Edit

How do I create a Search campaign?

Creating a new Search campaign in Microsoft Advertising is easier than ever! Follow the instructions below to get started.

  1. From the navigation menu on the left, select Create.
  2. Choose Drive conversions or Generate leads as your campaign goal.
  3. Select Search as your campaign type.
  4. Select Search ads below Which ad type would you like to serve?
  5. Below Political advertising declaration, you need to declare whether your campaign is intended for political advertising. If your campaign isn't intended for political advertising, select the checkbox next to By selecting Continue, I confirm that this campaign is not intended for political advertising. Otherwise, you must remove any political advertising from your campaign and then proceed. Learn more about how we define political advertising.
  6. Select Continue.
  7. The campaign creation wizard will then walk you through the process.

Here's some information about what you'll see in each step.

Note

You can create additional ad groups in Campaigns > Ad groups after saving your campaign. See Create additional ad groups for more information.

FAQ 1

  • 1. Campaign settings

    • Your website

      Enter the URL of your website, and Microsoft Advertising will search it for keyword and asset suggestions.

    • Campaign name

      Give your campaign a unique name. It's a good idea to have your campaign's name reflect its goal.

      Note

      A campaign name cannot contain scripts, HTML, or other markup language.

    • Campaign budget

      This is the amount of money you want to spend per day. Learn more about your budget options.

      Note

      If you have AI Max enabled, you'll set up your campaign budget in the fifth step below—see the Budget & bids dropdown.

    • Location

      This is where in the world you want your ads to appear. You can target or exclude specific countries/regions, states/provinces, cities, or zip/postal codes. Learn more about how language and location targeting affect who can see your ads

    • Who should see your ads?

      If you're targeting by location, who exactly should see your ads? People in your targeted locations, people searching for or viewing pages about your targeted locations, or both?

    • Language

      This is the language you'll write your ads in. This should match the language of the sites that you'd like your ads to appear on. Learn more about language options in Microsoft Advertising

    • Autogenerated assets

      This is where you can choose to enable autogenerated assets for Responsive Search ads. We'll use information pulled from your landing page to automatically generate relevant assets. Learn more

      Note

      If you have AI Max enabled, you'll set up your optimized assets in the second step below—see the AI Max dropdown.

    • Conversions

      This allows you to specify which actions to count as conversions, as recorded by UET. You have two options for choosing conversion goals:

      • Use your account's Include in “Conversions” setting. This applies your account's conversion goals to this campaign. To see which conversion goals are included in your account settings: From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Conversions and select Conversion goals.
      • Choose specific conversion goals for this campaign.

      Note

      Conversions for your store visit goals are only included at the account and campaign levels, and only if your campaigns have enough ad clicks to pass our privacy thresholds.

      Learn more about conversion goals: What are conversion goals and goal types?

    • Disclaimer

      If you're advertising products that require additional caveats for legal or other reasons, select the checkbox to add a disclaimer.

  • 2. AI Max

    • Enable AI Max for your campaign

      Note

      Not everyone has this feature yet. If you don't, don't worry—it's coming soon!

      AI Max uses Microsoft AI to expand reach beyond your keywords, generate new assets, and match ads to the most relevant landing pages. AI-optimized assets are labeled and editable, and you can manage URL exclusions at any time. AI Max helps increase conversions while reducing manual setup.

      To enable AI Max, turn on the toggle next to Enable AI Max for your campaign. Once enabled, you can choose how AI Max optimizes your assets and expands search term coverage.

    • Asset optimization

      Asset optimization helps improve ad performance by combining your existing assets with AI-optimized enhancements. Under Asset optimization, review and select the options you want to use:

      • Text customization.

        Customize ad copy to better match how people search.

        Below Text customization, you can select Edit text guidelines and add your Term exclusions. Term exclusions are words or phrases that shouldn't appear in your ads. Your autogenerated text assets will reflect your excluded terms. Additionally, your exclusions will be applied to our asset recommendations (i.e., Short headlines, Long headlines, and Descriptions) when you create your ads.

      • Final URL expansion.
        Send traffic to the most relevant pages on your website when it's likely to improve performance. You have the option to Exclude specific URLs if you don't want AI Max to send traffic to certain pages on your website.

    • Search term matching

      This allows you to appear in more relevant searches, even when they don't include your exact keywords, by matching queries to your website and ad content. To enable, select the checkbox next to Use search term matching for this campaign.

  • 3. Keywords

    Learn more about keywords and how to build keyword lists

    • Keywords

      If you entered a URL for Your website, this is where you'll see our suggested keywords. You can also select Explore keywords and enter a URL or a word or phrase relevant to your product or service and get keyword suggestions. Select Add to move selected keywords into the keywords box on the left.

