Should you be using Google Ads or Facebook Ads?

If you are looking at a digital marketing campaign then you may be struggling to decide between using Google Ads or Facebook Ads.  You may even be wondering what the difference is between the two and also if you should be using just one of them or both of them.  And if you are going to use just one of them, which one do you choose?

Many people see Google Ads and Facebook Ads as being in competition with one another and indeed the two companies do have this reputation.  But, is it true? Do they offer the same thing? Or can one of them give you something that the other cannot offer?

The truth is that the two companies are often positioned by the media as competitors but nothing is further from the truth.  Both companies offer digital advertising, but they do it in different ways.  And this is why many companies use BOTH for advertising, and not just one.

What do Companies expect from Digital Advertising?

Any company that is using digital advertising wants to achieve maximum visibility online.  They want to reach as many customers as possible, increasing leads and sales and converting traffic to sales.  They want to use the best possible strategies to ensure they reach the right customers and target new customers.  They want to increase sales and business.  And because both platforms offer different functionalities, they want to get the best possible return on their money spent.  

Let’s look at how Google Ads and Facebook Ads differ

Google Ads or Adwords use a pay-per-click strategy. They are the world’s biggest PPC (pay-per-click) advertising platform and are a ‘paid search’ advertising platform. They appear when people use the internet and / or search for a specific product.  A paid search focuses on the targeting of keywords or key phrases. The ‘customer’ types in specific words or phrases in his search queries and a Google Ad will pop up if it is has the same or similar keywords or key phrases. If the user clicks on the Ad, the advertiser pays for the click. If the click converts to a sale, brilliant.  If the click converts to a marketing lead, this is good too.

Google Ads are as good as their keywords or phrases which is why it is so important to use the right words in the ad.

Facebook Ads use a paid social strategy – advertising on a social network.

Facebook Ads are the practice of advertising on a social network. Facebook has the highest number of users out of all the social medial platforms, and is therefore a highly sought after medium for advertisers.  Facebook is used by many companies to do their advertising, and always makes up a part of a Digital Advertising strategy or campaign.  A Facebook Ad will pop up on someone’s Facebook page if Facebook thinks that person will be interested in the product.  Facebook draws information on each user, and knows what each user likes.  Facebook knows their age, gender and interests by what the person ‘likes,’ ‘searches for’ or ‘posts.’  Facebook is therefore not a pay-per-click service, rather a targeted service by knowing what interests the Facebook user may have.

Here is a simple way of differentiating Google Adwords from Facebook Ads.

Google Adwords help you find new customers.

Facebook ads help new customers find you.

GOOGLE ADS

What are strengths of using Google Adwords (paid search)

As above, Google Adwords help you find new customers.  And as also mentioned, Google is the leader in online advertising with over 3.6 billion search queries daily.  If you are on the internet, you use Google.  If you are looking for customers on the internet, you have literally billions of people that you can target.  Of course, you want to target the right customers and that is what Google Adwords will help you do. They will help you reach the right people out of the enormous audience that they have.  They will help you access those people who are looking for your product.

There are two ways of using Google Adwords, PPC or Visual.

Google has two different ways of doing Adwords.  One is via the Google Search network and the other via the Google Display network.  

The Search network includes all of Google as a search engine, whereby advertisers can bid on millions of keywords and key phrases to target the customer, using pay-per-click campaigns.

The Display network offers advertisers the option of visual ads or banners, spanning over 98% of the internet and that are more based on brand awareness and actual marketing.

What are the advantages of Google Ads

Google has a huge reach with over 40 thousand search queries every second and over 1.2 trillion web searches per year.  More people use Google than any other internet platform.  Google Adwords are more popular than any other digital advertising format. Google does not take their places as number one lightly. They are constantly growing, using more sophisticated technology as well as artificial intelligence.  They constantly research what works and how to improve on it.  They do not sit on their laurels.  If you use Google Ads, and you use them correctly, they will work. Their search volumes gets bigger daily, which means that their customer base and potential for advertisers to reach new customers grows daily too.

Google Ads are not expensive

Google Ads are not expensive.  You pay per click, but also bid for your position.  You might be under the impression that if you are up against someone with more money than you, that your ads will ‘come second.’  This is not true.  If you are smart with your Google Ads, and creative, you will get fantastic search engine optimisation.  You only need to understand key words and key phrases.  Basically, it does not matter how small or big your budget is, you only need to understand how to word your ads.  Google has tutorials that will help you and you can use a Digital Marketing agency with experience too.  Google like quality ads and prefer an ad that is relevant to an ad that is poor quality.  A smart advertiser with a high quality ad can easily win a bid against a big budget advertiser who has a poor quality ad.

Its all in the words!

How do Google keywords or phrases work?

Some keywords will cost more than others which is why creativity is important.  If you’re selling honeymoons, the phrase ‘honeymoon holiday’ may be expensive per click.  But if you create a clever keyword or key phrase, your cost may not be high and because of the quality, your clicks will be successful.  ‘Tailored honeymoon holiday’ or’ African honeymoon holiday’ could work better than just honeymoon.  Remember too that when we use the word expensive, no Google Ad is actually expensive, because advertising using Google is very inexpensive.   

Relevance and user experience are the two focal points using Google Ads.  Ask your `, or use the Google Adwords help page if you are doing your own digital advertising.  There are certain metrics that Google classify as important, such as quality, relevance and appeal, that will result in high click-through rates.

