Today, there are a variety of advertising platforms you can choose from to build brand awareness and boost sales. Facebook Ads and Google Ads are the top pay-per-click advertising platforms that can generate great results if used correctly. Many businesses use both to achieve maximum visibility, drive more leads and sales, and find new customers. However, if your advertising budget is a bit tight, then you may need to choose between the two, so which is the best choice and which platform will produce the best results? The answer to this question depends on various factors. Our experts at Virtual Image have gone ahead and highlighted to basic for you here below.

Intent vs. Non-Intent Based Marketing

Google Ads, with its paid search based offerings, lets business owners target users based on the search query they enter on Google, also known as keywords (or key phrases). People using Google for search are considered to be showing intent to acquire that product or service. This is because the user is actively looking for your product or service (intent-based marketing). Google also has the advantage of Google Shopping. These shopping results show up when people are searching for specific products/services. Google will display product images, reviews, pricing. Contact information and more.

Google has optimized their platform well to deliver the best results to their users and their advertisers. The conversion rates of this intent-based marketing are usually very high since you’re providing something they are actively looking for. Once these campaigns are initiated, your ads enter a bidding round with advertisers who have selected similar keywords. And finally, Google will show the ad that has the highest bid and with the most relevant content.

Facebook, on the other hand, is more of a cold-selling approach. Facebook ad campaigns can target people that may be interested in your products based on their behaviours, patterns, and demographics, but they’re not actively looking for you. They’re usually on Facebook to connect with their friends and family or to entertain themselves. Therefore, you have to capture their attention (with high quality visuals) and encourage them to perform an action such as buy or signup.

To sum it up, Google Ads is an excellent way for you to find new customers. Facebook Ads gives you the tools to help your ideal customers find you.

Advantages of Google Ads

There are many reasons why you would choose Google as your advertising platform. For starters, Google Ads provides access to an enormous audience. Google, the world’s most popular and commonly used search engine, generates more than 3.5 billion searches daily. This gives advertisers an immense reach and opportunity to advertise to millions (or even billions) of potential customers. 

Google emphasizes on the quality and relevance of your ads.You don’t need to have the largest advertising budget to have a successful campaign. Because Google wants to offer the best user experience possible, they reward ads that are relevant to users’ search queries. As long as your ads are relevant, high quality, and optimized, you likely won’t have to bid as high as advertisers with low-quality ads and no SEO (search engine optimization).

Google’s wide range of ad formats may be another reason to advertise on the platform. Even though PPC ads in Google Ads are text-based, you can utilize various features on the platform that allow you to make your ads more captivating and appealing to prospective customers. You can use ad extensions, site links, location targeting, shopping ads, and social proofs (ex. user reviews). Another advantage of this advertising platform is your ability to run Google Ads in combination with Google Ad Manager to maximize your ROI.

The Advantages of Facebook Ads

Facebook also provides many benefits to advertising on its platform. Similar to Google, Facebook houses a large user base, with more than 2.4 billion monthly active users worldwide. Even with Facebook’s enormous audience, you can target the specific group(s) that is likely to make a purchase or do business with you.

Additionally, Facebook brings a visual approach to advertising. Unlike Google’s text-based PPC platform, Facebook ads are visual in nature. They appear to be native to the platform, as they seamlessly blend with the videos, photos, and other visual content visible in users’ feeds. Facebook gives you the ability to create compelling, high-quality ads that grab attention, build interest, and receive clicks.

Another benefit to Facebook advertising is its user-friendly ad-creation dashboard. Using Facebook’s Ads Manager, you can easily build ads by clicking the “Create” button in your account dashboard. Although Facebook advertising can become more complicated, as it offers many different ad types, ad placements, and audience targeting options, beginners can still use the platform without difficulty. Your Facebook Ads will also run simultaneously on Instagram if you wish to integrate the two platforms (FYI: Facebook owns Instagram).

ROI: Google vs. Facebook

While Facebook advertising can produce really good ROI, Google Ads have been shown to produce better results, with a lower cost per conversion. With Google Ads, you are more likely to achieve more sales while using a lesser ad spend, which is perhaps because users on Google typically have a higher purchase intent than users on Facebook. 

Deciding between Google Ads and Facebook will depend on your preference and goals. If you value more specific targeting options, an easy-to-use ad-creation interface, and increased brand awareness, then Facebook is likely the better option for you. If you want a platform that targets users with high purchase intent, rewards high-quality ads, and helps you increase sales, then Google Ads is the way to go.

No matter which platform you choose to advertise your business, be sure to contact us at Virtual Image. We are Facebook Ad experts and official Google partners after all!