Online advertising opens the door to immense opportunities.
You can guide the customer from the ‘wishlist’ or the ‘shopping cart’ to the ‘checkout lane’. The focal point of the business online — converting an opening created by a person browsing the net into a sale.
Any concern that hopes to make an impression on customers or prospective customers, or those whom you would never have considered where in your opportunity spectrum will need to make use of Internet advertising.
As your product or service gets set for the market or is launched you will need to do more than just unveil it. You will need to break down the wall of market apathy that faces any product. Online advertising signals your arrival in the most efficient and palpable way.
The biggest eCommerce sites are already the biggest retailers on the planet. So, to get the attention of individuals browsing on the Internet as a new entrant or maintaining your position as a niche player a new player has to create that half chance that can then be exploited.
As you browse the Internet on work or for pleasure — Amazon is already hot on your trail using your browsing history to float advertisements into your eye line and remind you that a shopping foray is incomplete.
Advertising online is your means of communicating with the world at large in one go. With target audiences fully linked to the internet wherever they go. Access to the potential buyer is possible round the clock by casting your image and brand professionally at the right time and place.
Google Ads and Facebook Ads are increasingly the faces of advertising for all forms of retail enterprise. They are also the way to go for publicity and communication about all your project efforts.
Both platforms and social adwords can target their customers in the required location, in the language they read and the currency they trade-in.
Google Adwords
Google’s adwords commercial model has over time become known as quite literally ‘paid search’. A paying customer’s eCommerce results appear on top and are tagged as ‘Ad’. Since that client has paid for the privilege his services trump even the search engine’s ranked listing which is based on relevance to the search.
In a ‘ring-fenced area’ generally to the side of the keyword search results are ‘Sponsored’ results which feature images of different brands separately. Google thus has a brand-building image too by including “paid” or “sponsored” results for both keyword searches and brands.
The paid or sponsored search thus caters to both the commerce website but also the brands sold within that site. Since many businesses end up using the same keyword Google holds a bidding round with its clients and the advertisement with the highest bid wins the race to top the search results.
Google Ads service is pay-per-click and you need only pay for each click on your service ad. Going by the billions of search queries Google handles every day its quite evident that clicks are not hard to come by.
Google search is very precise in following the specifications implicit in the keywords and also localizes the results of the query to your neighborhood and rates the services provided by each firm and also throws in detailed customer testimonials.
This paid search is among several terms in Internet lexicon that have become inextricably linked to Google Ads which was previously known as Google AdWords
Facebook Ads
Facebook Ads are also known as ‘paid social’ and Facebook paid ads
FB uses a side panel with sponsored advertisers content. Ads can move to the middle of the display too. There is flexibility in where they are placed.
This content mirrors browsing and shopping habits. It also promotes at the top of the panel sponsored advertisement or content that is new to you.
Facebook thus introduces the customer to something he probably never heard of before or knew he wanted. As we scroll through posts on Facebook the side panel advertises holidays in New Zealand and online courses at Harvard. The credibility provided by Facebook is vital to the selling strength and traction that these advertisements have in drawing your attention and encouraging you to click and explore the Internet rabbit hole of advertisements.
The advertisements here are changing from minute to minute. Also at the same time, Facebook continues to promote its primary business of social media posts on the same panel that is used to promote sponsored material.
So social networking efforts are also getting publicity here but the creators of the post are not paying even though the event being posted about is something connected to a commercial and retail launch or anniversary event.
Here the intention is to use the promoted post or social event page to get you moving away from your usual page deeper into the social strata and further networked
Facebook targets its advertising by maintaining data on visitors to its site. Facebook uses this data very skilfully employing technology and its algorithm to build a deep and commercially relevant profile on browsing, habits. This profile gives Facebook sales and marketing strategy enormous clout and muscle.
Being able to graph and chart your emotional i.e behavioral responses by combining data and its technological tools Facebook can now target advertisements very carefully zero in on the required target audience.
Since social media has an extremely engaging aspect of which Facebook is a very important exponent. Advertisements on FB provide the focus some small business owners need.
Smaller firms have a specific clientele who are more than likely on social media. This clientele is the most interested in that product and predisposed and amenable to making a purchase.
Also, FB is being used to create group posts that allow people to advertise, communicate and trade in goods. So FB has groups of people looking for homes to rent, seeking to sell vehicles, dispose of appliances and household services.
This ability to use FB as a bulletin board allows that post to be used as the focal point for advertisements linked to these public postings. Facebook’s data banks give it the ability to plot and predict your online diet and provide you a prepackaged supply of what it feels you need to see in terms of public posts and commercial advertisements.
This allows your brand and business to use public posts that combine the social media activities of a group of business entities and sponsored content- including advertising and posts to your business advantage.
Google ads vs facebook ads: in-depth insights
Advantages of Google AdWords
Research by online agencies is clear that Google trumps other advertising platforms on cost and effectiveness.
Google Ads brings you immediate results and hits at your website. If you have bid for top ranking in search listing then give Google’s potency traffic will be directed to your site the moment a keyword is entered.
“In the third quarter of 2019, Google's revenue amounted to 40.3 billion US dollars, up from 38.8 billion US dollars in the preceding quarter. Google's main revenue source is advertising through Google sites and its network.”
Courtesy: https://www.statista.com/statistics/267606/quarterly-revenue-of-google/
Once you get hits your site can stand on its own as long as your keywords are optimized and your website content is created with skill and professionally managed. You will receive hits that convert into business and actual transactions.
- Google has 90.46% of the search engine market share worldwide.
