You want to reach out to your target audience…

You want to present them with your offers and services…

You have all the landing pages and content set up…

You decide that you won’t wait on for SEO to kick in and drive people on your pages…

You want to go with paid advertising to get people to your pages instantly…

You are ready with your advertising budgets, but:

There are so many advertising platforms out there.

Which platform will be the best for your business?

Spending your ad budget on which platform will ensure positive ROIs?

Stuck with this decision of where to spend your ad budget?

Wasted a lot of time researching but still not sure which one to go for?

Well, I was in the same dilemma a few years back, so I know that feeling.

When I came to know about paid ads, I got really excited and was amazed to find out how they can help… 

• any business to reach out to its target audience almost instantly.
• businesses get results faster than compared to SEO.
• Generate hyper-targeted and quality leads for any business.

Not only that, online advertisements can actually help:

• Build brand awareness
• Increase the spread of information
• Drive buyer behavior
• Provide reminders to curious buyers
• Use repetition to improve sales
• Provide multiple purchase pathways, etc.

I wanted these results for my business so within a few days of research I found out that…

…the two leading platforms for paid advertisements are:

Google Ads and Facebook Ads. 

Facebook currently has 2.6 billion monthly active users, and…

Google Ads reaches billions of people every day via search, email, and other online activities.

Though there are a lot of other advertising platforms out there… 

…but these numbers are enough to prove that Google’s search network or Facebook’s news feed is the place you should run your ads on.

These platforms are out there for quite some time now, and with Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence Algorithms in play…

…Google and Facebook ads are now more capable than ever to help grow your business. 

But only if you know how to use them properly.

When it comes to making a choice and allocating your advertising budget, for your paid marketing, which platform should you pick: 

Google Ads Vs Facebook ads?

Or both?You

Google Ads vs Facebook Ads. Both of these platforms helps business drive traffic.

So please check out my article about Paid Traffic Vs Free Traffic : Which one is better?

To get a complete idea of paid traffic.

How to make the right choice for your business? 

Well, that’s what we’re here to find out after we are done discussing nitty-gritty details about this debate on Google Ads vs Facebook Ads.

But first, let’s learn about each of the advertising platforms deeply and understand why they are the best in the business… 

…and then discover we should use which one and when.

Google Ads

Let me ask you a question:

If you want to know something, what is it that you do?

You open a search engine.

And when it comes to search engines, Google is the world’s largest search engine, with more than 75% of the search engine market user base. 

Bing and other search engines are in a distant second, third, and fourth place.

So, if you’re considering spending any amount of money on ads to reach your target audience, then you’d better spend it in the right place. 

A platform with over 246 million unique visitors, 3.5 billion daily interactions, and an estimated 700% return on investment.

And you guessed it right again…Google Ads.

It’s no secret that these days, the stronger and more focused your paid campaigns are…

…the more clicks you generate, leading to a greater probability of obtaining new customers. 

This is why Google Ads has become increasingly popular among businesses across all industries.

Google Ads is a paid advertising platform that falls under a marketing channel known as pay-per-click (PPC), where you (the advertiser) pays per click or per impression (CPM) on an ad.

Google Ads is an effective way to drive qualified traffic, i.e. the hot audience, to your business while they’re searching for products and services like the ones you offer.

This hot audience knows about the problem they are facing, and they also know the solution to it. 

They are just looking for options they have in the market.

And by making good use of Google ads, you can fulfill their demand fast.

The prospect using google search has that buying intent.

You will not get a better chance to convert your prospect into paying customers so easily than google ads.

Using Google ads your intent should be to directly sell the product, not the strategy.

Check out some more advantages of using Google Ads:

An Immense Audience

One of the main advantages of using Google ads is its Immense Reach. 

Google handles more than 40,000 search queries every second, a total of more than 1.2 trillion web searches every single year.

Imagine the power of google being used for your business.

Google can help your business reach millions of prospects through its various networks like google search, YouTube, or google display network.

You just need to think of the right keywords your audience will use, and place ads on those keywords and wait to see the results.

Focused On Relevance

A mass audience is one thing, but a relevant audience is what businesses should look for.

And Google ads provide you that power.

Google Ads focus primarily on the quality and relevance of ads, not how much advertisers spend.

The more relevant an ad is to the user, the better the experience that user is likely to have. 

For this reason, Google Ads rewards relevance and quality above all other factors.

No doubt, certain keywords may cost you more than others, but how much you have to bid will depend largely on the quality and relevance of your advertisements.

If you are paying more, believe me, you will get more. 

