If you are a small business and looking to grow post-pandemic, you’ve probably heard of paid ads. After some deliberation, you’re still wondering which route to go for between Google PPC, Google Shopping, and Facebook Ads. So you are considering Google vs Facebook Ads.
Google is the world’s most popular and widely used search engine. On the other hand, Facebook has the highest number of monthly active users of any social network. While Google Ads help you find new customers, paid social ads on Facebook helps customers find you.
So, what exactly are the pros and cons of Google vs Facebook Ads and which websites are they best used for?
Google PPC
A Google PPC ad is a text-based result that you can see below when you type a search query. This typically ranks ahead of organic so that Google can monetise the traffic for this keyword.
Pros
- You can reach a massive audience as more than five billion searches are conducted on Google every day.
- Maximize ROI thanks to the different bidding strategies
- Using the Google AdWords keyword tool ensures your keywords are always relevant.
- Demographic targeting options.
- You only pay for the clicks so you can stay within your budget.
- Analytics for easy campaign tweaking.
- Wide variety of ad formats.
- Quick and easy setup.
Cons
- Many people trust natural results over ads.
- Better suited for experts. Understanding the basics will only get you so far.
- High-value keywords are very competitive.
- Google PPC is not a replacement for inbound marketing.
- While Google ads are generally cheaper than other advertising, costs can add up fast if you are not careful.
- Strict policies.
Best For
Google PPC is fantastic for running lead generation campaigns. These are advertising campaigns intended on generating relevant, high-quality links for a business. Businesses with a long sales process, such as roofing, real estate, and insurance rely on lead generation campaigns to supply their salesmen with potential sales opportunities.
Lead generation campaigns use landing pages designed to capture a visitor’s contact information. For the best results, most landing pages are programmed to give a reward, for example, a free quote, in exchange for a visitor’s information.
When done correctly, lead campaigns are the easiest types of ads to generate a positive ROI. If you want to dive deeper, we have also made a detailed guide on the essential elements of a high-converting landing page.
Google Shopping
These are similar to Google PPC ads but instead of showing text, it shows a scrollable image of potential products.
Pros
- You get to increase your business exposure, across multiple networks, with a simple setup.
- Generate better-qualified leads with high purchase intent.
- Shopping Ads will generally perform better than your text-based ads.
- Similar to Google ads, you only pay when someone clicks your ad.
- Much simpler to manage as the keyword research process is eliminated.
- Much broader reach as Google is selecting the keywords through which to show your products.
Cons
- You have no full control over your advertising efforts.
- No access to search-term information. You can’t include negative keywords.
- No audience data.
- You are unable to change your goals based on the real-time data.
- There is no way to target specific products within one campaign.
Best For
Just as its name implies, Google Shopping allows users to easily find products online and compare prices between different vendors.
Whether you are running a fashion brand, a high-ticket eCommerce business, or a general dropshipping store, Google Shopping has the potential to generate consistent sales for you. It’s a fantastic addition to your marketing strategy since it does not require your attention every day (as opposed to Facebook Ads).
Shopping ads allow potential customers to find your products on Google quickly and conveniently. The best part of it all is that you can show shoppers what your products look like and the price before they even land on your website.
Even better, since this is still a newish marketing strategy, it is cheaper and less competitive than Google PPC and Facebook.
Facebook Ads
Unlike Google PPC and Shopping, Facebook is interruption vs search based meaning that you are presented with the ad even if you are not directly searching for it. An example is seen below.
Pros
- Amazing targeting capabilities. You can even target your competitor’s fans.
- Create ads that cater to your specific objectives.
- You don’t need a website of your own.
- Largest social platform.
- Facebook uses trusted algorithms and methods.
- Microtargeting ability.
- Re-targeting.
- Your adverts could go viral, which means a lot of exposure at no extra cost.
- Widest variety of ad formats
Cons
- Absence of Organic Views. Only a small percentage of your audience will see your organic posts.
- You need a sizable budget to get your desired results.
- Metrics aren’t always accurate.
- Users have to log in to see your ads. It is not the case for Google PPC and Google Shopping.
- You might be advertising to dormant or fake profiles.
- It is a social network, so your conversion rate might be lower. You might be reaching a wider network, but they are not actively searching for your product.
Best For
Organic traffic is almost nonexistent on Facebook. To make any significant sales on Facebook, you need to create highly targeted ads. So, who can benefit the most from Facebook Ads? Well, single product dropshipping stores. They could go viral.
As mentioned in the cons above, your conversion rate when using Facebook ads might be lower than Google Ads, but Facebook has an ace up its sleeve. People can share your post on Facebook. Imagine sharing ads you found on the Google SERP?
This makes it a lucrative venture for one-product dropshipping stores, especially if the product in question has a viral appeal. Be sure you also choose the correct domain name for your store.
Conclusion
Now that we know the pros and cons of Google vs Facebook Ads, which one should you go for?
All three platforms are powerful and could lead to massive gains in your business when used correctly. While people insist on pitting Google Ads against Facebook Ads, the platforms are best used in concert to harness the strengths of each respective platform. The one commonality is that they enable a data-driven approach to sales allowing you to tweak and adjust your campaigns depending on their current performance.
Using your collected data interchangeably between Google and Facebook is a great cross-platform hack that could result in a major ROI impact on your business. This is especially true if you are looking to build an ecommerce site that can market to a broad audience.
If you’re only interested in one platform, it all comes down to your business goals and what you intend on achieving. Google Ads might work for you if you’re looking for leads in the buying process, while Facebook works wonders if your aim is increasing brand awareness.
