If someone had explained to me these key differences between advertising on Google Vs advertising on Facebook, It would have helped me avoid mistakes and save money.
Luckily for you, I made those mistakes so that you don't have to repeat them.k
That said,
Think of advertising on Google this way: you just go directly to the river and start drinking fresh, sparkling water without having to go through the forest’s cruel path, pushing branches aside, and probably losing your shoes in the process.
Facebook advertising is the platform that allows you to gather strawberries, lilies, and other exotic fruits before you get to the river.
The river here represents sales/clients who buy. The fruits represent data such as your audience’s psychographics and demographics.
Okay.
Now that you have a bit of idea about the key difference between both platforms, read on to discover more
What is Google advertising?
It is when you pay Google so that they can show(advertise) your products and services on Google.
When Google shows your products and services on their platform, many people will see them and eventually buy from you.
The online program that Google uses to enable you to advertise is called Google Ads.
What is Facebook advertising?
With Facebook advertising, you pay Facebook so that they can show your products on Facebook.
When Facebook shows your ads it is available for a specific group of Facebook users to see, like, comment, share, signup or buy.
It is commonly called Facebook ads.
How is advertising on Google different from advertising on Facebook?
Although Google and Facebook are both large avenues to advertise your products online and strategize your digital marketing campaign, they also have some serious differences.
Let's look at what those differences are;
1. Strong Points
Both platforms have their distinct strong points.
Google can easily increase your sales while Facebook can easily increase your brand awareness.
When you advertise your products on Google, you have a greater chance to sell because Google Ads shows your ads to people who are actively searching for your product.
Therefore, there’s a greater possibility that when they see your Ad, they’ll buy it (because they were looking for it).
On the other hand, Facebook advertising raises your visibility to the rest of the world. When you advertise on Facebook, what you gain is more brand awareness and social followers.
That’s more people will know your brand, what you can do for them, and why they need your product. They can choose to click and order, follow you, or just like your ad.
2. The Cost
Advertising on Google costs a lot more than advertising on Facebook.
Yea, it’s that deep.
For instance, When you’re dealing with Google search network ads, the cost ranges between $1 to $2 for a click.
If you’re advertising on the Google Display Network, be prepared to pay less than $1 for a click. However, that’s still a lot because if you have a small or medium-sized company, and you want to invest in Google ads, you should be ready to spend up to $9000 per month.
Now the question is, are you willing to pay that amount of money?
Do you even have it?
And if you do, can your company survive that kind of outsourcing?
Let’s move over to Facebook advertising which is a lot cheaper than Google ads.
You can advertise on Facebook for as cheap as $0.45 per click.
It’s not even up to a dollar and your ads are getting good reach.
For example, did you know that even though Finance and insurance are the most expensive type of business to advertise on Facebook, the average cost-per-click is only $3.77?
That’s a huge difference as compared to advertising your Insurance company on Google which will cost you an average of $17. 55 for CPC.
The thing about it is that it doesn’t matter what type of insurance you want to advertise. Google groups all of that under one niche.
Whether it is health insurance, auto, life, or home insurance, Google will still charge you $17 per click.
So, how do you compare $3 to $17?
That’s a huge gap of $13 we’re talking about.
The point is, advertising on Google bleeds you more than Facebook Ads ever would.
But before you get all shaky and sweaty, consider what you’ll be gaining for paying that amount of money;
Usually, the people who see your ads on Google are already lower down your sales funnel (The action part). They’re most likely going to buy with or without you convincing them.
A sales funnel looks like this...
Source: suzanneharrisonweb.com
3. Performance
Here we’re going to look into the conversion rate and ROI (Return On Investment).
The average conversion rate for Facebook ads is $9.21 for all industries while for Google Ads, it is $4.40% on the search network and $0.57% on the display network.
It is also very important to note that when you advertise a high-value product on Google, you have a greater possibility to gain more conversion than on Facebook because the conversion rate for such products on Google Ads is much better.
Of course, as a business owner, you’re more concerned about which of the two advertising platforms brings in more profit. That means, which one has a better Return on Investment (ROI).
Research has proven that when you advertise on Facebook, you get more return on investment
4. Your Marketing Plan
There’s a huge difference on how both platforms can help your marketing plan.
Google Ads will come into play at the bottom of your sales funnel. While Facebook advertising comes in at the beginning.
So when you advertise on Google, your goal should be to close clients (Make them buy)
However, advertising on Facebook gives you a rich insight into your audience’s social behaviour, who they are, what they like, how they behave and their interests in life.
With this information, you can build a solid social community around your business.
You’ll be able to grab their attention, interest them in your product, speak their language and safeguard them for future sales.
5. How do both advertising platforms work?
Advertising on Google works as an auction system that happens each time a user performs a keyword search.
If the keyword is part of those you targeted, ( placed a bid for), Google will show your ad to the person searching.
Once the searcher clicks on the ad, Google will charge you for it.
On the other hand, advertising on Facebook works differently. Your ads are only shown to an audience based on their location, demographic, and profile information.
They don’t have to be actively searching for your product. Facebook will search them out for you based on their profile information and the settings you selected when you were creating your ad.
You must have a clearly stated budget and the amount you’re willing to pay so that customers will see your ads and take action (your bid for each click).
How to use Both Google advertising and Facebook advertising
Although the two platforms have these huge differences, they’re nonetheless quite valuable to your digital marketing campaign and your business as a whole.
You can actually blend the two worlds and create a fine mixture.
Are you curious to know how?
Advertising on Facebook
Normally, before you hope to make any sales you have to first make sure that your audience knows about your product and what it can do for them.
What better way is there to make people know you other than social media and most especially Facebook.
So run Facebook ads for brand awareness. Fill their minds with the images, thoughts, and smell of your product.
Let your audience know exactly what they’ll gain from using your product.
When they know, they’ll begin to consider you/your brand next time they need that product (that’s if you’re not the only one in your niche)
The reason why advertising on Facebook is perfect for Brand awareness is that most Facebook users are just passive browsers who’re having a good time online.
They’re not looking for your product and suddenly like a flash of light, your ad pops up on their screen. They see it, read it and the message goes to their subconscious.
They might even screenshot the ad for future purposes, like it, and share it without buying.
You never know where a single act of share would land you. It might fall on the screens of actual buyers.
The point is, now your audience knows that you exist and that gives your brand more exposure.
Advertising on Google
You can then introduce Google ads when you’re about to close clients from your brand awareness campaign.
This means that you pulled them from Facebook to your website/landing page and they came running like a swarm of flies.
There are two things: your client might be intentionally searching for your product on Google or he came as a result of your Facebook ad that informed them of your product and its benefits.
Retargeting Ads
To run successful retargeting ads, you need the harmonious relationship of both Google ads and Facebook ads.
Before you retarget a client, they must have previously visited your site or social media profile. The result of this visit will tag them with tracking pixels that will then follow them online to either Facebook or another website and show them your ads.
This will serve as a reminder to the client who might have forgotten about your product or is still caught up in the consideration stage.
When they constantly see your ad again on the next page or next online visit, there’s a strong possibility that they’ll buy it.
Test Your Knowledge (TAKE THIS QUIZ)
Test yourself: How much do you know about the key differences between Facebook ads and Google ads?
