Google AdWords vs Facebook Ads

When brands are exploring online advertising, they may become overwhelmed with the number of choices available to them.  There’s search engine marketing, social marketing, banner ads and so much more. Deciding which option is the best for them can be a pretty daunting task.

With an average of 5.1 billion Google searches per day and 85 percent of consumers searching for local businesses using Google, it’s almost a no-brainer for a business to start with the world’s largest search engine.  To get started with Google AdWords, a business determines its daily budget,  or essentially the number of clicks they are willing to pay for each day.  Then, the business creates its own ad, which typically includes a title, a two-line description and a link to the business’s website.

The next step is to pick keywords, or the words and phrases relevant to their business. These keywords are important, as they are what prompt the business’s ad to display next to relevant searches on Google. Finally, the billing method is selected. 

Google AdWords is beneficial because there is no minimum budget. Therefore, a business can spend as little or as much as they’d like. Google also makes it easy for a business to reach its target audience, no matter how big or small. They also provide quick and easy access to campaign results. Google allows businesses to make changes to their campaigns at any time, making it a very flexible option. Learn more about Google AdWords by clicking here.

Facebook is another great option, as it has 1.19 billion monthly active users from all walks of life. The process of setting up a Facebook ad is similar to Google, as the business can create its own ad, which also includes a title, description and URL.  Then the business determines who they reach with their campaign. After a daily budget is determined, the process is complete.

However, in comparing the two methods, Facebook seems to have more campaign options.  Notably, Facebook allows businesses to include a photo with its ad or advertise something that they have on Facebook.  In terms of targeting, Facebook seems to help businesses narrow down its audience by providing more filters. For example, businesses can filter by country, age, sex, interests, relationship status, languages, education and more, all while keeping track of how many users you have the potential to reach along the way. Facebook allows the business to choose whether it would like to pay by the number of clicks on the ad or number of impressions. Scheduling is another Facebook feature, as businesses can choose if they want their ad to show all day or just certain times throughout the day. Campaign results are also available at any time. Learn more about Facebook advertising by clicking here.

Lawrence Wang offered in a recent article that while Google AdWords is the industry dominator, with a global online ad revenue of $43 billion compared to Facebook’s $4.28 billion, Facebook has wonderful potential. In addition to its impressive reach capabilities, their ads are cheaper and the return is better – for every $1 spent on Google AdWords, $2 is returned, compared to Facebook’s $3.