If you’re serious about taking your business to the next level, you might be asking yourself.
Is it better to advertise on Google or Facebook? As well as what is the difference between Google ads and Facebook ads and why do some brands choose Google, others choose Facebook and some choose both?
In most cases to determine which is better, Facebook ads or Google AdWords, we need to have a solid understanding of the difference between Google advertising and Facebook advertising.
Social Traffic vs Search Traffic?
When deciding which platform is better you have to truly understand the use cases of both platforms and what each user (stakeholder) uses the platform for. This will dictate your strategy and success on each platform. Google users are search traffic based & Facebook users are social traffic based.
Google Ads
Google Ads are a search-based platform showing ads based on Keywords. Meaning ads are shown to people looking for specific items or very closely related items to the search. This type of user (stakeholder) is using this platform “actively looking” for your product or solution and is more cognitively aware of the problem they are looking to be fixed. This gives you a higher chance of being closer to a sale.
If you are actually searching on google for “blue light blocking glasses” you will see ads related to blue light blocking glasses. Google ads are shown to people that are already intending to buy or looking for items. So the ads are usually very relevant to the search.
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads are different. Facebook ads are based on the premise of Social traffic. Users (stakeholders) of this social platform use this application to connect with friends, follow thought leaders/niche leaders, & consume content they find appealing. So when creating ads for this platform, you must keep in mind that these users are not in an active buying state and are typically in the mood to be sold too.
But good Facebook advertisers know how to interrupt the user and grab their attention in this attention-deficit world we currently live in. They work on the method called interruption marketing. Meaning the ad is actually interrupting your social media time as you are not on the platform actively looking for items.
How Advertising Cost Is Judged On Both Platforms
Facebook ads charges advertisers based on the cost-per-thousand CPM vs Google charges on the cost-per-click CPC. But both platforms are pay-per-click PPC platforms yet both judge the profitability and return-on-ad-spend ROAS on different success factors.
Facebook holds a lot of data on its users, and advertisers utilize that data to show you ads related to what you are interested in.
If you have recently been browsing websites or doing research on blue light blocking glasses, Facebook gets access to that data and therefore the advertiser’s target interests similar to what you are searching and that is how ads related to what you are searching for show up on your Facebook feed.
The Goods & Bads Of Both
There are positives and negatives to both platforms, so let’s dive into Facebook Ads vs Google Ads.
Google Ads are very specific to what someone is searching for so typically they will have a higher return on ad spend compared to Facebook Ads as the ad will only show up if people are searching for specific keywords.
Google Ads are great for specific or niched products that have low competition. A negative of Google Ads is that you have a limited budget as there are only so many people at one time actually actively searching for your related keywords you are advertising for. Another negative is you can only convey your product or service with words on Google.
Facebook has a much larger potential buyer pool. Meaning you can have much larger budgets on Facebook and acquire many more customers compared to Google. But typically Facebook Ads will have a lower return on ad spend compared to Google Ads.
Facebook allows you to show images and videos so you are able to showcase your brand much easier compared to Google. You can show customers using your products, how the product works and even show your brand message.
The common theme in the marketing world is: Facebook knows what your audience is interested in, Google knows what your audience searches for.
The Verdict
So ultimately is it better to advertise on Facebook than Google Ads?
The deciding factor in this question is what is the strategy of the brand & eCommerce brands should consider whether they want to be considered a brand or a retailer.
Facebook ads are better for brands that want to establish brand equity in the minds of prospects. If you have a trending or non-trending product, great advertising can drive volume to your sales pipeline via social traffic. If you want to take the retail/e-tail approach and have huge product SKU’s with no huge investment in content creation & brand building then you’re better off on Google Ads. Unless the brand has a huge product skew of 100+ products which requires all of the products to be simultaneously advertised to reach significant sales volume and you don’t have an in-house team dedicated to being your creative production team for your top-selling products. This specific Google ads approach is better for retail/e-tailing brands instead of lifestyle brands with less than 100 products.
But there is merit to running both platforms at the same time. If you are looking to scale a brand to higher levels of spend, revenue, and profits Facebook is the way to do that. If you are looking for higher returns on every dollar spent with lower ad budgets use Google Ads.
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