Online marketing comes in many different forms and two forms you are most likely to encounter are Google Ads and Facebook Ads. What Is the Difference between Google Ads and Facebook Ads? They are very similar in key ways, particularly in the fact that both are forms of Pay Per Click (PPC) advertising.
Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are two of the most popular PPC (pay per click) advertising programs. Both services offer the customer more options than other PPC advertising programs. Plus, both help customers automatically set up scripts and codes on their websites which capture site visitors’ demographics. They then can generate corresponding comment marketing campaigns on both Google AdWords and Facebook Ads, targeting those who have already visited site landing pages in the past.
But, which one is more effective?
To answer this, it helps to understand how Google AdWords and Facebook Ads differ from one another. First, on a basic level, the two social networking sites provide similar pay-per-click advertising opportunities for businesses. In Facebook’s case, it uses its application program for per click advertising and allows marketers to create custom advertisements based on user demographics and interests.
What Is the Difference between Google Ads and Facebook Ads
On the other hand, Google AdWords uses the Google Search Network and Google Content Network to deliver advertisements to users. The key difference here lies in how advertisers target their keywords. Google AdWords lets advertisers choose from a list of words or phrases relevant to their target market, which Google Search Network does not.
The advertiser can specify these keywords by including them in the title, description, and body of the advertisement, and he or she can also control the choice of keywords through the ad’s targeting options.
These options control the amount of money the advertiser will pay for each click and also enable him or her to target his or her ads to specific geographic areas or key demographics.
Despite their similarities, there are also differences between the two and here we take a look at what those differences are. But first, let’s have a look at how they work and how they compare to traditional methods.
How Does It Work?
With PPC advertising, your ads are displayed on the screen on Google search results, websites, or on social media sites like Facebook.
Although your ads are being displayed, you won’t pay a penny until somebody clicks on your ad. This, along with some other factors, means that PPC advertising has some significant benefits over traditional advertising methods like TV ads or billboards. These benefits include:
- More Cost Efficient: You don’t need to be concerned about the countless people who see your ad without clicking on it – you don’t pay for those ads. This makes your adverts far more cost-efficient.
- Better Targeting: Imagine you paid tens of thousands of dollars for advertising space on a billboard in a prime location. No doubt a huge number of people will see the ad, but how many will have the slightest interest? The realistic answer is: not many. With PPC click advertising, however, your ad is much more likely to be seen by the right people.
- More Affordable: A billboard or TV advert can be very expensive. The cost of each click from PPC advertising, however, is usually just a few cents. Not only that but each ad will be displayed in a prominent position, helping you to advertise on an equal footing alongside the big players.
- More Flexibility: With traditional advertising, you would typically pay a set price to advertise for a given length of time. With PPC advertising, you can determine how much you spend daily. This makes it more affordable because there are no high up-front costs. It also means you are not tied in and you can limit your spend if the campaign is not working as you hoped.
What is Interruption Marketing?
One of the main differences between the two is that Google Ads are search-based, where Facebook ads are ‘interruption marketing’ (also known as outbound marketing).
What is Interruption Marketing? When somebody finds something on Google it is because they have actively looked for it. Facebook Ads are different in that your ads are shown even if the people who see them were not looking for your products/services at the time. This creates a fundamental difference in how the two should be used.
Should I Use Facebook Ads or Google Ads?
The differences between Google Ads and Facebook ads mean that each one is better suited to achieving different goals.
- Google Ads: Google Ads is best for people who want to get the attention of people who are actively looking for your products/services. It is very effective at helping the right people find you and generating revenue.
- Facebook Ads: Facebook ads are a lot more visible – people will see them even when watching cute kitten videos. While this does mean that people are less likely to click on the ads, it also means that Facebook Ads are very effective at generating awareness of your brand. This means a lot more people get to know about your company plus, of course, it will help generate revenue.
Furthermore, Facebook offers advertisers a wide variety of advertising formats, which Google AdWords does not offer. The biggest difference between the two platforms is that Facebook allows advertisers to manage ad placements more precisely, and advertisers have the ability to manage their performance in a more interactive way. However, the main differences end there. The Facebook platform allows you to let customers “like” your page, follow your posts, and send you messages, which enables you to better communicate with your audience.
So now we turn to Google AdWords and Facebook Ads.
Google AdWords is designed for online advertisements. Its basic premise is that you bid on a keyword or phrase, and Google Ads lets you specify the maximum amount you are willing to spend on your advertisement. Google AdWords allows you to define your budget so that you can choose the format in which you want to advertise. It also allows you to track the performance of your campaign in real-time, so you can make any necessary changes to improve upon it.
The big differentiators between Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are the way they track their results and the targeting capabilities they offer. Google does not allow you to target specific age groups, genders, or demographics, whereas on Facebook you can target anyone who has chosen to connect with you through the platform, regardless of age, gender, or even demographics.
Conclusion
While it is very forgivable to ask which of Google Ads and Facebook Ads you should use, it’s often not the question you should be asking. Instead, it’s often better to ask yourself how you can use them together. With Google Ads best suited for immediate sales and Facebook Ads best for increasing the overall visibility of your business, the two can complement each other very well. Use them right and they can both help you achieve your short-term and medium/long term goals.
How to SPY on your Competitors Facebook Ads
Sometimes when you’re a business, you want to be able to get a leg up on your competitors, or maybe you want to spy on them and find out exactly what they’re doing when it comes to running Facebook ads and find competitors Facebook ads. Get this report included with how to steps for FREE today!
