Microsoft is elevating native campaigns to enhanced CPC.

The Microsoft Advertising Platform is upgrading all existing image and feed campaigns on a manual cost-per-click (CPC) bid strategy to enhanced CPC from May 13. This upgrade process is expected to take a few days but should be finalized by May 17, 2024.

Additionally, all manual CPC bidding for newly created native campaigns will be phased out from April 30.

What is manual CPC?

Manual CPC means that the advertiser manually sets the price for each click on their ads on the Microsoft Advertising platform. With this strategy, they manually specify the desired cost-per-click for their advertisements. When users click on the ads, the system automatically considers these bids and sets the cost for each click. With the manual CPC strategy, the advertiser has full control over how much they are willing to pay for each click and can adjust these bids manually at any time to meet their needs and marketing strategy.

Advantages of Enhanced CPC

Microsoft claims that Enhanced CPC offers several benefits compared to manual CPC, including:

1. Automatic adjustment of your bids in real-time based on conversion probability; increasing bids for high-converting auctions and reducing them for low-converting ones.
2. Always respect the base bid you have set as the primary lever of the bidding strategy. These bids are optimized during the auction to improve efficiency and increase conversions, helping you stay competitive in the dynamic market.
3. Ensure that the base bid you set will never be exceeded.
4. Utilize combined signals, such as search queries and bid modifiers, to make informed decisions to enhance advertiser performance.
5. Always start with the bids set by your bid management tool before making any adjustments.

Why is this important?

To maximize the success of your campaign after its transition to enhanced CPC, you can take several steps to optimize it. However, if enhanced CPC does not align with your goals, there are alternative options available.

Who’s affected?

This change only impacts native image and feed campaigns using manual CPC bidding. It does not affect other campaign types, such as manual CPM, Connected TV ads, or search campaigns extended to audience placements, which already use automated bidding solutions.

Enhanced CPC Alternatives

If enhanced CPC doesn’t align with your goals, you can modify your own campaigns to increase conversions. With this bidding strategy, you can set your target CPA, allowing you to boost conversions while still controlling the target CPA you aim to achieve.

Next Steps

You don’t need to take any action to prepare for this change. However, you can optimize certain areas to set yourself up for success.

• Conversion Tracking: For optimal results, Microsoft strongly recommends using enhanced CPC alongside conversion tracking. Ensure your UET tag is placed on all pages of your site and set up conversion goals. While not mandatory for enhanced CPC, this setup can enhance performance by providing additional signals.
• Offline Conversions: If you rely on offline conversions, it’s advisable to upload your offline conversion data daily. You can easily do this by setting up a scheduled recurring import.
• Attribution Model: Consider changing your conversion goal attribution to “last touch.” This allows you to optimize automated bidding for both click-based and view-through conversions, which are conversions resulting from ad impressions.

What does Microsoft say?

In a statement, Microsoft says:

“By following these steps, you can ensure that your campaigns are ready for success, deliver the best results, and achieve your marketing goals. If you want to stay ahead, you don’t need to wait for your campaigns to switch to enhanced CPC—start using automated bidding strategies today to help you reach your goals and improve campaign performance.”

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