    • Enter keywords

      If you're entering keywords manually, type or paste them here. In this box, you'll also set the appropriate match type for your keywords. Learn more about keyword match types

  • 4. Ad

    • Ad type

      You can choose to create a Multimedia ad or Responsive Search ad. You can only create one ad during Search campaign creation. If you create another ad, your first ad will be deleted.

      Note

      You can always create more ads for this campaign later. After saving your campaign, you can create ads two ways: During ad group creation in Campaigns > Ad groups or within Campaigns > Ads & extensions. To create Dynamic Search ads, you must do so after saving your campaign by creating a Dynamic ad group in Campaigns > Ad groups. See Create additional ad groups for more information.

    • Text guidelines

      Text guidelines let you control the words and phrases used in asset recommendations for your campaign, including Short headlines, Long headlines, and Descriptions. When you use and apply our prefilled recommendations, they follow your campaign's text guidelines to help keep your ads aligned with your brand. Below Term exclusions, select Edit text guidelines and enter words or phrases that shouldn't appear in your ads (up to 25). Then, select Save.

      Note

      Any Term exclusions you entered previously in the Text customization step will appear here.

    • Creating ads

      See these help pages for more information on the specific steps for creating ads per ad type: Multimedia ads or Responsive Search ads. You can add assets to your ads, including images, logos, and other extension types.

  • 5. Budget & bids

    • Campaign budget

      This is the amount that you set in the first step. You can make changes to it in this step and see how it affects your estimated performance.

    • Bid strategy

      Your bid strategy setting tells Microsoft Advertising how you want to manage your bids. Learn more about bid strategies

    • Advanced campaign settings

      Here you have the option to change your campaign's Ad schedule, Start and end dates, and Ad distribution settings.

  • 6. Summary

    Edit

    Save & go back

    Go live

    Save & exit

After you select Go live or Save & exit, your Search ads will begin appearing on the Microsoft Advertising Network shortly, unless there is an error with your account.

Create additional ad groups

You can either create a Standard ad group for Multimedia ads and Responsive Search ads or create a Dynamic ad group for Dynamic Search ads.

  1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Ad groups.
  2. Select Create.
  3. The ad group creation wizard will then walk you through the process:

FAQ 2

  • Create a Standard ad group

    1. Ad group

    • Your website

      Enter the URL of your website, and Microsoft Advertising will search it for ad group and keyword suggestions. If your website doesn't have all its necessary content yet, select the My website is not ready checkbox.

    • Ad group type

      For your ad group type, choose Standard. Standard ad groups contain Multimedia ads and/or Responsive Search ads.

    • Ad group name

      Give your ad group a unique name. Campaigns are made up of one or more ad groups. Each ad group can be based on a theme of the campaign, and it's a good idea to have your ad group's name reflect its theme. For example, if your campaign's goal is to sell men's clothes, you might have ad groups such as “Dress shirts,” “Coats and jackets,” and “Spring sale.”

      Note

      An ad group name cannot contain scripts, HTML, or other markup language.

    • Language

      This is the language you'll write your ads in. This should match the language of the sites that you'd like your ads to appear on. Learn more about language options in Microsoft Advertising

    1. Keywords

    In the second step, you add the relevant keywords and phrases to reach customers who are searching for your product or service. Your ads will show in response to search queries based on the keywords you provide. Learn more about keywords and how to build keyword lists

    • Keywords

      If you entered a URL for Your website, this is where you'll see our suggested ad groups and keywords. You can also enter a different URL or a word or phrase relevant to your product or service and get keyword suggestions for it. Select the arrows to move ad groups or keywords into the Enter keywords box on the left.

    • Enter keywords

      If you're entering keywords manually, type or paste them here. In this box, you'll also set the appropriate match type for your keywords. Learn more about keyword match types

    1. Create ads

    In the third step, you create the ad(s) for your ad group.

    1. Targets & bids

    In the fourth step, you set your bids and adjust your targets and advanced ad group settings.

    • Bid

      Try changing the bid amounts and see how the performance estimates change.

    • Targeting

      You can choose any combination of the possible target criteria:

    • Location

      Select locations you want to target or exclude. You can target and change your bid adjustment for:

      • United States and Canada

      • All available countries/regions

      • Selected countries/regions and states/provinces

      • Selected counties within the United States

      • Selected cities, metro areas, and postal codes* within Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States

        Note

        • Not all postal codes are supported for targeting exactly within their boundaries. If you target an unsupported postal code, it will be converted into a radius target (see below).
        • For Canadian and UK postal codes, only the first segment (for Canada, the first 3 characters; for UK, the first 2-to-4-character segment) is recognized. If you enter the second segment, you will only be able to use radius targeting.
        • The boundaries of some postal codes in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and United Kingdom do not appear accurately on the map you see in Microsoft Advertising, but targeting within them will still function accurately.