Vast Range of Ad Campaigns

Google has leveled up its ad platform if we compare it to the day it was launched in the year 2000.

Let’s understand the different types of  Ad Campaigns Google provides:

Search Network

This ad campaign is the most commonly used by medium and small businesses.

If you choose the Google search network, your ad will show up near the search results when someone searches with terms related to one of your keywords.

For example, if you place your ad campaign under the keyword like “plumbing service.” Google will show up your ad like this:

Display Network

The display network campaigns show your ads on websites and apps when your keywords are related to the site’s content. 

These ads can come in the form of videos, images, and more. This will help you attract people interested in your industry.

These ads can be cheaper than the search network ads but you don’t know if the audience is qualified for your business or not.

It all depends on the ad targeting options you choose.

Here is an example of a display ad:

Now let’s jump onto our next ad campaign, which is…

Google Shopping 

If you own an e-commerce website, this is what you should go with.

Shopping ads are e-commerce based ads that allow your brand to show up for relevant, high-intent searches based on direct product searches.

For example, if you provide basketball shoes and you have placed a shopping ad for that… 

…whenever someone searches for basketball shoes, your product will show up along with pricing, reviews, and other features, like this:

But if you want to use the most engaging content format, i.e. video, google has a solution for you as well.

Video Ads

You have used YouTube for once, at least.

An advertisement would have surely popped up on your screen before the video starts or in the middle of the video.

That is google video ads.

Video-based ads let you show ads on streaming sites like YouTube and across the Google Display Network as well.

These can be highly effective for your business. 

Again, you just need to be very careful while selecting the targeting options. That’s the key with google ads.

Using these different ad campaigns by Google, you can attract people who are on the verge of making a buying decision and convert them into your customers but…

…there will also be people who won’t take action the very first time they visit your site.

This doesn’t mean they are not interested and that they won’t buy from you ever.

They have engaged with your brand once and they can do it again as well, so the question is:

How to get them back?

How to re-engage them?

Google has a cool feature that allows you to do this:

Google Ads Retargeting 

Google allows for retargeting so that you can remarket to that lost customer and win a sale.

And this time it will not cost you much because now google knows which person to target.

You just need a new tempting retargeting campaign so that the customer again clicks on your advertisement.

With this, you now know how to leverage Google Ads for your business.

But this is not the end of our traffic story.

Google Ads is a Demand Fulfillment Tool that helps you convert an already hot audience into your customers.

What about the Cold and Warm Audience?

This is where Facebook Ads come into play.

Let’s discuss second part of the debate on Google Ads vs Facebook Ads:

Facebook Ads

Why do people use Facebook?

Are they looking for something to buy?

Absolutely Not.

Facebook is a social network. 

This means most people aren’t searching to find products or services. 

They are looking to catch up with their friends, chat about their hobbies in their favorite groups, and share pictures of their latest trips.

Though there has been an increase in local search on Facebook, the intent to purchase isn’t as high as Google Ads.

But that doesn’t mean it’s a waste of ad spend either.

Facebook has more than 2.5 billion monthly active users. 

You can find almost any target or niche market on the platform.

With such a large and diverse user base, you have a great shot at finding success.

Unlike Google Ads, which is a Demand Fulfillment tool, Marketers use Facebook as a Demand Generation Tool.

There are: 

• 1,300+ targeting options…
• 15 objectives to choose from, and…
• 6 main ad formats…

…available on the Facebook Ad Platform.

Just imagine the power of Facebook Ads.

Along with all that, Facebook provides you with the option to show your ads on a user’s facebook feed, stories, messenger, Instagram, etc.

With Facebook ads the only two things you need to be clear on are:

1. Facebook ad objectives = Your goals.

2. Facebook ad format = How your ad appears creatively.

Along with these, if you choose the right targeting options, a highly attractive creative, and persuasive copy for your ads, your conversions can skyrocket real quick.

A copywriter can help you with this in no time.

Check out these Benefits Of Hiring A Copywriter For Your Business and be ready to be surprised.

But don’t just take my word for it.

Understand how Facebook Ads can benefit your business:

People Are Almost Always-on Social Media

On average, a person spends almost 2.5 hours daily on social media, and Facebook is their go-to place online.

This makes it impossible for businesses to ignore Facebook. 

It’s huge. 

It’s everywhere.

The reason you should start using Facebook for your business is that…

…the majority of your target audience is probably already using Facebook. 

You just need to reach out to them and Facebook makes it super simple as it allows you to…

Micro-Target Your Exact Audience

Targeting is probably where Facebook excels the most compared to Google Ads. 

You just won’t find these options elsewhere.

