Microsoft Ads for B2B: the complete 2026 guide

Microsoft Ads is one of the few self-serve ad platforms where a B2B team can target by company name, industry and job function without uploading contact data. It reaches people searching on Bing and browsing Microsoft's own sites and partners, and its reporting can show impressions per company. That makes it a natural home for account-based campaigns.

Why Microsoft Ads matters for B2B

Most B2B buying research still starts on a work computer. A large share of company laptops ship with Windows and Edge, and many of them keep Bing as the default search engine. That does not make Bing bigger than Google, but it does mean the people who search there skew toward office hours and work tasks.

The bigger reason is targeting. Microsoft lets advertisers layer professional profile attributes on top of search and audience campaigns. Microsoft calls this LinkedIn profile targeting: you can choose companies, industries and job functions, and Microsoft matches them to signed-in users on its side. You never see who the people are, and you never upload a list of names or emails. You choose the account and the role, and Microsoft does the matching.

For an account-based marketing team this closes a gap that Google leaves open. Google Ads cannot target a company by name. Microsoft can.

What you can target in Microsoft Ads

Profile targeting can be used two ways. As a bid adjustment on a search campaign, it raises bids when the searcher works at a target company or in a target function. As a target on audience campaigns, it limits delivery to those profiles. Most B2B teams start with bid adjustments on search, because it keeps volume while paying more for the right accounts.

Campaign types that work for B2B

Search campaigns

Search is still the highest-intent placement. Build ad groups around problems and categories your buyers search for, not only your brand. Then add company and job function bid adjustments so the right people see your ads more often and in better positions. Keep negative keywords tight: student, free, jobs, salary and definition queries burn budget in B2B.

Audience campaigns

Audience ads run across Microsoft's own properties and partner sites, including placements in Outlook and MSN. They are the closest Microsoft gets to ABM display ads. Target a company list plus two or three job functions, and you get a controlled reach campaign against your target account list. Our ABM display ads playbook covers creative and frequency in more detail.

Ads in AI answers

Microsoft also places ads inside Copilot answers and AI-assisted search results. These usually draw from your existing search campaigns, so good ad copy and clear landing pages carry over. Treat it as an extra surface for intent rather than a separate strategy. We cover the wider picture in LLM ads for B2B.

How to set up a B2B account on Microsoft Ads

1. Start from the account list, not the keyword list. Write down the companies you want to win and the roles that sign off. If you don't have a list yet, build one from your ideal customer profile.
2. Import or rebuild your search campaigns. Microsoft can import Google Ads campaigns. That is a fine start, but review match types, bids and location settings, because the defaults don't always carry over cleanly.
3. Add profile bid adjustments. Add your target companies and the relevant job functions to each search campaign. Start with a moderate increase and adjust once you see delivery.
4. Create one audience campaign per tier. Tier 1 accounts get more budget and more specific creative. Tier 2 gets broader messaging.
5. Install conversion tracking. Use Microsoft's UET tag and define real B2B conversions: demo requests, trial signups, pricing page visits from target accounts.
6. Set a review rhythm. Look at search terms weekly and account-level reporting every two weeks.

Budgets and bidding

There is no universal B2B budget for Microsoft Ads. The useful question is how many accounts you want to reach and how often. A narrow list of a few hundred companies with tight job functions will not spend a large budget no matter how high you set it, because the audience is small. A broad industry campaign will spend whatever you give it.

A practical approach:

• Start search campaigns on manual or enhanced CPC until you have enough conversions for automated bidding to learn.
• Use target CPA or maximize conversions only once conversion volume is steady.
• Give audience campaigns a fixed daily budget and judge them on account reach and engagement, not last-click leads.
• Expect higher cost per click on profile-targeted traffic. You are paying for precision.

Reporting: from clicks to accounts

Microsoft offers reports that break down performance by company, industry and job function. That means you can see which target companies saw your ads and how often, even when nobody clicked. For ABM this is more useful than a lead count, because most of a buying committee never fills in a form.

Combine that with your own website data. When a target company sees ads, then visits your pricing page, then comes back a week later, that is an engaged account, whatever the click data says. Company engagement reporting joins these signals into one view per account.

Common mistakes

• Only importing from Google. The import is a shortcut, not a strategy. Microsoft's profile targeting is the reason to be there, and imported campaigns don't use it.
• Targeting job titles too narrowly. Job function is broader than title by design. Combining one company with one narrow function often leaves an audience too small to deliver.
• Judging audience campaigns on CPL. Awareness inside target accounts is the goal. Measure account reach, frequency and later site visits.
• Uploading bought contact lists. Customer lists should only contain your own first-party contacts who agreed to hear from you. Profile targeting exists so you don't need anyone else's data.
• Ignoring search terms. B2B keywords attract job seekers and students. Weekly negatives keep spend on buyers.

How IntentBid helps

IntentBid connects to your own Microsoft Advertising account. There is no media markup and your spend stays in your account. You give the TAL Generator your website and region, choose the roles and list size, and get a list of companies with counts of decision-maker positions per company. It never gives you people or emails.

From there IntentBid creates search and audience campaigns with company and job function targeting. Campaigns are created paused and run through compliance checks before you launch. Reporting shows impressions per company next to website visits from the same accounts. See the Microsoft Ads page for details, or our guide on Bing ads for B2B.

FAQ

Can Microsoft Ads target specific companies?

Yes. Microsoft's profile targeting lets you choose companies by name, along with industries and job functions. Microsoft matches these to its own signed-in users, so you never upload contact data and never see who individual viewers are.

Is Microsoft Ads worth it for B2B if we already run Google Ads?

Usually yes, for two reasons. Its audience leans toward work devices and office hours, and it offers company targeting that Google does not. Many teams run both: Google for search volume, Microsoft for account-level precision.

Do I need LinkedIn Ads to use company targeting on Microsoft?

No. Profile targeting is a Microsoft Advertising feature. You set it up inside Microsoft Ads and pay Microsoft for the clicks or impressions.

How small can a target audience be?

Microsoft applies minimum audience sizes, and very narrow combinations may not deliver. If a campaign has little reach, widen the job functions or add more companies to the list rather than raising bids.

What should I measure first?

For search, measure qualified conversions from target accounts. For audience campaigns, measure how many target companies were reached, how often, and how many of them later visited your site.

Ready to try it on your own Microsoft Ads account? Start a 14-day trial, no card needed.