Cremarc Innovation Hub October 2024: The Power of Microsoft Ads & Gamifying Form Fills

Welcome to the Cremarc Innovation Hub – your monthly dose of progressive tactics tried and tested by the Cremarc team. This month, there were three key innovations that we looked at.

Progress Bars: Gamifying Form Fills for Better CRO

When it comes to Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO), every detail counts. Our latest innovation involves adding progress bars to questionnaires, transforming a standard form into a more engaging experience and mitigating user drop-off. Simply by adding a progress bar to a questionnaire, you can see:

• An increase in form completion rates by up to 28%
• Reduced abandonment rates by showing users how close they are to finishing

Microsoft Ads: The Untapped Potential for B2B Media

While Google Ads remains the B2B marketing paid media powerhouse, savvy marketers are increasingly allocating a portion of their media spend to Microsoft Ads.  We’ve jumped on this band wagon as early as possible because there are so many huge opportunities with Microsoft Ads.

Lower CPCs: On average, Microsoft Ads offers 30% lower cost-per-click compared to Google Ads so tighter marketing budgets can be stretched further.

Higher GDP per User: Bing users tend to have higher income levels, with 38% of the network’s audience having a household income in the top 25%. You’re more likely to hit business professionals on this channel.

B2B Sweet Spot: As the default search engine on Windows laptops, Bing captures a significant portion of business professionals automatically.

By diversifying your ad spend to Microsoft Ads, you not only open up opportunities like advertising space on Outlook, Netflix and 1500+ publishers, but you tap into a valuable, often overlooked audience segment. The Cremarc Paid Media team broke down the Microsoft Ads audience for B2B here:

LinkedIn Ads Cost Calculator: SEO Gold for B2B Marketers

We have to practice what we preach at Cremarc, and because we’re always banging on about providing value to your total serviceable market in advance to get your brand in front of them early and build-up brand trust, we decided to create a free LinkedIn Ads Cost Calculator.

This tool not only helps B2B marketers estimate their campaign costs but also supports from an ROI measurement perspective. Here’s why it’s a game-changer for us:

• Addresses a common pain point for our total serviceable market so we know search volume isn’t going to drop off
• Drives a significant amount of organic traffic from high-intent B2B marketers looking to optimise their paid social and paid media
• Positions Cremarc as a trusted supporter in the B2B marketing space

And it’s not even a slow burner! Since the calculator’s launch, we’ve seen thousands of new organic visitors to our site, and it’s now the 2^nd biggest traffic driver for us. Incredible!

Bonus innovation: Embracing the Audio-Visual Revolution

Buyer content consumption habits are evolving, and we’re evolving with them. Audio and video content now reign supreme, which is why we’ve invested in our own video-first podcast. This move allows us to:

• Cater to diverse learning preferences to educate people in their preferred method
• Increase the shareability of our content to cater for today’s larger buying committees
• Showcase our expertise in a more personal and dynamic format – because written content can’t always get personality across

Our inaugural episode is launching this side of Christmas and we’re really excited to see the results. For full transparency, we’re measuring its success on number of listens, returning listeners, new followers/subscribers, and engagement on LinkedIn and YouTube. Podcasting is something we’ve helped a couple of clients with this past year but we’re now launching our own production to experiment with the format even further.

Stay tuned for next month’s Innovation Hub overview, where we’ll continue to explore our latest progressive tactics and tests. Until then, keep the light bulb switched on… (Not literally – it is a Cost-of-Living crisis!)