MSN’s adCenter is the new guy on the block when it comes to pay per click campaigns. Like the other sites, when you sign up for an account with them, you only pay for your ads when a potential customer clicks on them. You set your own price per click and target your ads to the customers you want to reach. There are tools that will let you get keyword suggestions, information about the people who view your ad and detailed reports about your ads performance.
Working with MSN adCenter will prove successful just as Google’s AdWords and Yahoo! Search Marketing, so it makes sense that you’ll want to get on board. Here’s how you do it.
1. Direct your web browser to http://www.adcenter.microsoft.com/signup.aspx and enter your customer and billing information. Note: In order for your application for an MSN adCenter account to be processed you will be charged a one time, non-refundable $5.00 fee.
2. Login and create your first campaign. You will login with the username and password that you created when you signed up.
At this point, you’ll enter the name of your campaign – so that you can keep track of each PPC campaign that you run. You’ll also enter the start date and end date (if you have one) for the campaign, as well as determine how your PPC campaign will be targeted. You can choose to allow your ads to be visible to anyone who searches for your keywords or you can limit the visibility to people in countries that you select. If you want your campaign to reach an even more targeted audience, you can narrow it down to people within specific cities within a country. Not only that, but you can select which days of the week your campaigns will run – and if it’s not enough for you to have viewers only see your ad on Fridays, you can limit your campaign from 2:00 – 5:00PM on Fridays.
3. Once you’ve determined who will see your ad when, it’s time to write your ad.
You’ll be able to create your ad’s title and description and insert your URL at this time. You’ll want to be sure to include the features and benefits of your product or service. You’ll also want to make sure that you use your keyword in both the title and the description. You can modify or delete any of the ads in your campaign whenever you’d like.
4. Choose your keywords. As with other PPC sponsor sites, you’ll want to be sure that you choose the right keywords and key phrases for your campaign. You’ll want to choose popular keywords – both in their singular and plural versions. You’ll want to combine relevant terms to create key phrases. And, of course, you’ll want to consider such words as “buy,” “order” and “purchase” to make sure that you bring visitors who are ready to commit to the sale.
You’ll be able to add keywords or phrases one at a time or in groups. You’ll also be able to look at charts that show you the popularity of the terms you choose.
5. Set the amount that you will pay for each click someone makes on your ad. Before you assign these values, make sure that you know what your budget for the PPC campaign is. DO NOT place bids that are more than you will be able to afford to pay. As is the case with a number of similar services, the placement of your ad will depend on the price you’re willing to pay, but just because you do not have the top position does not mean that your campaign will not work.
And, as you can see, you will be able to get an idea of what your overall cost for the campaign will be based on the cost per click, the number of impressions and the click through conversions.
Once you have finished this step, you will be able to save your ad. Congratulations – once your ad is ready, you’ll have taken the steps needed to launch the ad.
You can launch your campaign now, or wait until you’ve written all of your ads to launch them all at once. Just remember that you can make changes when you need to, and you can track your progress using the adCenter tools. And when you’re ready to launch your next campaign, you’ll just need to follow the same steps that you took after you set up your account.
Here’s to your success!
