Are you considering using Facebook ads or Google AdWords? Do you want to choose one or the other for advertising? Understanding the main differences will help you make the right decision.
There are several differences between Facebook Ads and Google Adwords. Let’s look at a few of the main differences.
Top 5 Differences Between Facebook Ads and Google AdWords
1. Paid Social vs Paid Search
While both Facebook Ads and Google AdWords use a Pay-Per-Click model, Facebook Ads are paid social ads, while Google AdWords is paid search ads. When you choose Facebook Ads, you will be placing ads on one of the largest social media channels in the world. With Google AdWords, you will be placing ads on one of the largest search engines in the world.
2. One Platform vs. Multiple Platforms
Another big difference between Facebook Ads and Google AdWords are the platforms you can use for advertising. Facebook Ads will be on Facebook only. When you choose Google AdWords, you can have your ads placed on the search engine and on other websites displaying Google ads to their users. This can provide a significant benefit for some websites and businesses.
3. Demographic Targeting vs. Keyword Targeting
Another big difference between Facebook Ads and Google AdWords is how you can target your audience. With Facebook Ads, since you can choose many different data points, such as age, interest, and location, you can target your ads to a very specific audience. With Google AdWords, you will be able to choose the keywords you want to target and the location you want to target, but that’s about it.
4. Brand Awareness vs. Selling Products
Facebook Ads are more geared towards the goal of creating brand awareness. You might be trying to build a following for your business on Facebook with these ads. Google Adwords, on the other hand, is geared towards selling products.
This leads to another key difference, which is what people use each type of advertising for. Facebook Ads are commonly used to gain sign-ups, build a social following, and increase website traffic. Google AdWords, on the other hand, are ads used to sell products to the user.
5. Billions vs. Trillions
Both Facebook and Google are rather large, but it’s a matter of which one is larger. Facebook has more than 1.55 billion monthly active users, which is about 20% of the entire population of the world. This is a huge audience for Facebook Ads.
On the other hand, Google sees about 1.2 trillion web searches every year, or 40,000 search queries per second. This is an insanely large audience and doesn’t even include the audience found through their content network.
Both audiences are very large, but Google provides access to a much larger audience compared to Facebook. However, with Facebook, you can create your own community within the larger audience, which isn’t what Google is set up to help you do.
There is no right or wrong answer when it comes to choosing Facebook Ads or Google AdWords for your advertising needs. Many businesses will use both platforms for marketing.