Both Google Pay Per Click Ads (PPC) and Facebook Ads are incredibly powerful advertising platforms that, which executed well, cater to virtually every type of business. When it comes to paid channels these are truly the two main contenders. Whether one performs better than the other in delivering ROI continues to be a question many business owners and marketers alike ask, and today, we’re going to lay out for you which tool will be most beneficial for your business based on your goals. So, let’s dive in to when to use Pay Per Click Ads vs Facebook ads.
What are the differences between Google PPC Ads and Facebook Ads?
Paid Search vs. Paid Social
This blog will focus primarily on the differences between paid search (Google Ads) vs. paid social (Facebook ads). Essentially, paid search is paying to have your listing featured on a search engine result page (SERP) in order to get found more easily, with the end goal to create conversions for your business. Here’s an example of a paid search ad:
With paid search, your ad is placed based on a keyword phrase, a natural language long tailed keyword phrase if you want to get fancy(link opens in new tab), instead of targeting a specific audience. It should be noted that we strongly advise you to adjust the settings of your paid search campaign to target specific audiences based on location and other factors.
In contrast to Google, Facebook Ads offers paid social advertising. In the aftermath of the Facebook algorithm changes (link opens in new tab), it has (unfortunately) become increasingly difficult for brands to be seen by potential customers organically (aka: for free!) These days, since the company went public, it’s pay-to-pay, for the most part, baby. Sorry. This is where paid social comes into play.
Facebook provides you with oodles of options as to where your ads will be placed, and is not limited to just your Facebook News Feed. With Facebook Ads you can advertise on:
- Facebook News Feed
- Instagram (owned by Facebook)
- Audience Network
- Facebook Messenger
Here is an example of a paid ad on Facebook’s News Feed:
What are the benefits of using Google PPC Ads?
The word Google is now synonymous with the act of searching for something on the internet, so it may be no surprise to you that Google is the world’s most popular and widely used search engine. In fact, the search engine is considered the unequivocal leader in online advertising today. Fielding more than 3.5 billion search queries every single day, Google offers advertisers access to an unprecedented and unequaled potential audience of users who are actively looking for goods and services. So why wouldn’t you want your ads here? After all, one of the main advantages of using Google as an advertising platform is its immense reach.
Common Misconceptions:
One of the biggest misconceptions among those new to PPC is that whoever has the largest advertising budget somehow automatically “wins” at Google ads (link opens in new tab). Fortunately, nothing could be farther from the truth, as they focus primarily on the quality and relevance of ads, not how much advertisers spend.
Google is all about about user experience; it’s pretty much their bottom line. The more relevant an ad is to the user, the better the experience that user is likely to have. In turn, it’s far more likely that they are going to continue using Google as their go-to search engine. It is actually part of Google’s algorithm that these factors come largely into play to determine an ad’s Quality Score (link opens in new tab). The higher the score, the more your Ad will be seen.
What are the benefits of using Facebook Ads?
Both Google Ads 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 all around winner for advanced targeting options (link opens in new tab) especially in the B2C arena.
In addition to the vast array of targeting options, Facebook allows you to create audiences based on a large list of interests, demographics and behaviors, and will remember these lists if you ever want to target the same audience in the future!
Want to target parents? Not a problem. Want to target parents of children ages 9-11? Not a problem. Want to target vegan parents with children ages 9-11 with a household income between $85k-115k, and who follow health and fitness pages? Not a problem. See what we’re talking about?
Common Misconceptions:
One common misconception about Facebook Ads is that they will generate an immediate conversion or transaction. In fact, Facebook ads are less effective for getting leads to convert quickly. People generally go to Facebook to relax and socialize, not to shop. However, this isn’t necessarily a down side if you have other goals in mind, and a bit of patience. This platform is extremely useful for building your audience (link opens in new tab). Also, it’s unique re-targeting abilities are fine tuned to create conversions from interested parties who may have clicked on an ad and not bought, or added to a cart, or who even hung out and read the ad, or watched the video for a length of time. Facebook’s algorithms are second to none and get results. If you can create recognition and a sense of community around your brand on social media, people will be more likely to buy when they need your service or product. If these are your business’s goals, then Facebook will be the best choice.
Google PPC Ads vs Facebook Ads: Which should you be using?
If you are new to pay-per-click advertising, it can be intimidating to get started. Both platforms pitch
When it comes to choosing the right advertising platform for your business, match your goals with the unique feature sets of each platform.
Facebook Ads offer:
- Deeper demographic targeting to best match ads to the interests and progress of different audiences across the sales funnel.
- Better conversions for a B2C brand or company.
- Better branding opportunities with creative on Facebook to help drive awareness for your organization in the long-term.
- A platform to run your campaigns when looking for long-term conversions and the opportunity to build a relationship with your customers since you’re interacting with them as they perform other actions on the network.
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The ability to re-target an existing customer using messaging that directly matches their interest and shopping habits.
PPC Google Ads offers:
- Contextual targeting to reach your customers more closely to the end of the sales funnel when they are actively looking for your products or services.
- A faster return on investment, especially within the B2B communities. Many people will convert with their first interaction with a PPC ad since they have a stronger intent to purchase.
- Better coordination with your search engine optimization efforts to drive increased visibility for your organization and its offerings.
Our advice? Be sure that the ad platform you choose stays in line with the goals of your business, and best targets your specific audience.
All of this make sense, but sound way too complicated? No problem! We can help. Contact us today, and utilize out highly targeted Facebook advertising services, as well as our affordable PPC Google Ads management services!
