If you have an advertising budget, you should be using Google Ads
May 14, 2019
If you have an advertising budget, you should be using Google Ads
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Overall Satisfaction with Google Ads (formerly AdWords)
I've worked for a re-seller of Google Ads (then known as AdWords - a branding change that happened about a year ago). We implemented the ad campaigns for several clients of our digital marketing agency. What we liked about it is that we knew how our ad money was being spent with a greater degree of certainty than if it were spent on traditional media ads (radio, print, TV).
- Targeted advertising - show up or avoid showing up for very specific Google searches
- Offers a great degree of control over your ad budget.
- You pretty much know what you're getting and can - for the right price - get what you want.
- Though Google Ads offers greater certainty in the effectiveness of your campaign than traditional media, there's still some mystery to it.
- Paying per click CAN be efficient, but not all clicks are equal.
- This is NOT an SEO tool - good SEO can aid your campaigns but it is an entirely separate beast than Google Ads. One does not serve as a substitute for the other.
- Even when Google Ads work great, they are not a cure-all. Your company still needs to be able to deliver what the customers (the ones doing the clicking) want.
- This was an effective tool for effectively using client ad budgets. Let's say you only have $100/week for this, you can pause your campaign and only run it during the heaviest internet traffic times, or simply turn off "the faucet" when you hit your spending limit.
- Google Ads gives you insight for optimizing your ads (again this is different from SEO) - the tips may leave you with some useful knowledge you can use outside of Google Ads.
- Great for transparency. Google Ads reports on which ads are working and where improvements can be made.
Facebook for Business is the only close competitor I'm familiar with (other than traditional media like radio, print, and TV). I feel Google Ads is superior to traditional media because I don't like the idea of throwing away a large chunk of your budget every time someone changes the channel or station. The transparency of where your ad budget is going is somewhat comforting, provided you have the time to be hands-on with your campaigns or the cash to pay someone who does.
As for Facebook for Business, ethical quandaries aside, the Facebook ad platform arguably allows for much more specific targeting of the individuals in your target market. Facebook offers similar budget controls, and arguably a greater captive audience than even Google. It's probably worth using both, though if you go Facebook heavy, you'll want as robust of a Facebook presence as possible. Google seems a little friendlier if you want to direct people to your actual website and not just your Facebook page.
As for Facebook for Business, ethical quandaries aside, the Facebook ad platform arguably allows for much more specific targeting of the individuals in your target market. Facebook offers similar budget controls, and arguably a greater captive audience than even Google. It's probably worth using both, though if you go Facebook heavy, you'll want as robust of a Facebook presence as possible. Google seems a little friendlier if you want to direct people to your actual website and not just your Facebook page.