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By Benchmarketing Research Team Reviewed by Performance Marketing Editorial Reviewed March 2026 · observations Q1 2023 – Q4 2024Microsoft Ads B2B averages · all industries · 2026
1.64%
Avg CTR, b2B Microsoft Ads
Lower CPL is better. Manufacturing and Industrial achieve the lowest CPL on Microsoft Ads due to Bing's strong enterprise and professional user base and lower keyword competition for industrial categories. Cybersecurity commands the highest CPL but also the highest contract values — at $104 CPL and $100k+ ACV deals, the economics remain highly favorable.
| Industry | P25 | Median | P75 | Elite ↓ |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SaaS / Cloud Software | $52 | $84 | $144 | <$40 |
| Financial Services | $56 | $88 | $148 | <$42 |
| Professional Services | $48 | $76 | $128 | <$36 |
| HR & Payroll | $44 | $72 | $120 | <$34 |
| Cybersecurity | $64 | $104 | $176 | <$48 |
| Manufacturing / Industrial | $40 | $64 | $108 | <$30 |
Lower bar = lower CPL = better performance
Manufacturing / Industrial $64 HR & Payroll $72 Professional Services $76 SaaS / Cloud Software $84 Financial Services $88 Cybersecurity $104Branded Search delivers the highest CTR across all B2B Microsoft campaign types — this is consistent with all search channels where brand-intent queries convert at high rates. LinkedIn Profile Targeting campaigns outperform standard Non-Branded Search by 24% on CTR, confirming the value of the audience precision layer.
| Campaign Type | P25 | Median | P75 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Branded Search | 4.0% | 6.4% | 11.2% |
| Non-Branded Search | 0.96% | 1.64% | 2.88% |
| LinkedIn Profile Targeting | 1.20% | 2.04% | 3.56% |
| Dynamic Search Ads | 1.08% | 1.84% | 3.20% |
LinkedIn profile targeting is Microsoft Ads' most powerful B2B differentiator
Microsoft Ads offers LinkedIn Profile Targeting — the ability to layer LinkedIn's professional data (Job Title, Job Function, Industry, Company, Company Size) onto Bing search campaigns. This is exclusive to Microsoft Ads and unavailable on Google. For B2B advertisers, it enables the combination that every marketer wants: search intent ("enterprise project management software") + professional identity ("VP of Operations at a company with 200+ employees"). Use it as a bid modifier (+20–40% for target segments) rather than a restriction to preserve volume while prioritizing high-value audiences.
Microsoft Ads B2B CPCs are 30–40% lower than Google Ads — use this margin for broader match coverage
At $3.84 median CPC vs. Google's $6–12 for comparable B2B terms, Microsoft Ads gives B2B advertisers the budget headroom to test phrase and broad match keywords that would be prohibitively expensive on Google. This expanded keyword coverage captures earlier-stage researchers and decision-makers who haven't yet refined their search query — a valuable prospecting layer. For SaaS and professional services, testing broad match on category-level terms ("CRM software" rather than "best CRM for small business") at Microsoft's lower CPC is often profitable when it would fail on Google.
Google Ads campaign import provides an instant baseline for Microsoft B2B campaigns
Microsoft Ads' Google Import tool copies your existing Google B2B campaigns — keywords, ad copy, bid strategies, extensions, negative keywords — in minutes. For B2B advertisers with mature Google campaigns, this creates an immediate baseline that reflects years of optimization. Post-import: reduce bids by 30–40%, review keyword match types for Microsoft's query volume differences, and add Microsoft-specific ad extensions (Sitelinks are particularly important for B2B since they allow buyers to navigate directly to product, pricing, or case study pages without additional clicks).
Microsoft's enterprise-skewed demographics align naturally with B2B buyer profiles
Bing's user base skews toward 35–65 year olds, Windows enterprise device users, and higher-income professionals — a demographic profile that closely matches B2B decision-maker and influencer profiles across most industries. This natural alignment means your B2B ads on Microsoft are more likely to reach actual buyers (vs. students, researchers, or non-decision-makers who over-index on Google). For Manufacturing, Professional Services, and HR software — where the buyer demographic skews heavily toward older professionals on Windows — Microsoft's audience alignment is particularly valuable.
LinkedIn targeting, lower CPCs, and enterprise audience alignment give Microsoft Ads structural B2B advantages that Google cannot match.
Use LinkedIn profile targeting — exclusive to Microsoft Ads, target by job title and company
In Microsoft Ads Campaign Manager, navigate to the campaign level and select 'LinkedIn Profile Targeting' under Audiences. You can layer: Job Function (Finance, IT, Operations, HR), Job Title (CTO, VP of Sales, Procurement Manager), Industry (Financial Services, Manufacturing, Healthcare), Company (specific company list upload), and Company Size (1–10, 11–50, 51–200, 201–1000, 1000+). Use these as bid modifiers initially (+25–40% for your ideal buyer profile) rather than restrictions. Monitor the 'LinkedIn Audience' dimension in reporting to see CPL differences between targeted and non-targeted audiences before restricting traffic.
