Google Advertising vs Social Media Advertising – Which is better for your business?
For those who wish to really get the word out about their product or service quickly, then paid marketing methods are the optimal marketing method for you! However, there are numerous options to choose from in this ever-expanding digital world we live in and choosing the right route for your business can be a tad tricky for non-digital marketing folk.
The two most widely used digital paid advertising methods are through Google and Social Media platforms. Luckily, this blog will explain the differences between the two and which will be more beneficial to your business! Do read on to see which method is the right one for you…
Pay Per Click (PPC) Search Ads on Google
Search ads will be very familial to all. They are usually the first results to appear when conducting the majority of google searches and usually have the word “ad” in a green box around the result. There has been a myth for years that nobody clicks on paid ads and scroll down to the organic ones. This is simply untrue. Paid ads account for 64.6% of clicks for high commercial interest keyword searches. So, if you believe the myth, you’ll be missing out on a lot of potential business!
The way to know which ads are right for your business is to get into the mind of the searcher. Search ads are perfect for targeting searchers who pretty much know what they want. Here are a few good examples…
Courier Service:
Security Company:
Divorce Lawyers:
As you can see, the user is searching for results which are very niche and they wouldn’t be doing so unless there was an urgency to acquire these particular services. This is the beautiful thing about search ads. You know the user is already looking for your product or service. All you need to do is ensure that the page they land on from your ad is set up in such a way to bring about an enquiry or sale. That however, is a topic for another blog and one we’ll be covering very soon so stay tuned!
In essence, if you’re a business is one that operates in an established industry where the product or services you offer will always be actively sought after, Google Search Ads will be a very good marketing option. If you’re unsure whether your businesses product or service does generate a high enough number of searches, Google’s Keyword Planner tool is great for assessing
Bonus Tip:
Another useful point I will add is the benefit of utilising Display Remarketing campaigns to reinforce the result generation from search ads. You’ve most likely come across display ads as well. Have you ever been online shopping browsing trainers that you may buy? You then click off the page and say to yourself “I’ll come back to that later.” Soon after, when you’re browsing completely different websites, images appear showing you the trainers that you were interested in and urging you to take another look. This is display marketing in a nutshell. Users who land on a certain page, can be tract and the product or service on that page can be “remarketed to them.” Digital Marketing is all about touch points with a customer. The more times a user sees your product or service, the more likely they are to enquire or buy. It really is that simple.
Paid Social Media Advertising
Social Media is an extremely powerful tool in the modern era. Thousands (if not millions) of eyeballs can be gazing at your business for a relatively low cost. Generally speaking, social media ads tend to be far cheaper than search ads so, if these ads are right for your business, then it is a great platform to generate revenue from.
Social media ads differ from search ads tremendously. With search ads, you are restricted purely to text whereas in social media marketing, imagery and videos are extremely important in order to garner engagement. Using search ads, you can target users via choosing particular keywords or key phrases, age, location and parental status. However, with social media marketing, you can be far more laser focused with who you want your ads to appear to.
For example, with Facebook and Instagram advertising, individuals can be targeted further via these categories:
- Relationship status
- Level of Education
- Job Titles
- Parents with children of specific ages ranging from 0-26
- Life Events including: Away form family, away from hometown, long distance relationship, new job, new relationship, recently moved and upcoming birthday
- And…most useful of all…the interest the user has based on the pages they like/follow.
These additional elements can be invaluable to businesses.
- A company who has a product for toddlers could target parents with children of the relevant age range
- A company who has a new innovative protein supplement can target individuals who follow a variety of health & fitness related pages
- A company who is offering IT Support catered towards small businesses can promote their ads to small business owners using the job title category
Here are a few real-life examples…
Essentially, this method of advertising is great for targeting those who aren’t actively looking for your product or service but once they come across it, would be highly interested in it!
We hope that this blog helps you in your marketing endeavours but if you do have any additional questions or queries regarding google ads or paid social media advertising, please do not hesitate to get in touch with one of the Wow Group team. Give us a call on 0121 285 1100 or leave a message on our contact us page.
