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As a small or medium-sized business, you have a limited marketing budget. And yet you’re competing with brands of all sizes. That means you have to be even more diligent about how you spend your money. Of course, it becomes more complicated when you realize that you also have to spread your ad spend around different platforms or choose the best one.
For many marketers, the question often comes down to Facebook Ads versus Google Ads. After all, these are the two leading platforms for online pay-per-click (PPC) advertising. However, it can actually be beneficial to include both in your marketing strategy.
Both platforms have unique strengths and weaknesses. You can approach your market in unique ways to increase your leads, sales, and brand affinity. The key is to understand which platform exceeds in which areas. So in this article, we will look at the Facebook Ads versus Google Ads debate from a holistic perspective to see how they fit into a digital strategy:
The way that users search for answers and products online has fundamentally changed, thanks to the rise of smartphones. People want answers, and they want them fast. Because of this, consumers are far more empowered and knowledgeable than they used to be.
Because of the ease of finding new products and services online — and comparing them — you face greater competition from other brands than ever before.
If you want to be found, you need to be visible when they are searching online. Additionally, you need to give them vital information to convince them that your company is the right choice.
With the shift in the way we shop and look for information, the customer journey has changed dramatically. It’s become more interconnected and complicated than ever before, and your brand needs a way to stand out in this madness. That’s where online advertising comes into play. Online advertising (Google and Facebook Ads) can help you:
Simply put, Google and Facebook ads are more capable than ever of helping grow your business. But only if you know how to use them properly.
Google Ads is the world’s largest and most popular PPC advertising platform. Google Ads is so widely used that it has become synonymous with the term “paid search“. The two terms are used interchangeably, even though other platforms such as Bing Ads work in a similar way.
The paid search focuses on the targeting of keywords and the use of text-based advertisements. Advertisers using Google Ads bid on keywords – specific words and phrases included in search queries entered by Google users – hoping that their ads will display these queries alongside search results.
Each time a user clicks on an ad, the advertiser is charged a certain amount of money, hence the name “pay-per-click advertising”. PPC bidding and bid optimization is a complex topic and beyond the scope of this guide. But essentially, users are paying for the potential to find new customers based on the keywords and search terms they enter into Google.
Facebook Ads are a prime example of what is known as “paid social” or advertising on social networks. With the highest number of monthly active users (MAUs) of any social network in the world, Facebook has become a highly competitive and potentially lucrative element of many businesses’ digital advertising strategies.
Although advertising on Facebook is similar to Google Ads, in that advertisers using both platforms are essentially promoting their business via the Internet, there are many differences. Unlike paid search, which helps companies to find new customers via keywords, paid social helps users find businesses based on their interests.
Paid search also looks at ways in which consumers behave online. When it comes to the primary difference between Google Ads and Facebook Ads, you can think of it this way: Google Ads helps you find new customers, while Facebook helps new customers find you.
The main difference between these two platforms is how products/services are shown to consumers. Facebook displays ads to users based on their interests, while Google shows relevant ads to those who are specifically searching for a product. In simple terms, Facebook tends to focus on brand outreach, while Google focuses on lead conversion.
Google Ads, with its paid search based offerings, lets business owners target users based on the search query they enter on Google, more commonly known as a keyword.
Primarily text-based, these ads aim to show relevant promoted results to users that can further help them in their search. From a user’s point of view, when they perform a Google search for a particular keyword, they are usually shown results pages in less than one second. But at the start of each search result page, the initial few listings are the promoted listings that advertisers have paid to showcase when that particular keyword is searched.
Facebook Ads, on the other hand, lets you target your ad to people based on the behaviors and patterns you choose as a targeting profile on its platform. Unlike Google Ads, it is not based on a user’s search query. Not only does it provide a wide range of targeting options based on demographics, but it also lets an advertiser target users based on their behaviors, likes, and dislikes.
When comparing which option is best, you need first to ask yourself some hard questions. Otherwise, you won’t have reliable criteria upon which to base your decision. Here are various factors to keep in mind:
Beyond these three basic questions, you also need to look at the following:
First, consider your industry and research your estimated costs with Google’s Keyword Planner. Ultimately, where you elect to allocate your budget may depend on the industry you’re in. Google Ads is known to draw high-value traffic in select business spheres. And as more businesses in those spheres flock to the network, bidding high on keywords relevant to you, they drive up the cost per click (CPC).
This isn’t to say you shouldn’t use Google ads, simply that you may find less competition on Facebook. And less competition translates to lower CPC. In your industry, it may make sense to start on Facebook.
Research shows that B2B leads and traffic from Facebook Ads tend to be lower quality than those which come via Google Ads. Even if you have a lower CPC, you might not be driving the right kind of traffic for your brand. So don’t always look at the cost of clicks, look at the final metrics that matter: the quality and profitability of the leads or sales themselves after marketing expenses are taken into account.
Ultimately, you want to attract new buyers and keep them around. However, that doesn’t mean that you are directly going for a sale with each ad. Each ad or campaign plays a unique role in the process, and there are smaller goals along the way. For instance:
Top of the Funnel Goals
When a user is at the top of your funnel, they are typically more towards the beginning of the buying cycle. They are looking for basic information and education about your products and services. Social media and general brand awareness are good approaches to this part of the funnel, such as:
Middle of the Funnel Goals
At this stage, your prospect has eliminated some options and narrowed down their choices. They realize that they need a product or service, and now they are comparing different brands and features. Some items you might want to promote at this stage include:
Bottom of the Funnel Goals
At the bottom of the funnel, purchases are being made. This is where you want to aim for metrics such as:
As we mentioned before, Facebook can provide different benefits than Google depending on your funnel, industry, and more. Here are some specific aspects of your business to review when deciding which platform to focus on right now for Facebook Ads versus Google Ads:
If your organization has a new product or service and there is very little or no search volume, then Google search ads aren’t going to give you a lot of volumes. Before you rule out Google Ads entirely in this scenario, consider the pain points your product addresses. There may be a series of keywords that describe what and how your product solves the issue. If you have a product that’s solving a problem people just accept or don’t search for answers to, Facebook Ads is a great place to start. Instead of targeting by user intent, you can do so by demographics and interests, introducing your offer to your desired audience.
