Facebook Ads Vs. Google Adwords; Which One To Choose?

There are many great debates in the world today; iPhone or Android? Red Sox or Yankees? Jets or Giants? Coke or Pepsi? Marketers today have a tough choice of their own when it comes to planning a paid search campaign: Facebook Ads or Google Adwords. Both platforms offer marketers great opportunities to drive traffic and increase conversions/transactions. But which is better? Which one should you choose?

As it turns out, Google AdWords and Facebook Ads are both good, but for different things. It all depends on what you intend to do with your ad. So, the first thing you need to do is establish your goals. They will help you determine what the best fit will be since even though there are many similarities between the two, the web audience for Google AdWords and Facebook Ads behave differently.

If you’re considering adding online advertising to your marketing mix, check out this fascinating infographic created by e-Intelligence. It takes a comprehensive look at Google AdWords and Facebook Ads by the numbers. Here are a few of the most interesting details that stand out:

- Looking at global online ad market share, Google dominates by far. But when you pare the sample down to the US, Facebook Ads are actually pulling slightly ahead of Google.

- Google wins with .17 billion Unique Monthly Visitors to Facebook’s .15 billion. However, when looking at the time spent by each visitor on the two platforms, Google has just about 101 minutes/month to Facebook’s 414 minutes/month.

- Google is killing it with an average click through rate of 2% on its ads, whereas Facebook struggles at .05%

- Perhaps the most relevant for small business owners: Every $1 spent on AdWords brings an average of $2 in revenue. For every $1 spend on Facebook ads, advertisers see $3 in revenue.

Why Facebook Ads are a Great Choice

Regardless of how well Facebook’s IPO is doing, they still remain the most sophisticated social media platform that allows marketers to target people based on who they are. Facebook allows marketers to go directly to their target audience and to push their message with much more granularity and control. It enables you to target people and other businesses based on numerous factors, including exact location, personal interests, age, gender, industry, employment, and even habits.

Why Google Adwords are the King of Paid Search

The search engine giant has certainly made a pretty penny off of their CPC advertising platform – Adwords — and for good reason: Most online users, if not all, use Google when searching online!

Adwords allows marketers to create a list of keywords and phrases that serve as a trigger for the CPC ad. Once triggered through search performance, Adwords displays your ads in strategic locations that are directly visible to the searcher.

Adwords has an enormous advantage over Facebook because of the intent behind the online user searching. On Facebook, the average user is casually browsing through the profiles of their friends and families, seeing what and how they are doing that day, and maybe even chatting with someone while they browse. They are not necessarily searching for something specific. However, on Google, the searcher is specifically looking for information and/or products. Their effort is more focused and purposeful. Because of that, your investment in Google Adwords will go toward the generation of immediate sales, rather than just building brand equity.