain bid tiering among match types (exact bid > broad bid).

Campaign
management
Bid and budget
management
Gather performance
data
management
• Campaigns
• Ad groups
• Ads
• Keywords
Example use case
Monitor your account health by conducting audits. Simplify computing
benchmarks.
*Downloading reports will come later.

Campaign
management
Bid and budget
management
Gather performance
data
management
• Campaigns
• Ad groups
• Ads
• Keywords
Example use case
Ability to automate templates, including combinations of filters and multiple time
periods.

Campaign
management
Bid and budget
management
Gather performance
data
management
Example use case
Easily apply negative lists across multiple campaigns or accounts.
Identify conflicting negatives.

Campaign
management
Bid and budget
management
Gather performance
data
management
Example use case
Apply wholesale changes across accounts at once to help with a restructure.
Example - Renaming every campaign in all of your accounts.

DEMO
BAA Brand Exact Training
UK BAA Brand Exact UK
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-
gb/advertising/scripts/examples/
https://docs.microsoft.com/en-
gb/advertising/scripts/examples/keywords

Access scripts in Microsoft Advertising UI – Campaigns page
From the Campaigns tab,
select Bulk Operations.

Under Scripts, select Create
and manage scripts.
Create & manage scripts

Select Create script.
Create & manage scripts

Select Preview to continue.
Leverage the supported
Scripts you may have
already created in
AdWords Scripts by
copying and pasting.
Access scripts in Microsoft Advertising UI – Add script

Unsupported features in AdWords Scripts API are
automatically flagged as an unrecognized symbol.
Automatic find/replace occurs when
running Scripts
Account structure taxonomy and value differences
(i.e., bid or budget values) may need to be adjusted
as necessary.
For example, “Name CONTAINS ‘x’” may need to be
substituted with Microsoft Advertising taxonomy.
Leverage your AdWords Scripts by copying and pasting

Select Run script now to continue.
Logs
Preview and validate
the accuracy of your
scripts before they run.
Access scripts in Microsoft Advertising UI – Run script

Select Save to continue.
Note: Time zone
defaults to your
browser settings
Select frequency

Manage scripts – View logs details

Microsoft Advertising Scripts resources
Microsoft Advertising Scripts can easily* be enabled on Microsoft
Advertising without the investment of a technical resource.
*Prior knowledge of JavaScript is helpful for customization.
Code Examples
• Pre-defined script
• Embedded into the UI
Workflow Scripts
• Enables complex
operations
• Available through
reference
documentation
Additional Resources
• What are Scripts?
• Getting started with Scripts
• Code examples
• Microsoft Advertising
Scripts reference
• Microsoft JavaScript
language reference

Working with Google Services
You cannot import scripts using the UI Google Import functionality

Contents
Responsive Search Ads at a glance
Why Responsive Search Ads?
FAQ
Best practices
UI setup overview

Responsive Search Ads at a glance
up to 4 descriptions
Your customers see:
THE RIGHT
MESSAGE
at
THE RIGHT
TIME
YOU PROVIDE
BING ADS AI
over 40,000 possible
ad permutations
up to 15 headlines
and

Why Responsive Search Ads?
THE RIGHT MESSAGE AT THE RIGHT TIME
• Responsive Search Ads are a flexible experience
showing more-customized content to reach
your customers.
• These ads adapt your text ads to closely match what
someone is searching for, when they search for it.
• Responsive Search Ads can help you achieve higher
click-through rates (CTRs) and conversion rates (CVRs)
due to the improved ad space and effectiveness.
REDUCE BULKY OPERATIONS AND SAVE TIME
• Supply a combination of ad titles (up to 15) and ad
descriptions (up to four), and Bing Ads will automatically
produce and serve many ad variations to help show the
most relevant ad to each potential customer.
• Save time and effort evaluating ads through A/B tests, and
automatically determine what creative content works best
with different queries.

