Facebook Ads and Google Ads are great advertising platforms and one option can be better than the other depending on your business goals, marketing budget and target audience. Before getting into which platform works best for your business, it's essential to understand the difference between the two.
The biggest advantage that Facebook has over Google is collecting data, which allows businesses to understand users' social behaviour. The more people engage and like pages, the more you understand their interests, what ads they are more likely to click and what products they are more likely to purchase.
Google Ads became one of the most popular pay-per-click advertising platforms, which allows marketers to pay only when a user clicks on the ad. When you search for a product or service, Google shows relevant queries as well as location-based results.
The first concern of any business is the cost associated with every form of advertising. Research suggests that, on average, a cost-per-click (CPC) on Google Ads depends on the industry and can range between £1-£7. Facebook Ads are cheaper because, on average, you can pay between £0.4-£4 for a cost-per-click, again depending on the industry.
The costs for each platform depend on its placement as well. For example, the ads on Instagram's feed are more expensive than on Facebook's.
Google is great at adding users in the buying cycle and reaching them at their purchasing stage. Facebook helps to build awareness around your brand but does not reach the user at their purchasing decision.
Another guideline to help determine your ROI campaign is the cost-per-action (CPA). It depends on how well-targeted the ads are as well as your industry. For example, the average CPA for Facebook can be as little as £7 and reach up to £50. But, as mentioned before, Google Ads are more expensive, which means the average CPA can be a minimum of £45 and reach £110.
To answer the main question of which platform is cheaper, Facebook Ads will always lead and is a preferred advertising channel across startups and small businesses.
One of the main marketing goals is to be able to reach a large population size. Both Facebook and Google handle high traffic every second. For example, Google processes over 3.5 billion searches every day while there are 2.7 billion monthly active users navigating on Facebook.
The numbers are impressive but it won't help your business if you don't consider your user persona's habits. Ask yourself on which platform do they spend most of the time or whether they search for your product on social or through search engines.
For example, if you launched a new product or service it will be worth advertising on Facebook first. It will spread the word through the data that the social platform captures from its active users. Meanwhile, Google is the best option if your product has a broader search.
Both Facebook and Google Ads give you the option to target by location, income level, age and gender. But if you're looking for more advanced options, Facebook is a better option.
Facebook allows you to specify the interests and behaviour of your targeted audience, which can be very useful to market a niche business. This platform has a powerful tool for matching the existing data about customers to similar users. It's called lookalike audiences and comes in very handy for advertisers.
Facebook gives a lot of room for creativity and has a stronger visual impact. You can capture users' attention through carousels, short videos or images. If you operate an ecommerce website, Facebook Ads will be a better option.
If your business uses Google Ads your customer will most probably look at SERPs. It will display a small block of text and information, which is a limited option when you're trying to be different from your competitors.
Ask yourself whether users are searching for your product and what kind of business you own. That will help to understand your buyer's intent and which platform is worth considering. Google Ads always had a great advantage over Facebook Ads.
For example, search ads place your business in front whenever you need a specific service or product. Whereas, if a user saw your Facebook Ad a few weeks ago, they won't remember it. That will make Google a better option for getting leads to convert.
Facebook Ads are only effective for quick conversions for certain products, otherwise, users will see your product and go away to find out more about your business and read reviews. With that in mind, if you want to improve brand awareness then Facebook is the winner.
To help you answer this question, first, you should define your campaign goals. If your business wants fast results then Google Ads will work better. Facebook Ads will help to increase your brand awareness and reach a more targeted audience.
You should consider the industry and budget that you want to allocate. As mentioned earlier, some industries have a higher CPC and CPA, and they can be more effective on selling via one platform versus the other. That also means that the costs will always be higher on Google Ads.
Think of your targeted audience and how your business wants to reach them. If you have a new product with a niche user, Facebook works better. Google is better when the user searches for a common product or service.
To make sure that you leverage the power of both PPC advertising options, it's essential to track your campaign results and analyse whether Google Ads or Facebook Ads work better for your business.
If you're looking for more advice on how to manage, create and track these ads we'd recommend one of our courses trained by expert professionals either online or in our centre near London Bridge.
by Cristina Moraru | 27 Sep 23