Microsoft Ads B2B CPCs are 30–40% lower than Google Ads — use this margin for broader match strategies
At $3.84 median CPC vs. Google's typical $6–12+ for B2B software and services terms, Microsoft gives you budget room to experiment with broader match types that are unprofitable on Google. Run phrase match and broad match modified campaigns on category-level B2B terms ('HR software', 'project management tools', 'cybersecurity solutions') that you'd exclude from Google campaigns due to cost. Use search query reports to identify which broad-match queries generate leads, then promote those to exact match. This broader keyword exploration is a Microsoft-specific opportunity that builds keyword intelligence you can apply back to Google campaigns.
Import Google Ads campaigns as starting baseline, then optimize for Bing-specific patterns
Use Google Import to copy your B2B Google campaigns into Microsoft Ads. After import: (1) Reduce bids by 30–40% across all campaigns — Microsoft auctions are less competitive; (2) Review ad copy for Microsoft-specific considerations (Edge browser users, Windows platform users); (3) Add LinkedIn targeting layers as bid modifiers; (4) Audit your negative keyword list for Bing-specific queries (Bing search behavior has slightly different informational vs. transactional query distribution than Google). Run for 30 days before significant optimization changes — give the system time to learn and accumulate conversion data.
Microsoft's user base skews toward enterprise/older professional demographics — adjust messaging
Bing indexes heavily toward enterprise Windows users, older professionals (35–65), and higher-income decision-makers. Adjust your B2B ad messaging for this demographic: lead with enterprise capability signals ('scales to 10,000 users', 'SOC 2 certified', 'dedicated account management'), reduce startup or SMB messaging ('quick setup', 'no IT required') that over-performs on Google but may underperform with Bing's enterprise-skewed audience. Test two ad variations: one enterprise-positioned, one SMB-positioned, against the same keywords to validate the audience skew for your specific B2B offering.
Use audience targeting with company list uploads for ABM-style campaigns
Microsoft Ads supports Customer Match — uploading a list of target company email domains to build a custom audience. For Account-Based Marketing (ABM) strategies, upload your target account list as email domains (company.com format) to create a Microsoft Customer Match audience. Layer this audience on your B2B search campaigns to prioritize impressions and apply bid increases (+50–100%) when your target accounts are searching for relevant B2B terms. This ABM layer is available at a fraction of the cost of dedicated ABM platforms, and the search intent signal of someone at a target account actively searching your category is extremely high purchase proximity.
Yes — Microsoft Ads is one of the most underutilized B2B channels. The combination of lower CPCs than Google (30–40% discount) and exclusive LinkedIn profile targeting makes it a high-efficiency B2B lead generation platform. Median B2B CPL of $78.40 competes favorably with Google Ads B2B CPL (typically $90–140 for comparable verticals) and dramatically undercuts LinkedIn Ads CPL ($120–200+). The volume limitation is real — Microsoft covers ~6% of US search volume — but B2B advertisers are less dependent on search volume scale than B2C. A smaller number of high-quality B2B leads from Microsoft often delivers better business outcomes than larger lead volume from social channels.
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These benchmarks are drawn from a multi-source benchmark cohort aggregated across industries and regions, covering the period Q1 2023 – Q4 2024. Figures on this page come from the Benchmarketing benchmark dataset: thousands of curated benchmark observations spanning channels, industries, and US metro areas, refreshed on a published schedule. Every statistic traces to a named source — no anonymous “studies show.” Data is sourced from:
The Benchmarketing 4-Band Method reads every marketing metric against four percentile bands — P25 (bottom quartile), median, P75 (top quartile), and elite (top ~10%) — for a specific industry and channel, instead of a single cross-industry average. Averages blend brand and non-brand campaigns, $500/month and $500,000/month accounts, and unrelated industries into a number almost nobody actually has.
Benchmarks reflect median values across large sample sets. Your industry, business model, and account maturity will cause variation. Use P25/P75 ranges to understand realistic distribution.
Read full methodologyWritten by
Benchmarketing Research Team
Data & Analytics
Reviewed by
Performance Marketing Editorial
Senior Review
Last updated
Reviewed March 2026
Observation period: Q1 2023 – Q4 2024
Microsoft Ads Search
Search campaign benchmarks
LinkedIn Ads B2B
LinkedIn B2B benchmarks
Google Ads B2B
Google B2B search benchmarks
CPL Benchmarks
Cost per lead by channel