If you have an online business and want to make yourself known, without a doubt these are the two advertising tools that you will have to master or at least know, since their characteristics and usefulness are the ones that will take users to your website more quickly and they represent two essential points of support in any well-planned digital recruitment strategy.
In this post we are going to know what exactly these tools are, their characteristics, peculiarities, strengths, important aspects to take into account and how to know which of them to use depending on what you need and the budget you have, so that you know if you should contact a Google Ads Agency, or one more specialized in Facebook Ads
Table of Contents
1. Google Ads and Facebook Ads: what exactly are they?
Google Ads is Google’s main online advertising tool, based on two systems:
- Search: ads that appear in the Google search engine (search, shopping)
- Display: ads that appear within the web pages that exist in the wide “Display Network” of Google (banners, youtube, Gmail …)
Google Ads is a tool today almost essential for attracting users due to its keyword system capable of offering any user exactly what they are looking for, but we will talk about this later. This tool has been used by more and more companies for 17 years and although its level of competition is quite mature, it is unrivaled considering that Google is the most used search network in most countries of the world (180 billion searches per month).
Facebook Ads is the advertising platform of the Facebook social network,which bases its system on showing ads by suggesting them as publications in different formats (image, video) and locations: within Facebook, Instagram, and Audience Network (applications, and websites of the Facebook advertising network).
In the last decade, Facebook Ads has been consolidating itself as an alternative advertising tool to Google Adwords, mainly due to its potential in terms of knowledge of qualitative variables and the tremendous activity of users in this social network, reaching almost 1.30 billion monthly active users.
2. Google Ads and Facebook Ads: quantitative vs qualitative data
For any market researcher, the study of qualitative and quantitative variables is paramount; in this case we must not forget that we only investigate users who leave a trace,but depending on the tool we use, we will get more information about one type of variable than another.
Google Ads mainly it offers you search data, impressions, costs per click, competition, quality level, suggested bids… with its segmentation, but predominating most of the time the use of quantitative variables, which indicates that we know how many users want something, how much it costs us, how many companies are attacking the same sectors,products, services… (Display is true that it offers qualitative but we will see that nothing compared to Facebook Ads).
Facebook Ads, however, has its potential in qualitative variables; Before launching any campaign, the tool provides you with very valuable information about tastes, trends, and for example, since 2004 the “lookalike” audiences, similar to your target or target audience that you have defined, to help you reach users who specifically interest you more easily.
The great advantage of Facebook Ads lies in the enormous information that the users themselves provide and that allows them to know not only what they like, but how much and above all “how”, in order to have a deep knowledge of their behavior and to identify and create our ideal type user. This also allows you to carry out a much finer and better targeted Remarketing.
3. Google Ads vs Facebook Ads: Active/Passive Users
One of the fundamental differences between these two tools is in the origin of user activity. In the case of Google Ads and more specifically in search or search, users perform a search action as a result of a previous interest,which is already attractive to advertisers and also allows you to screen and stay only with the users who interest you because they specifically look for what you offer.
However, the behavior of a Facebook user is not born of that interest in a specific product or service, but that he browses the social network in search of publications from friends, chat, etc. and ultimately, has a passive behavior. It is not the user who searches for the publications, but it is the advertisers who are interested in impacting them with their creatives (as in the Google Ads Display) in the ad feed, on Instagram or Audience Network.
This is another important factor to take into account especially in the face of the objective you have and the need to get customers quickly.
4. Google Ads and Facebook Ads: thoughts vs likes
The fundamental and analogous difference to these two tools is that despite being advertising, Google is responsible for materializing the thoughts of users in the search engine,while Facebook is responsible for doing the same with their tastes.
Hence, the search process in Google resides in a need or desire for a specific product or service on the part of the user, and the process of receiving and impacting ads to users on Facebook is just the opposite, the initiative is the advertiser.
For this reason they are the two most important advertising tools today; from the point of view of marketing they are totally effective and meet the expectations of both the advertiser and the user, providing everyone with what they need, and with less and less margin for error. since the algorithms of these two giants learn at an increasing speed and make both constantly introduce changes in their interface and increasingly fine and accurate segmentation aspects, as we can see in the recent hierarchy of likes (I love it, I have fun …) on Facebook, or in new Extensions, types of campaign, smart display or Alpha version of Google Ads.
5. And which would be better for me, Google Ads or Facebook Ads?
Knowing this, and to answer the question “then what would be better for me?”, we can conclude that the ideal is to attack both ways, and always prioritizing according to the needs you have as a company and the type of business, so that:
- If you offer a specific product or service and quick acquisition, Ads is the fastest way to capture.
- If you offer a product or service more focused on emotions, sensations, with greater probability of going viral in a social environment,without a doubt Facebook Ads is the best way
This in general terms; obviously your business objective is the one that will determine which tool is most important to use, so that:
- If you are looking to improve your notoriety, get engagement,it is advisable to use Facebook Ads, or Display in Google Ads.
- If what you are looking for is to be contacted as soon as possible,without a doubt the best way is Google Ads.
6. Google Ads and Facebook Ads, the perfect combination
These two tools complement each other really well and together they make a combination that leaves very few pitfalls in attracting new customers.
Taking into account the previous points, using both we would be creating an impact on the user both when he looks for us and when he does not, and we would also get valuable qualitative information about them, especially the segment of users who convert,which is the one that most often interests.
The only problem with the use of the two tools is the budget; in any case and as we have seen in the previous point, everything will depend on your needs and objectives, but without a doubt the use of both will guarantee you more information, and more chances of success, in addition to covering a greater amount of data to analyze and make decisions.
I hope you found the article useful, if so, share it!