Google offer several different Google Ad formats

Google gives you choice.  In the 17 years that Google Ads have been available, they have changed considerably.  The days of ‘text only’ ads being the only option are long gone, although there are still text only ads if that is what you want. But, if you’re looking for choice, you have it. Google give you the option of making your ads more exciting for new or existing customers, by offering add ons.  You can use graphics, you can include reviews, you can have links to your website or your blog.  You can customise your ad in any way, you can use pics that are high-res and also interactive data such as maps.    And as you know, Google will allow you and help you to target certain customers depending on age, gender, hobby, likes or dislikes, and allow you to choose the time your Ads show and the countries that they show.  If you’re a male hairdresser, your Ads can target males in your city only.

Google are constantly working on their ad formats too.  If you’ve been using Google Ads since their inception then you will know how simple they can be, how advanced they can be, and how they constantly improve.  Even when you think it is not possible to improve anymore.

FACEBOOK ADS

What are the strengths of using Facebook Ads (social ads)

Facebook Ads are much newer than Google Ads.  Google Ads have been around for about 17 years, Facebook ads for around 12 years or so.  And while Google Ads are king of the pay-per-click advert, Facebook are the pioneers of the paid-social adverts.  Facebook ads have become an integral part of Digital Marketing campaigns.  Facebook users have grown exponentially as almost everyone today who is on the Internet is on Facebook too.  Facebook has a large audience. Facebook users also share their information, making it easy for Facebook to target the right people with the right ads.

How large is Facebook’s audience?

Facebook has over 1.55 billion monthly users.  That is over one-fifth of the world population! This figure does not count people who have accounts but do not use them; it only counts active Facebook users.  This means that as a social media platform, Facebook is king.  And while Facebook is huge, their strength is that their ads only target customers who have potential.  Facebook does research constantly, as well as customer analytics.  Facebook understand what their users like.

Privacy on Facebook

People on Facebook share their information.  They share their name, age, email, gender, hobbies (bio), likes and dislikes when they sign up.  Thereafter, people share if they are single, in a relationship, getting married, studying, getting a new job or changing their career.  Even when their privacy settings are tight, certain information is still out there.   This means if you are looking at ‘shoes’ via Facebook, Facebook is aware you are looking at shoes.  Your next ads will likely be ads for shoes.  Facebook is smart in that way.  They have brilliant algorithms which work for both the user and the advertiser.

What are the advantages of Facebook ads?

Because Facebook users are putting all their private information out into the ether, it means that your Facebook ads are targeting the right market.  If you are selling cars, your ads will target people who are doing internet searches for cars.  If the person is using Facebook to look for a car, your car ad will definitely pop up on their page.

Facebook allows you to target the right customer.  You can do your Facebook ad so that it specifically reaches the people looking for your product or who you think might be looking for your product.  You can target gender, age, city and country, as well as controlling the time that your ad is out there.  You can also follow your ad, check if it is working, halt the advert or change it mid-ad.

Facebook users also put their religion out there, their politics and their beliefs.  Again, this gives Facebook the unique opportunity to tailor advertising messages towards the user.  One might think that their information is private but on any social media platform, privacy is different to what one might imagine.

Facebook Lookalike Audiences

This is one of the most powerful applications of a Facebook ad.  An advertiser can upload customer information from their own marketing database on to Facebook . Facebook then applies its own data to match the kind of Facebook users that match the profile of the customer’s own users.  Facebook therefore looks at the current customers of the advertiser and finds similar customers from their own database.  This doubles the potential of adverts by targeting Facebook users who have the same interests and behaviour of existing advertisers.

Do Facebook ads work?

Very clearly, the answer is yes.  The number of Facebook advertisers grows daily and the number of people who continuously advertise on Facebook, with success, are huge.  Facebook ads are visual.  They incorporate text with pics or videos and are instantly attractive to the Facebook user.  The ads are high quality and mostly, difficult to resist looking at or clicking on.  The Return Of Investment on Facebook Ads are impressive, with Facebook continuously evaluating the RIO and looking at algorithms.  Facebook ads, and it is easy to create your own, look good and are engaging.  

How affordable is a Facebook ad?

Like Google ads, Facebook ads are super affordable.  You can have a limited budget and still create ads that look good and convey the right message.  And as with Google ads, you can target your own audience, or the audience that you would like.  You can follow their help page which will guide you, step by step, how to create an ad.  If you are good at technology and digital marketing, do your own ad.  If not, hire a digital agency to do your digital marketing.  Either way, the price is affordable and you can choose when, how and where you want the ad to go. Prices of campaigns differ depending on many things – time of the ad, messaging in the ad, visuals, how often you want the ad out there, who you are targeting, etc.  Not unlike Google, you can choose what the ad looks like and who you target.

In short,  Facebook Ads are one of the best-value online advertising solutions.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THEN? GOOGLE ADS OR FACEBOOK ADS?

After reading the above you will have realised that both Google Ads and Facebook Ads are incredibly powerful and can work for every single kind of business, no matter how big or small and no matter the product. It is best not to look at these platforms as an either / or.  Both are affordable yet different.  You may want to use the power of both platforms for your digital marketing campaign.  We think this is a good idea. Digital marketing is effective when done properly and if you make use of both platforms, your message is stronger and consistent.  Use both platforms in conjunction with one another.  Google and Facebook are not enemies, quite the opposite.  They complement one another, and also compliment one another.  Be digital media savvy and use the platforms well, professionally and creatively.  Your return of investment will be high.