It’s a question that is asked thousands of times a day on Google. The answer to Google Ads vs Facebook Ads is not simple though. One things for sure though, both these networks are outstanding at delivering results. Because when it comes to online advertising, Google Ads and Facebook Ads dominate this industry.
If you want to reach prospective customers, Google’s search network or Facebook’s news feeds are definitely the correct places to be. Incredibly Facebook currently has 2.3 billion monthly active users, that’s an enormous audience. Similarly, Google Ads reaches billions of people every day via search, email, and other online activities.
So which do you choose to allocate your advertising budget to? Or do you invest in both? The answer is always going to depend on your unique business and what you want to achieve.
Let’s start by understanding a little bit more about Google Ads and Facebook Ads
It’s pretty common knowledge that Google is the world’s largest search engine. In fact it takes more than 75% of the search engine market. (Bing and the others are in a distant second place). With more than five billion Google searches every day, it makes sense that Google Ads is a brilliant place to advertise.
Google Ads has a number of ways that it uses to advertise:
A display network ad looks something like this:
There are other options for Google Ads e.g. video-based ads that stream on sites like YouTube, but the 3 mentioned are the most commonly used. So no matter what your business is or how you want to market it, Google Ads is outstanding at driving traffic to your site. More importantly it’ll be visitors who are more likely to be converted. Sell products online (e-commerce)? Google shopping ads will be very powerful for you. If you are a locally-based company looking to get more sales, you can create location-based campaigns on the search network. Businesses like estate agents or solicitors can achieve high conversion ads by using specific keywords on the Search network.
In a nut shell, Google Ads is an excellent option when you are looking to drive traffic to your site with the intent to convert. When someone types a keyword like “SEO services near me,” in a search engine, they’ll probably click on or contact the first few sites first. And the beauty is you pretty much know from reading that search term they’re looking for a solution. In other words they’re ready to buy. Does this answer the question which is better, Google Ads vs Facebook Ads though? Let’s explain a little about how Facebook Ads work to get closer to that answer.
To start with it’s important to know that Facebook is a social network, it’s not a search engine. People use Facebook to connect with friends and family, share photos, post memes etc… They don’t usually use it to research products or look for services, although this has increased over recent years. So why do people consider it? Surely it’s a waste of advertising spend. Actually no. Facebook has more than two and a half billion monthly active users. You’re also almost guaranteed to find almost any niche subject on the platform. This includes market places. And with such an enormous audience, that’s completely diverse, there is a definite advantage in using Facebook Ads.
Just like Google Ads, Facebook Ads have a number of different options for how you can advertise. You can also advertise on almost every device, your mobile, your desktop and your tablet. There’s the added benefit of their Instagram and Facebook Messenger platforms too.
The most common ads are news feed style ads. These integrate directly into your Facebook feed and look like a normal post. They’re aimed at getting people to click on them and look something like this:
Facebook allows you to advertise in the right sidebar and mobile newsfeed. You can even use video ads. If you’ve got a number of products or services you want to showcase then Carousel ads are your best bet.
As mentioned previously, the intent is different on Facebook. There is much more of an emphasis on targeting audiences when it comes to your adverts. There is a Custom Audience feature setup already that allows you to target the audience by a number of metrics. These include things like location, age, job title, interests and hobbies. You can also tailor it to how they behave, have they bought before? How much do they use Facebook? You have a great deal of control based on your marketing objectives. The list of choices is pretty comprehensive and means you have a good chance of being in front of the right demographic.
So are Facebook Ads going to work for my business? The answer is probably yes. And there are 3 key reasons why:
Meaning you could spend as little as £10 a week yet get thousands upon thousands of impressions for your business.
To summarise a little, Facebook ads have lower costs and excellent demographic targeting. Google Ads benefit from strong search intent leading to higher customer conversions. They both have billions of active users though so they’re both going to make a difference.
Which is right for my business? The answer is, of course, really dependent on your business objectives and budget.
Some key questions to ask yourself that can help you decide are:
(a) What is my end goal? and
(b) What am I looking to achieve from this?
If your answer is sales, leads, visits, appointments — well both choices are brilliant for that to be honest.
Want more brand awareness or to increase your following? Facebook is the best choice here.
If you want to sell more products directly, Google Ads has the slight edge due to its use of user intent, if they search for a product it’s much more likely Google will point them to you (athough Facebook Ads can do this as well).
There’s a huge amount of information on line if you want to research a little further. I’d also advise visiting the Google and Facebook sites, they both have pretty comprehensive guides to help you but be warned, there is a lot to cover.
Up The Rankings are experienced at setting up and managing Pay Per Click campaigns on both these platforms. We take the pain and hassle out of your online advertising so why not get in contact.
