Should You Invest in Facebook Ads or Google Ads?
Facebook Ads and Google Ads have rapidly become the two largest platforms for online advertising. Ideally, you’d want to run ads and take advantage of the unique features offered by both, but sometimes you have to choose between the two.
So which of these should you go for? Let’s look at a few things you should consider.
1. Campaign Goals
Determining your goal for the campaign is an essential part of deciding what platform would be best suited for you.
Google Ads, for example, is the best option for demand capture—that is, it will reach users who you know for sure are looking to make a purchase. If someone looks up the keyword “customisable phone covers,” chances are they’re trying to find one for themselves. Keeping that in mind, the ads shown on Google will align with this search intent and possibly result in sales.
On the other hand, Facebook Ads is ideal for reaching consumers who are at the top of the funnel, making it a better option if you’re not actively trying to make a sale yet, and are aiming for brand awareness.
You could use both platforms to reach consumers at different stages of the buying process, but if you know the goal of your campaign, you could narrow down your options and pick the platform that provides the greater benefit.
2. Budget
As with anything else, sometimes your budget can also make the choice for you. For any ad campaign, the main goal is to maximise the return on ad spend (ROAS), i.e. the profit you earn on every dollar you spend on ads.
For Google Ads, specific keywords have a higher cost-per-click than others, which means that if the keyword you’re targeting is expensive and you have a smaller budget, your ad campaign wouldn’t be bringing you much benefit.
On the other hand, within that same budget, you could reach a much wider audience on Facebook Ads, as well as take into account consumer behaviour and get a better idea of what kind of marketing strategy would work on your target audience.
Look at how far a single dollar can take you with respect to your goals, and make your choice.
3. Stages of the Buyer Journey
Facebook and Google are two very different platforms, meant for different things. As such, users on each will also be in different stages of the buying journey, so you wouldn’t be able to find the same audience on both.
For example, Facebook is a social media platform, which is meant for interaction. Most people on Facebook are not looking to make a purchase, but they do explore their interests on the platform. This makes Facebook Ads a great way to target users who may not be aware of your brand or products, especially if your brand is somewhat niche and you think users wouldn’t be actively searching for it.
On the flip side, Google receives more than 5 billion searches every day, and these searches can fall on every stage of the buyer’s journey. However, the keywords within those searches let you know what stage they’re at. If someone searches “water bottle price,” the likelihood is that the user wants to buy a water bottle. In comparison, if a user searches for “water bottle design,” they might not necessarily be looking for a purchase.
The use of specific keywords indicates which users are most likely to make that purchase decision. That way, you can target users who you know for sure are at the bottom of the funnel.
4. So which is better?
While it’s important to look at your goals and budget etc., when deciding which platform you want to go for, there is no doubt that each offers unique benefits.
For example, Facebook allows you to create a ‘lookalike audience’ for yourself and then targets people who are similar to this persona. With so much information about the audience’s interests and preferences available, this is easily done on Facebook. That means that Facebook Ads is much more detailed in targeting users when you make an advertisement on Facebook.
On the other hand, Google ads have the highest click-through rate compared to other platforms because Google prioritises relevance and shows users ads that are most relevant to them, given their search history.
Google also uses remarketing, where users are reconnected to brands that they have interacted with before. This makes it more likely that consumers will go through with their purchase instead of adding your product to their cart and closing the window.
Still, neither one is inherently better than the other, so once you’ve decided on your budget, your marketing objectives and your target audience. You’ll be able to make a better and more informed decision about which platform will be more beneficial to your brand.
Starting a digital marketing campaign can be a very daunting prospect for many businesses. Should you need any more convincing, perhaps read our blog about why now is the time to start digital marketing!
So, what are you waiting for? Reach out to us today, and one of our specialists will be happy to get back in touch as soon as possible! First Page is the leading digital marketing agency in Asia, helping our clients exceed their expectations and grow their online presence.
