What has happened? Why do people prefer Facebook advertising opposed to Google Adwords? And can Google Adwords challenge Facebook’s proposition?
Let’s investigate...
Both Facebook Advertising and Google Adwords target individuals in different ways.
Both Google Adwords and Facebook advertising use geo-targeting this allows individuals to see advertisements that are relevant to their geographical location. However Facebook utilises user-profiling which relies on individuals entering their location within their Facebook profile. Conversely Google Adwords uses the IP address of the individual’s computer to determine their geographical location. It is here that Google loses its effectiveness. People choose to have their IP address changed or moved, which that an individual’s location is not accurate if based purely in IP addresses. In this instance Facebook’s method is more enhanced.
Durability of Ads
Facebook users can enforce the promotion of ads they like, a feature which is not available on Google Adwords. The ‘friend effect’ is becoming more prominent within the internet, this is symbolic within Facebook where its users are in a better position to influence their friends and ask them to spread the word.
Facebook ads have a greater chance of being popular amongst people of the same group as it targets according to gender, preferences, location, language and education. Conversely Google Adwords has a much more lengthy targeting process which requires the user to have knowledge of keywords and how to create them. Furthermore, Google Adwords appear as sponsored links and are less visible which lacks the human aspect of marketing as the interactivity aspect which Facebook embraces is not utilised.
Differing Strategies
Facebook has the advantage of being more specific about many different aspects in comparison to Google Adwords. Yet if an advertisement is not performing within a limited time Facebook will attempt to knock your ad off its site!
Facebook pro’s suggest that the use of CPM (cost per metric)is beneficial as it ensures that your organisations brand is in front of the eyes of prospective customers long enough for them to start looking at it and gradually ‘liking’ and interacting with it. You may need to experiment with several ads to explore which ads gain the most interaction and ‘clicks’.
Final Verdict
Without being too technical it is evident that Google is a bit more demanding on your organisations keywords skills and requires knowledge of the process as well as it being more costly in comparison to Facebook. However Facebook does use ‘out of the box’ targets which translate into clicks and in turn brand recognition. Yet Google Adwords is a useful tool to people higher up the buying ladder – by that we mean people who know what they are looking for rather than coming across those which are ‘suggested’ by Facebook regardless of what the individual is looking for. This basically means that Google Adwords have a greater offering in terms of ads which are in context to what people are already buying.
In our opinion Facebook wins the battle! This leaves Google with lots of work to do if they want to overturn Facebooks triumph.
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