When it comes to paid advertising, there’s a lot of opportunities to be had. And while there’s a lot of power in both Facebook and Google ads, they work in very different ways, leaving business owners questioning: Which one should I be investing in?
To break it down for you, it’s first going to depend on your business goals, your target audience, and your marketing strategy.
But what’s the difference between them?
The key difference between Facebook ads and Google ads
At their core, Facebook and Google ads serve a very different purpose to one another, and that is;
- Facebook ads are good for what we call, “disruptive marketing”. This means putting your product or service directly in front of people who aren’t actively searching for it but they might be interested.
- Google ads are “intent-based marketing” which means showing ads to people who are actively searching for a solution to their problems.
The easiest way to think of them is:
- Facebook ads are like advertising billboards that you put around hoping you’ll get people’s attention and more sales.
- Google ads are like adverts you place in front of your store; the people who’ll see them are already outside looking for what you offer.
When to use Facebook ads
Facebook ads are best for:
- Raising brand awareness and demand.
- E-commerce products and impulse purchases.
- Targeting people with specific interests and/or behaviours.
- Retargeting previous visitors/customers from your website.
The way Facebook ads work is on a detailed targeting system. This means that you can define your audience based on demographic, interests, behaviours, and past interactions with your website. This is what makes Facebook ads incredibly powerful for reaching new customers because you’re targeting people who didn’t even know they needed your product yet.
The benefits of Facebook ads:
- You can make them highly visual which is great for branding.
- You can target people in a laser-focused way by creating custom audiences, lookalike audiences, and retargeting.
- They’re affordable with a lower cost per click (CPC) than Google in most industries.
- They work well for impulse buys (B2C and e-commerce).
The downside to Facebook ads:
- The people you’re targeting aren’t actively searching for what you’re offering; they’re scrolling for entertainment, not necessarily looking to buy.
- They can cause ‘ad fatigue’ if they’re not refreshed often as people tend to tune out of repetitive ads.
- iOS privacy updates can reduce tracking ability, especially for retargeting.
When to use Google ads
Google ads are best for:
- Generating leads and high-intent purchases.
- Local businesses and service providers.
- Businesses with a clear solution to a problem.
- Capturing traffic from people who are already searching.
Unlike Facebook ads, Google ads are based on keywords; you bid on specific search terms people type into Google. When someone searches for a product or service, your ad appears at the top of the results page.
The benefits of Google ads:
- You’re directly targeting users who are actively searching for what you offer.
- There’s a faster conversion rate for service providers, local businesses, and B2B.
- There’s a variety of ad types to choose from such as search ads, display ads, YouTube ads, and shopping ads.
- They work for businesses of all sizes; whether you’re a plumber or a global e-commerce store, they’re just as effective.
The downside to Google ads:
- There’s higher competition which makes it more expensive per click, especially for competitive keywords.
- There’s a lot of learning involved as Google ads require a solid keyword strategy and landing page optimisation.
- They don’t build brand awareness like Facebook ads do.
So, which ad type should you choose?
Go with Facebook ads if you:
- Need to build brand awareness to your business.
- You have a product people can impulse-buy (fashion, beauty, trending items).
- You want to retarget people who have visited your website.
- You need to rely on strong visual content to showcase your product (video, carousel, storytelling).
Go with Google ads if you:
- Offer a high-intent service such as legal, medical, or home services.
- You want leads from people who are ready to buy what you offer.
- You have a local business that people search for (i.e. dentists near me).
- You want consistent inbound traffic.
What’s the best strategy we’d recommend to you?
To achieve maximum results, we’d always recommend combining both Facebook and Google ads together. Here’s how:
- Use Facebook ads for brand awareness and demand generation.
- Retarget website visitors with Google ads.
- Capture high-intent search traffic from Google.
This full-funnel approach will help ensure you’re reaching cold, warm, and hot audiences across different platforms.
For example:
E-commerce stores: Run Facebook ads to drive traffic to your pages > then use Google ads to capture the high-intent buyers who are searching for the product.
Local plumber: Use Google ads to appear when someone searches “plumbers near me” > then retarget the website visitors with Facebook ads for long-term marketing.
A final word of advice from us
If you want fast conversions, go with Google ads.
If you want to raise brand awareness and build an audience, go with Facebook ads.
If you want to scale to the max, use both together.
Need help figuring out the right strategy for your business? We specialise in creating high-performing ad campaigns that drive real results.
Why not book a free marketing audit with us and see what works best for you?
