When it comes to digital advertising, two popular avenues are Facebook ads and Google AdWords. Some people say Facebook is the way to go, others point to low click-through rates and insist Google AdWords offers better ROI.
Pardon me; that way is a very nice way [points left]... It's pleasant down that way, too [points right]… Of course, some people do go both ways [points both ways].
Facebook Ads
Facebook has an overwhelming amount of information about their users and allows advertisers to drill down and effectively target their audience with a very tailored message. Beyond basic demographic information, advertisers can select specific employers, industries, pages the audience likes, hobbies and interests, and much more. The advertiser selects the headline, content and photos associated with their ad, as well as the timeline and budget. When selecting a budget, advertisers can choose to pay on a cost-per-click (CPC) model or a cost-per-impression (CPM) model. Marketing goals and objectives determine which model to use. For instance, general awareness might be best purchased on a CPM basis. On the other hand, to generate Facebook likes or other conversion-related goals, a CPC model might be best.
Since advertisers can set their ad spend, specific messages and audiences, they can easily perform A/B tests to determine which are the most effective. Different headlines, photos or ad copy can be used to target the same audience. Or, they could choose to run the same ad in several locations and see which locations performed better. Each ad offers several reports to track click-through rates, social reach, impressions, reach, frequency, etc.
Recognizing that the most effective form of advertising is word of mouth, Facebook also offers an option of running sponsored stories. These ads are shown to current fans of a company’s Facebook page. The ad displays with “Friend x likes brand” above the ad content within the user’s news feed. Data suggests that these ads are much more effective than traditional display ads due to the “recommendation” element of the ad (Edwards, 2012).
On the downside, Facebook continues to make changes to their advertising policies, making it increasing frustrating for the advertiser. However, advertisers continue to utilize Facebook advertising because of the 536 million Facebook logins each day (Le Viet, 2012), their targeting ability and the relative low cost of advertising.
Read how Tough Mudder has effectively used Facebook advertising here.
Learn more about advertising on Facebook at their website.
Google AdWords
While Facebook pushes tailored messages to a specific audience based on demographics and behaviors, Google AdWords works by providing relevant search results to users in the form of a text ad. A company with a Google AdWords campaign sets keywords that are relevant to their product or services and associates each with an ad and a CPC or CPM bid. For example, a shoe store might set keywords like “children’s shoes”, “red pumps”, “wedding shoes”, etc. When a user performs a Google search for red pumps, an ad will appear directing users to the company’s website. For example, “Shoe store X has red pumps in a variety of styles”.
The greatest obstacle with AdWords is optimizing keywords so users who click on the ad are potential customers. If a shoe store that specialized in children’s shoes had an ad running with the keyword “shoes”, they would show up in searches of people who are looking for athletic shoes, wedding shoes, winter boots, etc. Each click by these users would cost the company money without increasing their sales or increasing brand awareness with potential customers. Without careful planning and continuous optimization, a company could end up spending thousands of dollars with little return.
Like Facebook, Google AdWords has some targeting capabilities, though it is much more limited. After creating the ad, selecting keywords and establishing a budget, you are offered options for geographic reach and language (Dahl, 2009). A small business located in Michigan would not want their ad to appear in California so they would select a radius around their store location and languages that pertain to their target audience.
Google also allows companies to advertise on their AdSense network. Anyone who spends time on the Internet has seen text ads on their webpage. Many of these utilize Google’s AdSense network. When advertising on this network, companies can specify which sites they would like their ad to appear. For example, a religious institution would probably not want to appear on sites affiliated with alcohol or gambling, so they would opt-out of these types of content.
A bonus of using Google AdWords is the built-in measurement tools of Google Analytics, which, in my opinion, far outperforms Facebook’s reporting.
For more information about Google AdWords, check out Google's help section.
Which is better?
There is no better or worse in this scenario. Business objectives will play a key role in determining which advertising avenues to use, just as they do when using traditional media. “Given the challenge of having a product that hasn’t existed before, AdWords may not be the best tool for generating interest and sales” (Dahl, 2009). However, if your customers are not on Facebook, then that might not be the best solution either. Google targets people as they are searching for a product while Facebook targets a specific group of users. An integrated marketing communications campaign might find success using both.
Have you found better results with AdWords or Facebook ads? Or have you found that a combination of both offers the best ROI?
References:
Dahl, D. (2009, October 14). Real-life lessons in using Google Adwords. NY Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/15/business/smallbusiness/15adwords.html?pagewanted=all
Edwards, J. (2012, September 18). CHART: Facebook’s sponsored stories are way more effective than display ads. Business Insider. Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/facebooks-sponsored-stories-vs-display-2012-9
Le Viet, S. (2012, July 21). 5 best reasons to recruit with Facebook Ads. Mashable. Retrieved from http://mashable.com/2012/07/21/recruit-facebook-ads/
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