Google Ads vs Facebook ads. Which one is the best for your business?

As one of the best digital marketing agencies in Nepal, our clients ask us a lot of questions. Most frequent from the bunch is "Where should I spend most of my marketing budget; Facebook Ads or Google Ads?" and "Which one is best for my business?"

Our answer is pretty much always based on our client’s objectives. We all know by now that there are two major advertising platforms in digital marketing. They are Facebook Ads and Google Ads. Both of these platforms have their own strength, weaknesses and some differences.

Today, we will try to explain both of these mediums and the major differences between them viz. Google Ads vs Facebook Ads. Hoping that it helps you better understand and choose the right advertising platform for your business.

What is Google Ads?

Google is the largest search engine on the planet. In fact, 92% of all Internet searches begin with Google. People go to Google to search for products or services they need; it has become the primary source of information regarding almost anything.

Google displays results based on what people are searching for (keywords). The search results that appear on the first page of Google is based on the relevance of the website and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). 75% of people do not browse beyond the first page. It is becoming more and more critical for businesses to appear ahead of competitors on search results to stay relevant.

Google Ads is Google’s advertising platform for businesses. Google Ads show ads on Google page based on what people are searching for (keywords) or related searches. Even if your business is not in the top of organic search engine result, Google Ads places your website in the first page of the search engine. Since Adwords is purchasing keywords, it only appears when people actually search for the particular term. This entails that the person is potentially seeking the product or service and has a higher probability of converting to a customer.

What is Facebook Ads?

Facebook is one of the best platforms for businesses to reach potential customers. Facebook is continuously growing in user base reaching 2.32 billion monthly active users in 2018. Among the active users, 95.1% of them access Facebook via mobile.

With the changes in Facebook algorithm, Facebook gives less preference to business pages and more preference to personal content. As a result, the organic reach of Facebook business pages has dramatically declined over the years. Organic reach refers the number of people who have seen your post without spending any money. The only way to promote and increase the reach for your business on Facebook is by using Facebook ads.

Moreover, Facebook Ad is popular among all businesses due to its various features such as exceptional targeting and tracking capabilities. With Facebook Ads, your business can directly reach your target audiences’ newsfeed and connect with them. The targeting options are amazing on Facebook. You can create a Facebook ad with different ad formats and apply various ad targeting parameters.

The Four key major differences between these two advertising platforms, Google Ads vs Facebook Ads are described below:

1. User Intention

People use Google with a purpose. They use Google to search for products or services when they actually need it. If you’re using Google Ads, your website will show up in front of people at the exact time when they search for a particular keyword. So, it’s important for you to identify keyword relevant to your website.

Google Ads is favorable for businesses that provide immediate services to their customer. For instance, professional service providers like a dentist, wedding photographer, catering service in town and much more.

Similarly, Google Ads is highly effective for e-commerce products as people search for specific product categories or brands in Google.

On the flip side, Facebook Ads are not intent based. People use Facebook to connect with friends, families and generally for entertainment. They are less likely to be on the platform, seeking a business. Since the audiences on Facebook does not have the intent to purchase, conversions are vastly different compared to that achieved on Google.

Facebook Ads are great when you need to promote your product to a broad range of audience. It allows you to reach diverse demographics that may or may not be actively seeking a product in your sector. For example, if you’re a local restaurant owner, you have a large broader audience from all ethnicity, age groups, profession, and interest. With a little bit of creativity, you can create Facebook ads that are more likely to grab the attention of all these different kind of audiences.

2. Targeting options

Both of these platforms offer various targeting options for businesses. Google Ads is based on keyword-based targeting whereas, Facebook Ads is based on demographics, interest, and behaviour.

The fundamental working principle of Google Ads is a keyword. So, it’s critical to identify keywords that people are searching for that relates to your product/service. You then bid on these keywords, and when a potential customer searches for the exact keyword, your ad will appear before other results on the page. Besides that, Adwords also offers other forms of targeting such as:

• Location and language targeting (target specific cities, zip codes and more)
• Device targeting (target specific devices, networks, mobile, desktop users and many more)
• Audience targeting (based on a wide range of audiences)

On the other side, Facebook Ad is very different. Facebook Ad offers targeting option in forms of demographics (location, age, gender, and languages), interest, behaviours and much more.

Demographics – Target specific audiences based on their Location, Age, Gender, Language, Relationship, Education level and many more.

Interests – Reach specific audiences by looking at their interest activities, the pages they liked and closely related topics.

Behaviours – Aim specific audiences based on their purchase behaviour or intent, device usage and more.

Connections – Reach people who have a special type of connection to your page, app or event. For instance, you can target ads to people who like your page, who used your app and who responded to your event.

3. Ad Formats

Both platforms offer a unique ad format to their viewers. Google Ads are primarily text-based, and the most popular form of ads are Image ads, call only ads, Video ads and shopping ads. Google Ads is favourable for a specific audience that drives specific action (depending upon business goals). When creating an ad, business should be clear about their goals. For instance: selling product, drive visitors to your website, provide contact information and many more.

However, Facebook ads are more creative and more visual. The various options for Facebook ads are Carousel ads, Image ads, Video ads, Slideshows, Canvas ads, Lead ads and Collection ads.

Facebook Ad is great for brands and e-commerce businesses to raise brand awareness and increase a large number of audiences. With Facebook Ads, you can tell a story about your brand and showcase the various products you offer. The ad should be creative and appealing enough so that you can increase the reach and engagement with your brand.

4. Cost

Cost is an important consideration when comparing Google Ads vs Facebook ads. When comparing these two platforms, Google Ads is slightly expensive in comparison to Facebook Ads.

The average cost per click for search ad is $2.32 and display ad is $0.58. Similarly, the average cost per click for Facebook ads is $0.27.

Note: The cost varies widely by industry and the placement of ads in both platforms.

Key Takeaway: Which is better Google Ads vs Facebook Ads?

The first thing before spending money on an ad is understanding your business objective. For instance, if your goal is to increase brand awareness and lead generation, you can choose Facebook ads. Similarly, if your business goal is immediate sales, you might want to choose Google Ads.

If you have a limited budget, you can stick to only one platform. Monitor the results for 3 months. Depending on the result, you can make an adjustment in your marketing strategy.

If the budget isn’t a major concern for your company, you can use both platforms, Google Ads as well as Facebook Ads. Both of them have their own speciality and offer unique benefits. They offer unique targeting options and ad placement for different types of businesses.

The best thing about paid advertising is you can track your result with time. Using various analytical tools, you can track and identify what’s working and what’s not. So, you can make a decision or change your marketing strategy if needed according to your ad performance.

Lone Tree Nepal, is a full service complete digital marketing agency in Nepal. We’re dedicated to providing services based on our client goals and develop strategies to achieve them. Our services include research, web design, content creation, search optimization, social media promotion, search engine marketing, branding, and creatives. Contact us today, for digital marketing services and consultation.

We are a digital marketing agency in Nepal that helps you connect, converse, collaborate and co-create with your target customers. We understand the different avenues of digital marketing in Nepal and also know how to bring it all together.