Which Digital Advertising Platform Should You Be Running Ads On?
Facebook advertising? Google advertising? Or both? It’s one of the most common questions we get asked being a digital marketing agency. There’s a general feeling that if you’re not spreading your advertising spend across both platforms, you’re missing out on an important revenue stream.
Both platforms work on a pay-per-click system, and offer paid ad space. They differ however in their offering, targeting, cost-per-reach and industry conversion rates. This is where one platform may be more suited to your business than the other.
Google Ads
We think of Google as the new ‘Yellow Pages’. It’s a business directory, driven by purchase intent. A user is usually actively seeking a product or service in a local area or specific location. E.g. ‘local dentist near me’ or ‘GP clinic in St Kilda’.
Google understands the value they provide, by giving you the ability to target local users who are displaying intent to purchase products/services that your business offers.
Therefore, Google charges significantly more per conversion than most other digital and non-digital advertising platforms.
Facebook Ads
Operating in a starkly different way, Facebook ads allow you to hyper-target specific audiences based on a range of specific demographics, psychographics and user behaviour.
Facebook advertising works wonders for brand awareness campaigns, market research and re-marketing industries such as fashion. It’s unlikely when searching for a new shirt you’re going to type in ‘white shirt’ in Google. You’re more likely to purchase it from that ad that has been following you around Facebook and the Internet.
SEO (Search Engine Optimisation)
So, what about SEO? Google defines SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) as a method that aims to maximise the number of visitors a website attracts. It does this by ranking your site high on search results.
Google makes frequent changes to its algorithm. Although this may be, one essential feature of SEO stays the same. This includes both On-Page and Off-Page activities.
On-Page SEO
On-page SEO involves optimising the individual pages of your website. This involves optimising the page’s content and HTML source code.
Off-Page SEO
Off-page SEO refers to raising a site’s rank through activities away from the website. For example, off-page SEO maybe when a frequented online magazine features your business and website link as part of a blog article.
Which Platform is Best For Your Business?
Ideally, Google & Facebook/ Instagram should be viewed as complementary to one another. Both have their own strengths and can be across different area of your marketing strategy.
As a general rule (that’s made to be broken of course), Google Ads are better for businesses looking for new customer acquisition or for products/services that can be bought immediately. Facebook ads are ideal to help with customer retention or products/services that require a little more research & brand awareness, such as buying a car. Facebook & instagram are also more visual.
Don’t Spread Yourself Too Thin
We strongly recommend don’t spread your advertising budget too thin across different platforms. Sometimes a Coco Chanel mentality needs to be applied in the way that ‘Less is More’.
All pay-per-click campaigns are optimised over time. The more data a campaign can produce, the quicker the campaign will deliver results. We suggest sticking to one pay-per-click platform (whichever one is most suited to your business).
Our digital team are also here to help with further questions and provide deep advertising account audits, multi-channel marketing strategies & full account management.
