Microsoft Advertising relaunches certification program

Microsoft Advertising now offers new certification badges, and levels along with a new learning center

Microsoft has shared changes to their learning and certifications programs, stating that they had redesigned and relaunched their Learning Lab and Microsoft Advertising certification program (MACP- Microsoft Advertising Certified Professional) certification scheme to make these offerings more valuable and user-friendly.

Microsoft Advertising recently conducted largescale user feedback by investing significant time and effort in listening to what users liked and disliked in their learning offerings as well as asking for changes that users would like to see. After analyzing the user feedback, Microsoft has updated its learning offerings with the goal of making them both more valuable and more user-friendly.

Compared to the previous single exam system, the revamped certification program now consists of three exams. The program contains 50-question certification exams that are designed to navigate through various areas within Microsoft Advertising, including:

• Microsoft Advertising Search Certification
• Microsoft Advertising Native & Display Certification
• Microsoft Advertising Shopping Certification

Each exam offers its own badge once completed. If you complete all of the exams, you will receive the Microsoft Advertising Certified Professional blue badge to demonstrate your know-how.

Moreover, Microsoft Advertising has made updates to the Learning Lab, which include:

• Learning Paths: These combine important concepts that are required to understand in order to develop skills as a digital marketer with Microsoft Advertising under each topic in one place. The new structure includes learning courses, a preparation course for each exam, and the exam itself.
• Events: Sign up for live virtual events conducted by Microsoft Advertising experts or view recent events on-demand.
• User Dashboard and Trophy Case: You can view the badges that you have earned and the courses that you have completed all in one dashboard view.

Benefits of Microsoft Advertising (previously known as Bing Ads)

Microsoft Advertising (formerly known as Bing Ads) works in a similar way as Google Ads. It functions by advertisers bidding on keywords in order to have their ad display above the organic search results. Both Google Ads and Microsoft Advertising utilize pay-per-click (PPC) advertising with the objective of reaching targeted audiences and driving revenue via sales or increasing traffic to a website. One of the main differences compared to Google Ads, however, is that Microsoft ads leverage the Microsoft search network which consists of three search engines comprised of Bing, Yahoo, and AOL together with numerous owned or operated sites and partner websites that are connected to Microsoft. Microsoft ads will be featured across this network. 

Each time a user surfs on Bing and searches for something that is related to your business or selected keywords, you have the chance to have your brand noticed and, in turn, to generate a potential lead or sale. Microsoft Advertising picks the ads that will be displayed to each user depending on variables such as their relevancy to the search made, the keyword bid, and the ad quality. As with Google Ads, the desired outcome is to try to get your ad up as high as possible in the search results in order for your message to have the best chance of attracting attention from users.

Microsoft ads can be an excellent addition to your advertising campaigns and are certainly worth testing to see if they can offer a good return on your investment in the industry in which your company is operating.

Conclusion

For marketers and advertisers who run Microsoft Advertising campaigns will want to review this new learning center and see how they can obtain these new certifications. If you have had certification in the past, you may need to revise those with these new criteria.

If you have any questions related to Microsoft Ads or online advertising, please feel free to contact our expert team at info@relevantaudience.com for more information