Frequently asked questions
What are Responsive Search Ads (RSA)? These are new ad types created by Bing Ads artificial intelligence (AI) from a combination of
up to 15 ad headlines and up to four ad descriptions. Bing Ads AI will select and serve a
combination of up to three most relevant ad headlines and up to two most relevant ad
descriptions to help drive a click and a conversion for you (example of the new UI on slide
8).
What is the difference between Expanded
Text Ads and Responsive Search Ads?
The format for the final served ad is the same (up to three titles and two ad descriptions).
However, during ad creation, Responsive Search Ads can contain up to 15 ad titles and four
ad descriptions, from which Bing Ads will automatically select the optimal combinations for
ad performance, reducing the need to A/B test ad creatives.
With the introduction of the third ad title and
second description, is it guaranteed that all
will serve at the same time?
Your first and second headlines and first description will always show, just like they currently
do. However, depending on the screen size, your ad may show without the third headline or
second description.
Will the Responsive Search Ads work with all
existing ad extensions?
Yes, these new ads will work with all the existing ad extensions.
Is there any capability to “pin” (meaning that
element will be guaranteed to show)?
Yes, we’ll have a “pin” capability for RSAs, allowing you to show a header or description in a
specific position, which allows specific branding or disclaimers to always show.

Does the Bing Ads algorithm have to run
through every single ad variation, or can the
algorithm determine the best performing ad
with testing fewer variations?
Typically, we have an explorationlearning phase followed by the model picking up the best
combination. The exploration instances may be high initially but as demand and traffic
ramps up, we will learn faster and with few variants.
Are findings of the RSA algorithm being
shared across other ad groups/campaigns
and applied to other RSA or is each RSA
being tested by itself without any insights
from other ads in the same account?
Yes, the findings are shared and learnings from other ads in the account/overall marketplace
are applied.

Which features are currently supported for RSA? See the list below for the features available for RSA
Advertiser APIs
Ad level report (all up RSA, not individual asset combinations)
File import (customers can export their RSA ads from the ads grid on Google (or export from BAE) and import these on
Bing using File Import)
Management within Bing Ads online and Bing Ads Editor
API SDK samples
Google Import
Bulk Operations
Asset level report
Combination report
Change history

Responsive Search Ads: Best practices
• Create Responsive Search Ads within existing brand and nonbrand ad groups alongside current Expanded Text Ads to
help avoid impression and click loss when testing RSA.
✓ Use Expanded Text Ads as a baseline to measure how well RSAs are performing.
• Take full advantage of the additional title limits.
✓ Provide at least five distinct headlines that don't repeat the same or similar phrases. Aim for at least 8-10 headlines.
✓ Use dynamic text parameters in the header. Keep in mind that the substitution can be shown in the title 1, 2 or 3.
✓ Test your brand in the headline for trust.
• Take full advantage of the additional character limits.
✓ Use two distinct descriptions, at a minimum.
✓ Test a clear call to action or a specific offer.
✓ Think of different product or service benefits and features to give customers a reason to click on your ad.
✓ Ensure that you have fresh, differentiated content in each description and avoid repetitive language.
✓ Use different lengths for descriptions for customizing the ad experience to screen size.

Responsive Search Ads: UI setup
Create up to 15 headlines, with
a minimum of 3 headlines
Create up to 4 ad descriptions, with
a minimum of 2 ad descriptions

Responsive Search Ads – Asset Report

Responsive Search Ads – Combination Report

Who is running ad customisers on Google?

Identify the three attributes
required to create an ad
customizer feed file
Learning Objectives
Upload and manage your ad
customizer feed file
Explain the benefits of ad
customizers

Agenda
1
2
3
4
5
6
Introduction to Ad Customizers
Three Attributes Required to Create
an Ad Customizer Feed File
Upload Ad Customizer Feed File
Reference Your Feed File
Manage Your Feed File
Examples

Introduction to Ad
Customizers

Ad customizers allow you to create hundreds of different
ad copies based on many different parameters

