Advertising on Google and Facebook: Pros and Cons

Advertising on Google and Facebook can be a powerful and efficient means of reaching customers. Neither, however, is for the faint of heart. Good marketers must study the pros and cons of advertising on either venue, if at all. Surely it holds the potential to reach customers quickly. But good marketers much measure and monitor closely the costs associated with each. 

There are pros and cons of advertising on each vehicle. 

The pros of advertising on Facebook:

Brand Awareness: Since Facebook is so immensely popular with more than 150 million members (USA only), it’s a good place to simply increase awareness of your product or company.

Largest Audience: Facebook has the largest daily audience of active users of any website in the United States, and compared to Google, users stay on the site for longer periods of time. 

Demographical Reach:  Facebook allows for some interesting demographical reach with his paid advertising. Paid advertisements may be focused by gender, age, religion, interest groups, and by other demographics. This is not possible on Google.

Cost: Generally speaking, experts say Facebook advertising is cheaper than Google search. However, marketers should carefully monitor and measure these costs (Laird, 2002).

Ad Types: Facebook allows for different forms of text and image contextual advertisements. However, Google is offering a wider variety of paid search ads now including with images, phone numbers, and video. 

The cons of advertising on Facebook:

Click-thru Rate: The click-thru rate on Facebook is notably lower than on Google. This may increase costs to get the same result vs. Google paid search.

Exposure: Unlike paid search on Google, ads on Facebook are limited to Facebook. You cannot reach beyond Facebook. This provides limitations. 

Analysis: Facebook offers very little analytical data to help measure and monitor clicks, impressions, and conversions. Google offers very deep analysis. This gives good marketers a challenge. 

The pros of advertising on Google:

Audience: Google simply has a huge audience. While Facebook itself has more time spent on its site, the Google Display Network more page views - including Youtube, Blogger, and Gmail (Wordstream, 2002).

Channel of Advertising: Google paid search offer display, banner, phone, video, text, and other forms of advertising. This allows for more testing and greater chance of success. Google also offers mobile reach, which Facebook does not. 

Analysis: Google paid search offers advanced targeting tools, so advanced you can get certified in it. This is a huge advantage over Facebook in terms of ability to measure ROI of advertisements. It even contains built-in conversion and revenue 

The cons of advertising on Google:

Expense: The primary disadvantage of paid advertising on Google is expense. Because advertisers have gone to Google in droves, the bids are quiet high and can be very expensive. Google paid search can be cost prohibitive and good marketers much carefully measure ROI. Some keywords can run as high as $55 per click (Wauter, 2011). 

Overall, Google paid search offers marketers better capacity and more opportunity for success, but at greater cost. 

Sources:

Laird, H. (n.d.). Facebook Advertising – Advantages & Disadvantages. Hallam Internet. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from http://www.hallaminternet.com/2012/facebook-advertising-advantages-disadvantages/

Facebook IPO: Can Facebook Beat the Google Display Network in Online Advertising? | WordStream. (n.d.). Facebook IPO: Can Facebook Beat the Google Display Network in Online Advertising? | WordStream. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from http://www.wordstream.com/articles/facebook-vs-google-display-network

Wauters, R. (n.d.). What Are The 20 Most Expensive Keyword Categories In Google AdWords? TechCrunch. Retrieved November 12, 2012, from http://techcrunch.com/2011/07/18/most-expensive-google-adwords-keywords/