      • A specified radius around a postal code, coordinates*, landmark, or area. (Note: You cannot exclude using radius targeting.)

        *Coordinates can be searched for in the format "[latitude], [longitude]" with the degrees in decimal form — for example, "44.590,-104.716".

    • Age

      Choose one or more age ranges of people you want to see your ads.

    • Gender

      Choose the gender of the people you want to see your ads.

    • Device

      Choose the types of devices you want your ads to appear on.

    • Company

      With company targeting, you can target your ads to be more (or less) likely to appear for people who most recently worked at specific companies (according to their LinkedIn profiles).

      1. Search for a company by name.
      2. You will see relevant companies, along with the approximate number of employees each company has (according to LinkedIn).
      3. For the appropriate company, select Target or Exclude.

      Note

      You cannot target more than 1,000 companies in a single ad group.

    • Company lists

      Use bulk lists of companies to target people based on where they work, according to their LinkedIn profiles. First, create your lists in the Audience library by going to Tools > Audiences. Then, associate your lists with your ad group or campaign.

      To associate lists with your ad group:

      1. Search for your company lists by name.
      2. Select the checkbox next to your desired lists.
      3. Select Done.
      4. Update the bid adjustment for your targeted lists, if needed.

      Note

      You can also add company lists in your campaign settings after campaign creation. Learn more.

    • Industry

      With industry targeting, you can target your ads to be more (or less) likely to appear for people who most recently worked in specific industries (according to their LinkedIn profiles).

      1. Search or browse for a type of industry.
      2. For the appropriate industry, select Target or Exclude.

    • Job function

      With job function targeting, you can target your ads to be more (or less) likely to appear for people who most recently had specific kinds of jobs (according to their LinkedIn profiles).

      1. Search or browse for a type of job function.
      2. For the appropriate job function, select Target or Exclude.

    • Job seniority

      Target your ads to people based on their level of seniority, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

      To add job seniority targets to your ad group:

      1. Select the checkbox next to one or more levels of seniority.
      2. Select Done.
      3. Update the bid adjustment for your targeted levels, if needed.

      Note

      You can also add job seniority targeting in your campaign settings after campaign creation. Learn more.

    • Advanced ad group settings

      Here you have the option to change your campaign's Ad schedule, Start and end dates, bids for your Multimedia ads, and Ad distribution settings.

  • Create a Dynamic ad group

    1. Ad group

    • Your website

      Enter the URL of your website, and Microsoft Advertising will search it for ad group suggestions. If your website doesn't have all its necessary content yet, select the My website is not ready checkbox.

    • Ad group type

      For your ad group type, choose Dynamic. Dynamic ad groups contain Dynamic Search ads.

    • Ad group name

      Give your ad group a unique name. Campaigns are made up of one or more ad groups. Each ad group can be based on a theme of the campaign, and it's a good idea to have your ad group's name reflect its theme. For example, if your campaign's goal is to sell men's clothes, you might have ad groups such as “Dress shirts,” “Coats and jackets,” and “Spring sale.”

      Note

      An ad group name cannot contain scripts, HTML, or other markup language.

    • Dynamic ad targets

      We automatically generate Dynamic Search ads for you based on your website's content. Set up dynamic ad targets to tell us which pages of your website to focus on. Learn more about dynamic ad targets.

    1. Create ads

    • Creating ads

      Add your Ad text, Path, and advanced URL options.

    1. Targets & bids

    In the third step, you set your bids and adjust your targets and advanced ad group settings.

    • Bid

      Try changing the bid amounts and see how the performance estimates change.

    • Targeting

      You can choose any combination of the possible target criteria:

    • Location

      Select locations you want to target or exclude. You can target and change your bid adjustment for:

      • United States and Canada

      • All available countries/regions

      • Selected countries/regions and states/provinces

      • Selected counties within the United States

      • Selected cities, metro areas, and postal codes* within Australia, Canada, France, Germany, United Kingdom, United States

        Note

        • Not all postal codes are supported for targeting exactly within their boundaries. If you target an unsupported postal code, it will be converted into a radius target (see below).
        • For Canadian and UK postal codes, only the first segment (for Canada, the first 3 characters; for UK, the first 2-to-4-character segment) is recognized. If you enter the second segment, you will only be able to use radius targeting.
        • The boundaries of some postal codes in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, and United Kingdom do not appear accurately on the map you see in Microsoft Advertising, but targeting within them will still function accurately.