Custom attributes Targeting Reference in the ad
Create custom attributes that
will be inserted into your ad
copy – e.g. product name,
sale price, city name, etc.
Dictate what targeting criteria
will allow a custom attribute
to appear in an ad.
Reference the feed and
attributes within the ad copy:
{=FeedName.CustomAttribut
e: defaultValue}.
How do ad customizers work?
defaultValue***

Three Attributes
Required to Create
an Ad Customizer
Feed File

Three required attributes
Custom attributes: text, number, price, date
Targeting attributes: keyword, ad group, campaign, location, audience
Standard attributes: device, schedule, start/end date, custom ID

Components of the Feed File Up to 100 attributes in a
feed file are supported.
Feeds need to be provided in a
standard spreadsheet format.
.csv, .tsv, and .xlsx are all supported.Feed Item

There are 3 types of attribute required for a feed file
Custom attributes: text, number, price, date
Targeting attributes: keyword, ad group, campaign, location, audience
Standard attributes: device, schedule, start/end date, custom ID

Custom attributes
Attribute type Commonly used for Characters allowed Example value
Text ProductName,
Description
Any letters,
numbers, or
symbols
Hiking Shoes
Number InventoryCount Any whole numbers 11
Price Cost Any number
(including decimals)
and valid currency
characters
$24.99
Date Timestamp yyyy/MM/dd
hh:mm:ss
2014/08/14
17:01:00
Example: Name (text)
Check and correct the date
format every time you open
spreadsheet file.

Targeting attributes
Targeting attributes allow you to control which feed items will be selected for the ad.
To customize ads for the same keyword in different campaigns, you can use both the Target
keyword and Target campaign columns.
To target by ad group, you need to use both the Target ad group and Target campaign columns.
To customize ads for a searcher who is part of an audience list, use the target audience attribute
and input the audience ID. A feed file can contain none, one, or multiple targeting parameters.
Example: Target location.

Targeting attributes table
Attribute Function & Target Restriction Accepted Values
Target keyword The searcher’s keyword that should trigger this row.
Do not include the Target keyword text and Target keyword match type column if you are using the
target keywork column to indicate the keyword and match type in one field.
Keywords with match type punctuation formatting.
(e.g., [flowers] for exact match)
Target keyword
text
The keyword that should trigger this row. This keyword has a match type specified in the Target
keyword match type column.
Keywords without match type punctuation
formatting.
Target keyword
match type
The match type you want applied to the corresponding keyword in the Target keyword text column. Broad or phrase or exact
Target ad group The ad group this row’s data should be used for. Existing ad group names
Target campaign The campaign this row’s data should be used for. Existing campaign names
Target location The location that should trigger this row when it matches the user’s location or area of interest. Physical location or an empty cell
Target location ID Recommend to use for advertisers who manage location targeting in Microsoft Advertising
via Location ID (faster upload and reduces ambiguity for targets with similar names (ex.
Redmond, OR & Redmond, WA).
Do not include the Target location column if you are using this column instead. After upload, this
will be translated to the Target location column in the feed item grid.
Microsoft Advertising location ID can be found
here.
Target location
restriction
The type of targeting that’s applied to the locations listed in Target location.
If physical location is inserted, then the feed item is selected to searchers physically in the targeted
location. When left blank, the feed item qualifies if the search query references the targeted
location or if the user is physically in the location.
Physical location or an empty cell.
Target audience
ID
The audience ID that should trigger this row when the user belongs Microsoft Advertising Audience IDs. You can find
Audience IDs for Remarketing lists. Custom
Audiences and Product Audiences (not everyone
has these yet) by going to Shared Library >
Audiences. Refer to the audience IDs of the in-
market Audiences.