- 15% of all searches have never been searched before on Google.
- Google receives over 63,000 searches per second on any given day.
- Google has a market value of $739 billion.
- An average person conducts 3–4 searches every single day.
Courtesy: https://seotribunal.com/blog/google-stats-and-facts/
Facebook Paid Ads - Advantages
While people find friends on Facebook, you find new clients and discover business opportunities.
The advantage of Facebook is that it brings your eCommerce business in contact with new customers. Another advantage is that Facebook makes the user-client connection in an environment that suits and comforts the FB user.
What happens on FB creates social buzz and word of mouth traction for your business.
FB is food and drink for over a billion people daily. FB receives emotional inputs that no other social media site does. You need to be here to make the emotional connect with users.
Facebook combines data collected during interaction with users and information from advertisers to create an emotional and ideological profile. This data is used to create a ‘lookalike audience’ that is used to target audiences very efficiently.
“Facebook reported advertising revenue at $16.6 billion for the final quarter of last year, up 30 percent year-over-year. The total revenue earned during the quarter was $16.9 billion, with daily active users (DAU) at 1.52 billion, up 9 percent year over year.”
Courtesy: https://www.statista.com/statistics/267606/quarterly-revenue-of-google/
Facebook gives you access to 2.375 billion total users. Of these 1.5 billion login every day and are potential customers. Then there are a billion-plus users who connect to FB on mobile.
Facebook’s strengths are its networking and connective nature. It combines human bonding and need for affinity to eCommerce. Facebook is leveraging its reach to give its users a complete experience.
By bringing people together every day it opens up direct commercial possibilities by making subtle propositions as people read their posts.
Advertisements appear to the side and in the feed simultaneously - seamlessly creating a strong flow of content that has an immersive, and inviting impact.
Facebook users now login and directly click the link to Facebook’s marketplace for goods and services.
Facebook Ads vs. Google Ads: What's the Difference?
Audience size
Facebook has over 1.5 billion daily users. Google clocks 5.6 billion searches per day.
When you compare Facebook Ads and Google Ads there is a critical difference between the two platforms when comparing the audience and user.
Google Ads uses the search tool to take users directly to the client’s site.
Facebook Ads introduces users to a business or advertiser whose services or products may be of interest to them.
A Google user already knows what data, goods or services he is looking for. He uses Google to rank the various websites that provide that service or data. In the process, he may discover a new website that he was unaware of before.
Facebook Ads are more opportunistic in nature and depend on the user's need to socialize over the Facebook platform. FB depends on the time users are spending on the site to draw their attention to their advertisements and also the group posts its hosts.
Cost and RoI
On Cost Google scores. It has a very low cost of access to clients.
Facebook costs more but services a different need and appears to work well for smaller businesses.
On ROI Google has an advantage because of its lower cost and greater reach.
Facebook must be used as a means to enhance the offering once an opening has been created and sales have been kicked off with Google.
Buyer intent
The objective of Google users is clear. They intend to find a product at the best terms and want to home-in on the best eCommerce site possible for that.
Users who advertise on Facebook intend to target their customers very closely.
At this moment in time Facebook is advertising courses at Harvard. This is a very well known institution and a difficult place to secure admission.
So the intent here is to publicize a new diversity of courses that offer different levels of access at different points in a career.
Also, advertising are Columbia and MIT Sloan for various digital courses.
So these advertisements are linked to the user and closely follow the user’s habits and background.
Facebook’s timeline follows the user’s background and his social connections and adds sponsored content that matches.
Targeting options
Google Ads are tied closely to the keywords used. And since certain keywords are used by several clients, Google uses that to its advantage to start a bidding process to promote a certain sponsored webpage to the top of the search results.
Facebook Ads are linked to users' interests and habits. Facebook ties the user’s posts, group posts and advertisements that are of interest to those posting. So at a certain point, there are several groups being hosted including ones on classical music, a fan club, and history.
Ad formats
On Ad formats, Google and Facebook have an established way of displaying their content and advertising.
Both are similar in that advertising and sponsored panels are displayed on the sides and within the content or news stream also.
Facebook formats are design-heavy when they intrude with the public posting area and pose as content and posts.
Google formatting clearly demarcates advertisements as such. Pricing and brand are clearly mentioned. Discounted offers are the predominant proposition put forward.
Google AdWords and Facebook Ads: Which Should You Be Using?
Since access to eCommerce businesses happens through search engines - Google Ads is the only tool to get a foothold for your business. It provides the essential impetus of publicity, credibility and puts your idea and enterprise on the map. It serves as an instant connection with the customer. A customer looks for a product or service and is transported immediately to the portal where the goods are.
In that respect, Google Ads is indispensable to a business
Facebook is the way to nurture the business as it gets past the stages where it dealt with the issues surrounding launch and advances towards becoming an established unit.
Facebook Ads help the firm diversify away from its staple product and create new avenues for growth and revenue generation.
Facebook is the way to stay in touch with the new generation of shoppers who are on mobile and highly committed to social networking.
Verdict
Google Ads is the way to go for businesses starting out and it is important to maintain steady traffic towards your eCommerce website.
Because everyone uses Google, every one of those people can’t avoid seeing the ads and sponsored content is posted with the search results. That is a deal closer.
If money is no object then advertising on both Google and FB is a sledgehammer combination that gives you the best of both worlds.
Facebook has its place while you consolidate your position as an established business. It has over a billion eyeballs glued to its website so it does deserve consideration.
Because it is a daily referral point for nearly a third of the world’s population and is growing it does factor strategically in your advertising and communication plans.