Microsoft Audience Network Planner: Just The Facts

Advertisers who use Microsoft Audience Network now have the opportunity to “research the right targeting, budgets and bids to maximize results” without running a test campaign, with Microsoft’s Audience Network Planner.

What Is The Microsoft Audience Network Planner?

According to Microsoft, once an advertiser has selected their target audience the Microsoft Audience Network Planner allows them to “research the size and makeup of individual audience segments – and combinations of audience segments – before [advertisers] create an audience campaign.”

How Does The Microsoft Audience Network Planner Work?

The first step to using the Microsoft Audience Network Planner is choosing an audience. Advertisers can pick audience segments inclusive of location, age, gender and list inclusion (ex. remarketing lists, in-market audiences, dynamic remarketing lists). Additionally, audience segments can also include company, industry and job function based on LinkedIn profiles. 

Once an audience has been identified, the planner will show:

• Estimated monthly audience size
• Estimated monthly impressions 
• Defined audiences broken by demographics (age and gender), location, interest (in-market audience) and device

The estimated performance pane in the Microsoft Audience Network Planner (see graphic below) will give a more granular look at performance numbers, with Microsoft explaining that advertisers have access to “estimates for audience size, impressions, clicks, CTR (click-through rate), avg. CPC (cost per click), and spend.” 

These figures represent the performance advertisers could get if they run the planned campaign based on the defined audience. The estimated performance pane also includes Microsoft’s suggested bid. Advertisers can then experiment with different budgets and bids and see what impact they have on campaign performance. 

If an advertiser decides to move forward with a campaign, they click “apply to my account” and will then be prompted through various steps to set up the campaign.

Why Is The Microsoft Audience Network Planner Important For Digital Marketers?

It’s important for advertisers to find the right audiences, and relying on test campaigns can be costly and hit and miss. The Microsoft Audience Network Planner allows advertisers to use the targeting options in Microsoft’s native ad platform and have a better idea of results and outcomes, which can save time and money. Targeting is essential to digital marketing campaigns, and finding the most engaged and ready to act audience can get help campaigns get off on the right foot.

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