You can target people on Facebook based on their interests, behaviors, demographics, age ranges, connections, locations, or languages. 

Moreover, you can even target your competitors’ fans.

How helpful is that for a business owner?

This is one of the main reasons which makes Facebook ad platform one of the powerful tools.

Apart from targeting its analytics is also top notch. 

Let’s discuss that:

Robust Analytics

Mark my words: You won’t find these analytics elsewhere.

Facebook helps you in every way to get that perfect ad that works wonders for your business.

Facebook has no limits when it comes to giving you data about the performance of your ads.

You’ll be provided with metrics about your weekly reach, post engagement, page likes, cost per conversions, no. of landing page views, no. of clicks, CTRs, etc.

With all these metrics available in your Facebook Ad Manager, you can make informed decisions about which ads to run further and which to shut down, what is the cost of a lead for your business, and a lot of other stuff based on your business goals, without wasting your ad budget.

Easily Find New Leads

Once you find your audience that converts the fastest, you can attract people who are just like them by using Facebook’s “lookalike audiences.”

This one feature will help your ad to reach out to more people, similar to the people who have converted already. 

This is the magic of Facebook’s AI Algorithm.

Imagine how powerful this single feature can be for your business.

There are a lot of benefits that Facebook can provide for your business, but the ones that you learned above are the key benefits.

And you now also know how it is different from Google Ads.

In order to get great results from Facebook ads, you need to:

• stop people from scrolling using your ad creative… 
• make them read your ad copy…
• convince them to click on your ad, and…
• convert the cold prospect into a lead or a customer on the landing page…

Believe me, that requires a proper strategy depending on your business goals.

As I’ve mentioned above, marketers use Facebook Ads as a demand generation tool, i.e., if your audience isn’t aware about the existence of your business…

…Facebook Ads should be used to generate that brand awareness in front of a cold audience.

This is because a cold audience isn’t in a buying mood, so you need to build that desire first.

Once you make them aware of your brand with your content and convert them from a visitor into a lead, they become your warm audience.

And it is after nurturing your warm audience that you convert them into a hot audience, desiring for your solution and ultimately into a customer.

Let’s take an example:

You run an ad to send a cold audience to a landing page where you are offering a lead magnet to get the contact details of your prospect.

Some of them might convert the first time, but there will be some who won’t subscribe then and there.

The latter is the group of people who clicked on your ad, saw your landing page and didn’t convert. This means they have engaged with your ad, and your landing page, so they are now your warm audience.

So you should not quit on those people.

You should get in front of them again with an even more tempting offer.

But how to do that?

Retargeting Ads

Facebook retargeting is the process of reaching out to people who’ve previously shown interest in your ads, again.

And the best part:

Just like Google Retargeting Ads, Facebook Retargeting ads are also cheaper in comparison to ads for the cold audience because now the Facebook Algorithm knows who to target.

Using this one feature will:

• Help beat your competitors.

• Increase your ROI.

• Bring in more loyal customers.

• Increase Brand Awareness

You would want that for your business, wouldn’t you?

No doubt Facebook ads involve a right growth strategy and a lot of work at your end when compared to Google Ads, but…

…Facebook ads are way cheaper compared to Google ads, and this pricing difference makes Facebook a popular and must use ad platform for your business.

Google Ads vs Facebook Ads? Now, it is up to you to choose the ad platform for your business as you are aware of which platform works best depending on the business you are in and the objective you are trying to achieve.

But there is a technique that a very few people know of.

This is one of the most effective ways to increase your sales.

Want to know?

Here it goes:

The Best of Google Ads vs Facebook Ads

Note: This method doesn’t focus on awareness or your cold prospect.

This method involves using Facebook retargeting feature effectively in combination with Google ads.

Let’s understand with an example:

Suppose I want to sell something like an iPad.

I’ll write a review article on my website and place a buy now link inside that article.

Now what I’ll do first is attract all the hot audience looking for an iPad on Google using Google ads.

The next step would be to place a Facebook pixel on that article so that I can retarget those hot audiences through Facebook ads.

But Anmol google also has a retargeting ad feature, so why not do that?

You are right.

Google also offers retargeting but…

…Facebook Ads retargeting option gives even more control over who sees your ads. 

And researches have shown that in at least some cases Facebook Retargeting Ads has been outperforming Google retargeting campaigns.

This is how I prefer using both Google Ads and Facebook Ads in combination to convert hot audiences directly and then retarget the ones who have higher chances of converting using Facebook’s Retargeting.

Google Ads vs Facebook Ads or both? Which one are you going to try for your business first? Tell me in the comments below.