Facebook Ads vs. Google Ads: Which Should You Be Using?

When it comes to allocating your resources the decision often seems to be whether to invest in Facebook Ads or Google Ads. The media often positions the two as rivals and the fact that they appear to be in direct competition frequently makes it feel like a choice. However, the reality is that most businesses can better achieve their goals by leveraging the advantages of both.

Facebook Ads vs. Google Ads

Google Ads is a PPC advertising platform, the biggest in the world. It uses text-based ads and keyword targeting, allowing users to bid on keywords to try to ensure their ads will appear when those keywords are searched. Facebook Ads uses the way people behave online, as well as their interests, to match them up to businesses. Essentially, Facebook Ads provide a way for customers to find businesses and Google Ads is the other way around.

Why use Google Ads?

• Google gives you access to a huge audience – the search platform handles 40,000+ search queries every second. This audience is only set to grow in size as Google becomes increasingly sophisticated.
• You don’t need a huge budget to do well. It’s the quality and relevance of ads not how big your budget is that Ads focuses on. This is because Google knows that matching users to the most relevant ads – not just those where advertisers have paid a lot – will mean it continues to be the go to search engine.
• Ad formats are evolving. PPC ads in Ads are still text-based but there are a lot of options when it comes to the different features available to make them stand out. For example, sitelinks, location targeting and social proofing such as user reviews provide opportunities to tailor ads to need and you can guarantee that Google will continue to evolve its offering so that it remains relevant.

Why use Facebook Ads?

• Audience granularity. Facebook also provides access to a vast audience of more than 1.55 billion monthly active users and it has become somewhere that people not only share intimate details of their lives but also search for content that aligns with everything from exercise interests to religious beliefs. Facebook has an advantage in that it allows for the creation of “lookalike audiences” that enable advertisers to target a new audience with the same interests and beliefs as an existing one and effectively double reach.
• The visual element. Facebook Ads aren’t just text-based but are very visual too. Video, images and other content can be used to attract attention and, like Google, Facebook is constantly evolving what’s possible and what’s on offer.
• Your money goes further. It’s possible to achieve impressive ROI with Facebook Ads when you consider the potential effectiveness of the ad and the granularity available to advertisers to target ideal audiences. That makes Facebook incredibly good value, even for advertisers on small budgets.

If you’ve been weighing up the question of Facebook Ads vs. Google Ads then you may have been thinking about this in the wrong way – the reality is that most businesses do better with a combination of both.

Get in touch with our Digital Marketing Specialists today on 020 7100 076 to discuss which paid media would work the most effectively for your business.