      • A specified radius around a postal code, coordinates*, landmark, or area. (Note: You cannot exclude using radius targeting.)

        *Coordinates can be searched for in the format "[latitude], [longitude]" with the degrees in decimal form — for example, "44.590,-104.716".

    • Age

      Choose one or more age ranges of people you want to see your ads.

    • Gender

      Choose the gender of the people you want to see your ads.

    • Device

      Choose the types of devices you want your ads to appear on.

    • Company

      With company targeting, you can target your ads to be more (or less) likely to appear for people who most recently worked at specific companies (according to their LinkedIn profiles).

      1. Search for a company by name.
      2. You will see relevant companies, along with the approximate number of employees each company has (according to LinkedIn).
      3. For the appropriate company, select Target or Exclude.

      Note

      You cannot target more than 1,000 companies in a single ad group.

    • Company lists

      Use bulk lists of companies to target people based on where they work, according to their LinkedIn profiles. First, create your lists in the Audience library by going to Tools > Audiences. Then, associate your lists with your ad group or campaign.

      To associate lists with your ad group:

      1. Search for your company lists by name.
      2. Select the checkbox next to your desired lists.
      3. Select Done.
      4. Update the bid adjustment for your targeted lists, if needed.

      Note

      You can also add company lists in your campaign settings after campaign creation. Learn more.

    • Industry

      With industry targeting, you can target your ads to be more (or less) likely to appear for people who most recently worked in specific industries (according to their LinkedIn profiles).

      1. Search or browse for a type of industry.
      2. For the appropriate industry, select Target or Exclude.

    • Job function

      With job function targeting, you can target your ads to be more (or less) likely to appear for people who most recently had specific kinds of jobs (according to their LinkedIn profiles).

      1. Search or browse for a type of job function.
      2. For the appropriate job function, select Target or Exclude.

    • Job seniority

      Target your ads to people based on their level of seniority, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

      To add job seniority targets to your ad group:

      1. Select the checkbox next to one or more levels of seniority.
      2. Select Done.
      3. Update the bid adjustment for your targeted levels, if needed.

      Note

      You can also add job seniority targeting in your campaign settings after campaign creation. Learn more.

    • Advanced ad group settings

      Here you have the option to change your campaign's Ad schedule, Start and end dates, and Ad distribution settings.

Note

About company lists and job seniority targeting

With these targeting features, you can reach customers based on information provided in their LinkedIn profiles. Company lists allow you to target people based on where they work using bulk lists of companies. Job seniority allows you to target people based on their rank or level.

  • Create company lists

    You need to create company lists before you can associate them with your campaign or ad group:

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, select Tools > Audiences.
    2. Select Company lists.
    3. Select Create.
    4. Enter a Name for your list.
    5. Add the companies you want to target (one per line). Maximum: 10,000 companies.
    6. Select Save.

  • Associate company lists with your campaign or ad group

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, select Tools > Audiences.
    2. Select Company lists.
    3. Select the checkbox next to the lists you want to associate.
    4. Select Associate campaigns or Associate ad groups.
    5. Select the checkbox next to the appropriate campaigns or ad groups you want to associate.
    6. Select Save.

  • Add or adjust targets in your settings

    You can adjust your targeting for company lists and job seniority in three ways: During ad group creation, or after campaign creation in either your campaign or ad group settings.

    Ad group creation:

    For instructions, see Create additional ad groups.

    Campaign settings:

    From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Settings.

    1. Select the appropriate Search campaign.

    2. Below Bid adjustments, select Edit target under either Company lists or Job seniority.

      • For Company lists:
      1. Search for your lists by name.
      2. Select your desired lists.
      3. Select Done.
      4. Update the bid adjustment for your targeted lists, if needed.
      • For Job seniority:
      1. Select the checkbox next to one or more levels of seniority.
      2. Select Done.
      3. Update the bid adjustment for your targets, if needed.

    Ad group settings:

    1. From the navigation menu on the left, hover over Campaigns and select Ad groups.

    2. Select the appropriate ad group.

    3. Select Settings.

    4. Below Bid adjustments, select Edit target under either Company lists or Job seniority.

      • For Company lists:
      1. Search for your lists by name.
      2. Select your desired lists.
      3. Select Done.
      4. Update the bid adjustment for your targeted lists, if needed.
      • For Job seniority:
      1. Select the checkbox next to one or more levels of seniority.
      2. Select Done.
      3. Update the bid adjustment for your targets, if needed.
  • Last updated on