Who creates better Advertising Campaigns?
Who creates better Advertising Campaigns?
In the field of online marketing, Google and Facebook are the key players. The million dollar question facing any web advertiser is whether to go with Google Adwords or Facebook Ads. Both services have their own advantages and drawbacks. Let us analyse some crucial features of both services and arrive at a conclusion as to which one is better in getting the businesses what they want.
Targeting
Targeting means selecting a particular set of people among the wider audience to view our ads based on certain criteria like their age, gender, etc. Using Facebook Ads, one can target viewers based on their geography, interests, behaviours and demography (Trabelsi, blog.crazyegg.com). In Google Adwords too, targeting can be done by location, demography, and language. However search keywords that a user types are the chief elements in Google targeting. Only when the targeted user searches in Google for the keywords, the ads are displayed to him. For example, when a user types “online shopping”, he sees ads related to e-commerce sites. This is advantageous when a business wants potential customers to visit its page. But it is not beneficial for new businesses that want to create awareness about their existence to a wide group of people. In that case, Facebook Ads work better. Facebook targeting also helps spread awareness when a user likes or shares an ad, thus creating a trustworthy feeling among the viewers. Facebook Ads also provide targeting by lookalike audiences, a list created by matching the profile and interests of Facebook users with the Custom Audience specified by advertisers.
Retargeting
Retargeting or remarketing is a little different from targeting. Here the ad campaigns are focussed towards previous visitors of a page instead of just a wider audience. These previous visitors are potential customers, so a different ad campaign is designed exclusively to convince them and targeted at them. Facebook Ads place a code snippet called “pixel” in the landing page and identifies people who visited the site but did not buy anything. This helps in targeting the same group of people with different attractive offers. Google Adwords work similarly, but here again the retargeting is done when the user searches for a particular keyword, making the targeting less efficient than Facebook Ads. Google Display Network addresses this problem. It is group of millions of websites where businesses can make their ads appear. It provides a targeting feature similar to that of Facebook and helps in creating better awareness for a business.
Cost of advertising
Ultimately the purpose of advertising is to attract customers and profits which mean a higher Return on Investment. There are certain parameters like Cost per Click (CPC), Cost per 1000 Impressions (CPM), Click through rate (CTR), Cost per Acquisition (CPA) that help in arrive at an optimum advertising budget. CPC is generally less in Facebook compared to Google (Putnam, ppchero.com). In Google, CPC can be as high as $100 as its guarantee of immediate sales is higher. CPC varies with the demand and importance of the keyword in Google Adwords. However in Facebook, CPC can be as low as $0.25. One must note that CPC alone cannot be used to determine the efficiency of an advertising model. CPA is another metric that plays a decisive role.
CPA is calculated by dividing the amount spent on an ad campaign by the number of conversions (conversion happens when the page visitor takes an action in that site like buying a product and enquiring about a service). Now this CPA can vary from one campaign to another depending on the amount spent on the ad. Apart from that, Google Adwords has a better conversion rate (2.35%) than Facebook Ads (1-2%) (“[Infographic] Google AdWords”, n.d.). So there can be instances when CPA is lower in Adwords than Ads. But on an overall basis, the CPA in Facebook is quite lower. CPM is also less for Facebook (less than $1) than Google ($2.75). However in achieving CTR, which is the number of clicks on an ad campaign out of the total number of page visits, Google performs better (2%) compared to Facebook (less than 1%). It is obvious from the above metrics that Facebook Ads are more cost effective, while Google Adwords can create better visibility and conversions.
Ad Formats, Placements and Platforms
Google offers text ads in its search results page and display ads like videos and images in its Display Network. In Facebook, one can use rich images and videos. Images and videos are very important factors in attracting clicks. Google itself has admitted that CTR is generally lower on its display networks than on its search network (“Facebook IPO”, n.d.). Similarly in Google Ads, placement of the ad is out of scope (Grabowski, adespresso.com). Facebook offers options to place ads in different preferred locations, which too can have an impact on CTRs. One advantage with Google ads is that they can be placed on any site whereas Facebook ads can be placed only on Facebook.
Conclusion
Google has been the oldest and the most robust advertising platform for years. But with the increasing popularity of Facebook and its cost effective advertising strategies, Facebook ads are gaining more businesses now a days. However, it must be noted that each one offers a different approach and benefit over the other. Google ads can reach over 90% of internet users per month, while Facebook ads can attract the 44% of internet users per month. Google appears to reach a wider audience but only when they know what they want. Facebook scores when it comes to letting people know of something new in the market. It can create the awareness that Google ads cannot, while Google Adwords offer better immediate sales assurance. So, it is always better to share the advertising budget on both the platform proportionately.
References
Trabelsi, C. (2014, May 15). Facebook Ads vs Google Adwords – the Facebook Targeting Advantage. Retrieved May 26, 2016, from https://blog.crazyegg.com/2014/05/15/facebook-ads/
Putnam, J. (2015, February 13). Know The Differences Between Facebook and Google Ads And When You Should Use Each. Retrieved May 26, 2016, from http://www.ppchero.com/know-the-differences-between-facebook-and-google-ads-and-when-you-should-use-each/
[Infographic] Google AdWords vs. Facebook Ads. (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2016, from http://blog.wishpond.com/post/106238043028/infographic-google-adwords-vs-facebook-ads
Facebook IPO: Can Facebook Beat the Google Display Network in Online Advertising? (n.d.). Retrieved May 26, 2016, from http://www.wordstream.com/articles/facebook-vs-google-display-network
Grabowski, P. (2015, May 5). 5 Google Adwords Habits You Must Kick to Succeed with Facebook Ads. Retrieved May 26, 2016, from https://adespresso.com/academy/blog/5-google-adwords-habits-must-kick-succeed-facebook-ads/
