This is a common question we get from our clients: ‘Which one do you think works the best for us: Facebook Ad or Google Ad?’
The answer is far more complicated than a simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’. Facebook Ads and Google Ads are both effective at what they do – bringing in high ROIs. But when we want to weigh in and choose one among these two, we need to consider the working of these two platforms, your business, and many more factors to decide.
In this blog, our Houston SEO and PPC experts provide valuable insights on choosing the best online ad platform and the practical ways to choose.
How Do Google Ads Work?
Google Ads, formerly known as Google AdWords, is one of the biggest pay-per-click advertising platforms you can ever find. If you’re wondering how pay per click works, let’s explain.
The advertisers of the ad will only have to pay Google every time someone clicks on the ad. The advertisers have to bid for the particular cost they want to pay to get the ad placed.
Google is not the only one using pay-per-click for creating ad platforms. Most of the online ad providing services you find online work with the pay per click platform.
So, what makes Google special?
The vast market share Google search engine has in countries from all around the world.
In a recent report by Oberlo, Google is found to have a whopping 91% market share among all search engines in the world and the second one, Bing, with around 2.5% is nowhere near close.
So, if you plan to place online ads in search engines, Google Ads is the best option.
Google Ads are the ones that you see on top of the search engine results. For most searches, you’ll first come across the ads for the search term you’ve entered and the organic results will be present after that. But that’s not the only place you can find Google Ads.
You can find Google Ads:
- Above or below the Google search results
- In Google search partners
- In Google Maps
- In YouTube
- In Google Display Network comprising of millions of websites
How Do Facebook Ads Work?
Facebook is one of the top social media platforms used by people of all ages. So, when you want to reach your social media audience through paid ads, choosing Facebook is a no-brainer.
In recent research conducted in January 2021, Facebook is the most-used social media platform in the world with the most monthly active users.
As so many individuals and businesses are active on Facebook, it can become hard for companies to get heard among the noise. This is why Facebook Ads are a great choice to generate revenue and get heard.
Facebook Ads work in the same pay per click model as Google, meaning you’ll have to pay a specific price for every click made on the ad placed on Facebook.
Your Facebook Ads can appear in several places on the platform:
- Facebook Newsfeed
- Instagram Feed
- The Facebook right column in the Feed
- Instagram Stories
- Facebook Stories
- Messenger Inbox
What’s the Difference Between Google Ads and Facebook Ads?
There are so many differences between these two, some are very fundamental in the way they operate.
Our experts at our digital marketing agency explain a clear distinction between these two ads:
Basic Intent
Google Ads is top when it comes to paid search engine ads. On the other hand, Facebook is a popular one among the paid social media ads.
This basic intent is necessary for brands to understand how the audience sees the ads on both these platforms.
The Setting of the Ads
In Google Ads, you bid on the keywords you want to place your ads on Google’s search engine. This would mean that your ads will only show up for the audience searching with that particular keyword.
With Facebook Ads, you get to choose the target audience based on a set of interests, demography and other factors and show your ads to them. This set of audience may or may not be interested in your ads and it’s utterly dependent on the target characteristics you choose.
When we look at Google Ads, you can pick to cater to a particular set of people, including the location. Say, we’re targeting clients to hire for our digital marketing agency in Houston. We can set our ad keywords to ‘digital marketing agency Houston’ or ‘Houston SEO services’ to target only those serious audiences. While the click rates can be less, the return on the clicks have a chance to be very high.
So, when we consider the audience intent, Google Ads has a better chance of converting with less investment than Facebook Ads.
Formatting Options
Facebook Ads have a ton of formatting choices like adding videos, images, CTAs, and other formats to design the ads the way you want to.
But Google Ads have very limited format options and majorly rely on content more than images or videos.
The Big Question: Which Generates High ROI?
While both Facebook Ads and Google Ads are great platforms to increase exposure and get good returns, each of them has its pros and cons.
It boils down to the type of business you have, how knowledgeable you’re about your target audience and how well-versed you’re in creating online ads. If you’re confused about the choices, it’s best to go with Google Ads.
If you’re an expert in understanding the social behaviours of the market and targeting your audience, then you can give Facebook Ads a try.
There’s no clear winner in the debate and it depends wholly on your business and your choice. If you want to get more clarity about which platform suits you the best, you can reach out to our Houston SEO experts here.
