When is it most appropriate to use a broad match keyword strategy in Microsoft Advertising, and what precautions must be taken to avoid wasting ad spend?

Using a broad match keyword strategy in Microsoft Advertising is most appropriate when you want to maximize reach and discover new, potentially profitable search terms, especially early in a campaign or when entering a new market. Broad match allows your ads to show for searches that are related to your keyword, even if they don't contain the exact keyword terms. This helps identify a wider range of search queries that customers are using to find products or services like yours. To avoid wasting ad spend with broad match, it is crucial to implement a comprehensive negative keyword strategy. Negative keywords prevent your ads from showing for irrelevant searches that could drain your budget without generating conversions. Regularly monitor your search term reports to identify irrelevant search queries that are triggering your ads and add them as negative keywords. For example, if you're selling 'running shoes' and using broad match, you might find your ads are showing for searches related to 'running shoe repair'. Adding 'repair' as a negative keyword will prevent your ads from showing for those irrelevant searches, focusing your budget on more relevant traffic.