06/09/2020
Which will get you a better ROI?
Google Ads vs Facebook Ads?
As digital marketing experts, weāve been asked this question by many of clients.
āSo Google Ads vs Facebook Ads, which is better for my business?ā
And almost every time we have a similar response ā it depends!
Both are great, and yes one can be better than the other depending on your business, your audience, and your goals.
Letās discuss more in details for your better understanding.
We understand that small businesses often have a limited marketing budget and deciding where to use their ad spend dollars can be extremely challenging. Let alone completely understanding the difference between Google Ads vs Facebook Ads. Which is why we are taking it upon ourselves to solve and put out some clarity to this debate once and for all. And in the process, help fellow business owners decide which one gets the best return on their marketing investment.
Before jumping straight to the part where we tell you which one gets you a better ROI in the epic battle of Google Ads vs Facebook Ads, letās start by looking at some of the main differences between the two.
What are Google Ads?
The advances in technology over the years has given us as marketers and even consumers more choices than we could have possibly imagined in our lifetime. As a result, it has changed how we find, deliver, and receive information. It has even changed how to shop for and purchase products today.
One such internet company who has not only embraced change but helped cultivate it is Google. Founded in 1998, Google is a search engine that is used by nearly 70% of online users to search for anything and everything under the sun. Literally. Thousands of best results relating to products, tips, videos, local businesses and much more in a fraction of a second. Google today processes more than 40,000 search queries every second, more than 3 billion per day and a little over a trillion every year. And it has shown this consistent growth since the early 2000. Imagine how this has and will continue to change the advertising landscape.
What are Facebook Ads?
If Google Ads are popularly referred to as paid search, then Facebook Ads most definitely have been given the title of paid social. Changing consumer behaviors and patterns have undeniably given rise to social media giants that let consumers connect with their friends, voice concerns about their experiences, and engage with topics and businesses they like.
In a previous article, we explained why business owners need to include Facebook advertising in their marketing plans. We highlight how Facebook has become the social powerhouse today with 2.27 billion monthly active users (and counting).
Setting an example for why Facebook ads are so popular among advertisers and business owners. Boasting such impressive user data, it is of no surprise that last year alone, Facebook Ads accounted for 25% of all online ad spend.
Probably the biggest advantage of Facebook over Google is the fact that it knows our social behavior. We may not be fully aware of it but we subconsciously reveal information on Facebook about ourselves more than what we intend to.
Yes, Facebook collects a lot of data. Maybe more than you even realize. The pages you like, topics you engage in, your friends, your birth date, your current location, your vacation in 2018 and so on. Imagine what value can such a data bank created for advertisers looking to target specific users. And these emotions, our behavior and what we like has a huge impact on our purchasing decision.
Google Ads vs Facebook Ads ā How They Work
Whatās the difference between Facebook Ads and Google Ads?
The main difference is how products/services are shown to consumers. Facebook shows ads to users based on their interests, while Google shows relevant ads to those who are specifically searching for a product. In simple terms, Facebook tends to focus on brand outreach, while Google focuses on lead conversion.
Letās explore both in a little more detail.
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. Primarily text based, these ads are aimed at showing relevant promoted results to users that can help them in their search further.
From a userās point of view, when they perform a Google search for a particular keyword, they are shown pages of results in usually less than one second. But at the start of each search result page, the initial few listings (the ones with the tag āAdā on them as seen below) are the promoted listings that advertisers have paid to showcase when that particular keyword is searched.
From an advertiserās point of view, the Google Ad platform lets them create campaigns that will only appear when users search a keyword that they want to advertise for. For an even more targeted approach, local businesses can target people searching for their keywords in specific geographic region. That way they donāt waste paid clicks on a customer in Wyoming who will probably never visit their mechanic shop in Florida.
Once these campaigns are set up, 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. Of course, there is an army of tools Google provides to set up these campaigns but these are the basics you need to know.
Facebook Ads on the other hand, lets you target your ad to people based on the behaviors and patterns you choose as a targeting profile on its platform. Unlike Google Ads, it is not based on a userās search query. Not only does it provide a wide range of targeting options based on demographics, it also lets an advertiser target users based on their behaviors, likes, and dislikes.
For these reasons, you need to make sure you truly know your customer. If you need help figuring this out, one of our social media advertising experts can put together a customer avatar profile for you.
The below image shows an example of the different ad formats available in Facebook Ads. Choose different display formats (image, video, carousel) and placements.
What Exactly is the ROI for Google Ads vs Facebook Ads? How Do We Determine It?
There was a time when traditional channels like print ads were the go-to-market strategy for business owners. Relying on mass communications in local newspapers and then hoping that someone sees their ad and visits them to make a purchase. Not knowing for sure how effective their recent ad campaign was.
We have come a long way from those times and today business owners and advertisers have advanced digital tools at their disposal. The newer advertising technologies lets them promote their businesses in different ad formats all while targeting specific customers.
It gets betterā¦
Computer science and data analytics has made it possible to track these campaigns and count conversions down to the very hour that they occur. It is wonderful how advertising platforms tag each and every visit to your website that happen through the ads. Further, the tag follows them even while they make a purchase or bounce off. This level of detail means there is more data than ever before to help you optimize your campaignās performance.
We at NLDMA Marketing, have technical experts that love taking on this challenge. We track conversions on a daily basis and explain to business owners how their campaigns are performing.
Moreover, we also help our clients put codes and scripts on their websites that capture website visitors. We then create remarketing campaigns on both Google Ads and Facebook Ads targeting people who have visited our website landing pages before. The ability to retarget those past visitors is when the real ROI gets rolling. Because now, you are not only sending out touches to users once and hoping that they purchase from you. Instead, you are retargeting everyone who visited your website but did not convert.
Testing Google Ads vs Facebook Ads
So, which one finally generates a better ROI? And make a hard choice simple.
For a business owner, the debate on Facebook Ads vs Google Ads boils down to one thing and one thing only ā which of the two choices will provide the most profit? And we completely understand that.
For this reason, we decided to conduct a test of our own and then let our opinions be known. The test subject we set out to study was a local gym business. The client came to us with the primary business objective of increasing memberships to the gym. And a secondary objective of increasing awareness of his new business.
We set up two campaigns and ran them for 30 days to gauge the market for the product before we presented our recommendations. The below two tables is what our campaigns achieved at the end of this test period.
Final Thoughts
Google Ads will help you find new customers right away and in the process, give you an instant return on your marketing investment. While Facebook Ads will help new customers find and explore you. And this way give you a better ROI in the long run.
