In a 2014 study conducted by Neustar, social media advertising was found to be the most effective form of online paid advertising for increasing impressions, clicks and conversions at a low cost. As the popularity of social media advertising has increased, it is understood that most businesses now allocate around 28% of their marketing budget to social media advertising.
Is this the case?
As a digital marketing agency, we are asked about the differences between social media advertising and Google AdWords quite often. We are asked about the benefits, the costs and the likely outcomes for our clients. Our experience so far has shown us that, yes, some forms of social media advertising are far more cost effective than Google AdWords, and one of those is Facebook Advertising.
If you are operating in a business to consumer market, Facebook advertising could be the ideal cost effective solution for you. With many similar benefits to Google AdWords, Facebook Advertising also has a few other benefits which trump Google, the most important being a lower average cost per click.
Let’s start with the pros and cons.
Google AdWords
Pros
Detailed measuring tool makes your campaign easy to track
Large potential audience
Immediate influx of traffic
Complete control over your daily budget and maximum cost per click
Instant return on investment (You can easily define a cost per conversion and understand at what point your profit is made)
Targeting options, including regions, time of day, days of the week, and specific websites (if using Display Network)
Different advertising options, including Display Network, Search Network, and Remarketing
Targeting those who already have an interest and, therefore, are more likely to convert into sales
Cons
If set up and managed incorrectly, it can be extremely costly
Setup and management can be very time consuming
Limited space within your ad (Three lines of text when you are using Search only)
Unless you use other forms of Google advertising, such as Google Shopping and YouTube Advertising, you cannot include images or videos to sell products and services
Depending on your industry, the cost per click (CPC) can be substantial (For example, one client paid between $9.90 and $22.84 per click)
Depending on your target market, the majority of the large potential audience can turn out to be irrelevant
Facebook Advertising
Pros
Campaigns are easy to track
Immediate influx of traffic
Complete control over your daily budget and maximum CPC
Instant return on investment (You can easily define a cost per conversion and understand what your profit is)
More targeting options, including, towns, regions, age, likes/interests, income bracket, and other demographics
Easier to set up than Google AdWords
The ability to reach people early on in the buying process, before they are aware of their need, whilst capturing those who are aware of the need in a subtle way
You can use images and videos to capture the interest of your target market, helping you to sell your products and services
CPC is relatively cheap, depending on your industry (On average, our clients have paid no more than $0.61 per click)
Cons
If set up and managed incorrectly, it can be costly, but less so than Google AdWords
Depending on your target market, the majority of the large potential audience can be irrelevant (For instance, we would not recommend Facebook Advertising if someone only served or supplied their products and services to one town)
There is no option to target your ads at certain times within the day or on certain days of the week unless you choose a lifetime budget (Most of our clients request daily budgets)
Only really suitable for those operating in B2C markets.
Reaching people too early in the buying cycle could potentially reduce your goal conversion rate
The main con of Facebook Advertising is it is not recommended for B2B companies. However, we have tried LinkedIn with some of our clients, and have had similar results to Facebook Advertising.