Standard attributes
Attribute Function Accepted values
Device preference Limits a row of data to ads that
appear on smartphones (not tablets
or computers)
mobile or all
Scheduling The days and times of the week you
want your ad customizer to be shown
Day, start time - end time. If you wanted to
schedule from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on
Mondays, for example, you would enter
Monday, 09:00 AM - 05:00 PM.
If you want to schedule for multiple days,
separate your days with a semicolon.
For example, you could schedule for both
Monday and Tuesday using Monday, 09:00
AM - 05:00 PM; Tuesday, 09:00 AM - 05:00
PM.
Start date Starts serving the feed item on this
date
yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss (24-hour time)
End date Stops serving the feed item on
this date
yyyy/mm/dd hh:mm:ss (24-hour
time)

Upload Ad
Customizer Feed File
Upload your feed
Create your ad

Ad customizers and Google Import

Only one feed can be used in the ad.
Ensure that the name of the ad customizers feed
and attributes match exactly.
If the feed is called “apparels” and you want to reference
the attribute called “product” in the ad with a default
value “dress”, the syntax will be
{=apparels.product:dress}.
{=feedname.attribute:default value}
Insert ad customizers into your ads
(Expanded Text Ads Only)

Insert ad customizers into your ads
(Expanded Text Ads Only)
Default values are optional and will be used if the
feed item exceeds character limits or none of the
feed items in the feed qualify due to the targeting
settings.
Even though default values in ad customizer
parameters are optional, we highly recommend
customers to provide it.
If a default value is used in one parameter, all other
ad customizer parameters in the ad must have a
default value as well.

Referencing the feed and its attributes in the ad
Once you type a left curly brace in one of
the non-URL fields, select Ad customizer.
Choose the feed you want to
reference in the ad.

Referencing the feed and its attributes in the ad
Choose the attribute you want to use in the
ad.
Enter a default value and select Next to
continue.

Create your ad structure
After uploading the feed, set up an ad copy with the ad customizer parameters {=feed.attribute}.
{=Vacuum.Product} | Best {=Vacuum.Type} for only {=Vacuum.Start_price}!
www.contoso.com
{=Vacuum.Sale}
Models available in {=Vacuum.Colors} colors with {=Vacuum.Warranty} year warranty.

Ad copy is served
Target location
Target keyword
Contoso Stick 5-in-1 | Best Stick Vacuum for only $99.99!
www.contoso.com
Lightweight powerful vacuum with 5 settings.
Models available in 8 colors with 5-year warranty.
Contoso 16V | Best Hand Vacuum for only $74.99!
www.contoso.com
Get 40% of hand vacuums in our Seattle locations.

Upload the feed file
The Audience ID column is a Microsoft
Advertising only feature for Ad Customizers.
Most audiences types are supported.
List of In-market audiences can be found here.

Create your ad structure
After uploading the feed, set up an ad copy with the ad customizer parameters {=feed.attribute}.
Contoso Total Home – Best {= Vacuum.Type} only {=Vacuum.Start_price}
www.contoso.com
{=Vacuum. sale}
Models available in {=Vacuum.Colors} colors with {=Vacuum.Warranty} year warranty.

Ad copy is served
Target campaign/ Target ad group
Target audience
Contoso Total Home – Best Upright Vacuum only $112.50!
www.contoso.com
Get 25% off if you order today.
Contoso Total Home – Best Upright Vacuum only $150.00!
www.contoso.com
The most powerful clean-up for your house.

POST CLASS
RESOURCES
POST CLASS
RESOURCES

“Great training, but where do
I go for help after today?”
Help! Help!

Microsoft Advertising Help
http://bit.ly/bingadshelp
For videos, real-world examples, & how-to articles
when you need them.

In UI help
When in the UI click on the symbol or ‘gear’
symbol in the UI to instantly access contextual help.

Bing Ads Academy
http://bit.ly/bingadsacad
Go to Bing Ads Academy for on demand online
courses for creating and managing campaigns.

Advance your career by becoming a Bing
Ads Accredited Professional.
http://bit.ly/baprofessional

Totally awesome! Happy/EngagedBored Dissatisfied
Let us know what you think.

Microsoft Automation Bootcamp - London 2 October 2019

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (18)

Similar to Microsoft Automation Bootcamp - London 2 October 2019

Similar to Microsoft Automation Bootcamp - London 2 October 2019 (20)

More from MSFTAdvertising

More from MSFTAdvertising (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Microsoft Automation Bootcamp - London 2 October 2019