Both Google and Facebook have enormous reach—Google handles an estimated 5.8 billion searches every single day, while Facebook has an estimated 1.79 billion daily active users. In all likelihood, your target audience is on both of these platforms, so you can’t determine the right fit for your business on audience size alone. Instead, ask yourself these questions:
Even if Google has 5.8 billion searches a day, it won’t help you if no one is searching for your specific product. Are you releasing a new, innovative product? Have people heard of what you offer? If the answer is “no,” then Facebook is often a better option to get the word out.
The average CPC for Google Ads is going to vary wildly. However, in general, they are cheaper on Facebook. Facebook can build awareness, while Google drives conversions at the bottom of the funnel. While the CPC and cost per action (CPA) look higher on Google at first, they also might deliver higher quality results, so don’t get scared by higher numbers.
Google has the upper hand when it comes to buyer intent. Think of it this way; if someone is actively typing in a keyword into Google, they want to know about or purchase that product. On the other hand, if they passively saw your advertisement on Facebook, there is much less buyer intent.
Leads shouldn’t be expected to convert quickly if you found them from Facebook. It can be incredibly useful for growing your audience and sense of community, but Facebook is certainly not built for speedy conversions.
Both Google and Facebook Ads give you options for targeting (and retargeting) specific audiences. On both platforms, you can target by age, gender, location, and income level, among other things. However, Facebook is the hands-down winner for advanced targeting options e.g lookalike audiences.
In addition to the targeting options mentioned above, Facebook allows you to create audiences based on an extensive list of interests and behaviors. With Facebook, you can be very specific with your audience. If your target audience is niche-specific, then Facebook Ads will be an excellent option for your business.
There is undoubtedly more creativity allowed with ad and media types on Facebook. On Google, you’re stuck with a block of text. You can use ad extensions, but they pale in comparison to Facebook. So if your product is very image-based, use Facebook to capture initial attention and awareness. Visuals tend to sell luxury and aspirational products better, such as watches, jewelry, and more, but no doubt you can also use HTML5 or animated ads in Google Ads as well.
Understanding the user engagement in the buyer’s journey will also help you decide which advertising channel to leverage. This may mean both platforms are a great fit, but just at different times. If you are looking to capture users in the moment of looking to purchase a product or service, Google Ads would be your best bet due to the high level of intent from your audience.
However, suppose you’re trying to bring more initial awareness or influence ongoing consideration to your offering. In that case, Facebook ads can help you target those with a current or unknown need for your product or service. This is how both channels can complement and fuel your digital marketing strategy and your organization’s growth.
Facebook offers much more comprehensive customer support through their help center, email, and live chat. However, you will be strongly encouraged to use the help center instead of talking with a human. This might become annoying if your problem is complex, and you need immediate help from a live agent.
Google Ads, on the other hand, does offer customer support by phone with reasonable hours, in addition to a help center. This helps you get your problem resolved faster and more accurately than waiting around for support tickets.
Keep in mind that the level of support you get with Google can depend on the support center you are routed to. The foreign call centers tend to get worse feedback than their U.S. based counterparts.
As you have understand the fundamental differences between Google Ads and Facebook ads, in addition to these core differences, there are dozens of minor differences, making both platforms seem simultaneously more and less appealing. It all depends on the targets you’re trying to achieve, which of course will be the foundation of your optimization process, because only after you’ve defined them will you be able to compare your campaign, keywords, ad and audience to them and see if there’s a match via Conversions. But you must be wondering how to test which platform is going better?
Let’s take a scenario, you have a particular niche and have 100$ daily budget to spend for your online advertisement. Instead of spending all on one platform use the strategy by considering experiment with both for at least four weeks by cutting the half of the budget on one platform (Google Ads) and half on the other (Facebook). For both platforms you have 50$-50$ budget to spend for 4 weeks. Analyze the collected data on different metrics that should include,
Now your focus should be on which platform is giving you more goals in less cost that would be the best for you. But don’t ignore the other platform Implement Pareto Principle here spend more like 80% on that which is performing best but don’t ignore your target audience on other platform and spend 20% there too. Your overall focus is to have good ROI.
Here are some common questions surrounding the debate of Facebook Ads versus Google Ads:
Google Ads generally have a higher cost-per-click (CPC) than Facebook Ads.
While Google does have a higher CPC, many advertisers would agree that it’s worth it. They can create ads that reach and convert users who have higher buying intent. The sheer scale of customers that you can reach gives you an incredible edge in your marketing.
When you are purely looking at leads, consultations, or other tops of the funnel metrics, Facebook is excellent. However, when your product is simple and doesn’t involve multiple steps to purchase, Google is the answer. Besides, Google is beneficial for driving faster traffic for people who need your product right now at the moment.
Both Facebook and Google are powerful platforms that receive countless visitors. Every kind of business can benefit from one of these platforms in some way. While looking at Facebook Ads versus Google Ads, be sure to keep your specific business goals in mind.
What works for one industry may not work as effectively for another. For instance, a law firm will have a different approach than that of a gourmet restaurant. However, Google and Facebook both serve their own unique purposes, even for the same business.
By understanding where each platform has an advantage and what its intended purpose is, you can create better marketing to increase your bottom line. And in a challenging global marketplace due to the pandemic of early 2020, that’s something every business needs right now.
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