Do you feel frustrated trying to overcome the challenges posed by your Google or Facebook advertising efforts?

Facebook and Google advertisements are the most extensive online advertising platforms based on user engagement. Together, they hold the largest share of the United States ads spending, with a combined 56.8%. 

Facebook vs Google advertising: Which one is the best for your brand?

Before proceeding, it is crucial you know that both Facebook and Google don’t work precisely the same way and each of these platforms comes with its advertising challenges. 

The similarity between both platforms is that users advertising on them do so with the sole aim of promoting their businesses or brands. 

Bearing this in mind, you may be asking yourself: how do I tackle the challenges each platform poses?

This article will answer this question and many more, but first, here’s a glance of what we will cover:

• Google vs. Facebook Advertising: Understanding How Both Work
• Facebook vs. Google Advertising Challenges All Businesses Need to Overcome Today
• Avoiding Common Advertising Mistakes
• Facebook vs. Google Advertising: Why You Shouldn\'t Go All In with One Platform
• Google vs. Facebook Advertising: Which Platform Is Better for Brand Awareness?

Before we dig deeper, you must understand how both platforms work.

As mentioned earlier, Facebook and Google advertisements don\'t work precisely the same way, and here’s why: 

(Source: SocialMediaToday)

Facebook ads, also called paid social, deal with disruptive advertising because the Facebook platform shows adverts unrelated to users\' inquiries. It is the second-largest online advertising platform after Google Ads, with eMarketer projecting a digital ad spending of 24.2% this year in the United States. 

This paid social platform is vital because it has many users and helps new customers find businesses based on their online behavior and interests. 

(Source: Finances Online)

Google Ads is the largest and the most populous pay-per-click ad platform globally, with 27.7% of total United States digital ads spending projected by 2022. While Facebook ads work based on disruptive advertising, Google ads are less disruptive. 

(Source: eMarketer)

Google ad management focuses on text-based advertisement targeting the use of keywords. In other words, Google Ads work on a search basis; therefore, it is based on specific keywords and phrases based on the query of its users. 

In summary, Facebook ad management helps new customers find your business, while Google ads allow your business to find new customers. 

The world of advertising is constantly changing, and with that change comes new challenges for advertisers to overcome. There are so many challenges with Facebook vs Google advertising that all businesses need to overcome today. We’ll be looking at challenges that are unique to each of these mega-platforms.

Here are four challenges with Facebook ad management that you need to overcome in 2022:

When someone searches for something online, Google displays sponsored links at the top of the page. If you\'re not listed there, you won\'t appear when searchers look for your product or service.

It may be quite difficult to grab the attention of your target audience with limited characters to work with. Headlines for Facebook Ads is limited to just 40 characters, with description having 30 characters, and primary text having 125 characters. Although you may exceed this limit, you would risk your text being truncated.

This poses a major challenge when you need more space to tell your target audience what makes yours an irresistible offer and why your business is better than your competitor’s. You will also need to add a call to action (CTA).

Google, on the other hand, allows for more characters for both headline and description. According to Google, you can add a third headline and a second description to your ads. Each headline can have at most 30 characters while each description should not exceed 90 characters.

To create a compelling ad on Facebook and drive conversions, you will have to maximize the space you have and hope they perform very well.

Most people on Facebook are there to socialize and relax, not shop. Hence, you are not as likely to quickly convert leads with your Facebook Ads as you would with your Google Ads.

Google uses search ads, giving Ads an upper hand as it places businesses directly in front of customers when they need it. So, buyer intent is passive for Facebook Ads and active for Google Ads.

Facebook may be a mega social network but your ads will not reach as many people as it would if you were to use Google Ads. Facebook’s over 1.93 billion daily active users is no match for Google with over 5.6 billion searches conducted daily. So, you may not enjoy an enormous reach on Facebook as you would on Google.

Here are two common challenges you are likely to face when using Google ads:

Google Ads allows advertisers to post images with as low as 300 x 300 pixels for square and 600 x 314 pixels for landscape. Unfortunately, while this may look like an advantage over Facebook Ads, Google does not allow more than 1200 x 1200 pixels for square and 1200 x 628 pixels for landscape. So, if your image exceeds the recommended image resolution, it may not be approved.

Image resolution for Facebook ads must not be less than 1080 x 1080 pixels and there is no maximum resolution. This allows you to upload very high-quality images that will grab the attention of your target audience as long as it meets the ratio requirement of 1.91:1 to 1.1.

The average cost per click (CPC) for Google ads across industries is higher compared to Facebook Ads. Google Ads has an average CPC of $2.69, with insurance businesses paying up to $20.12 and the lowest being the electronic sector with 77 cents.

The average CPC of Facebook Ads as of 2021 is $0.97, with catalog sales at $0.25 per click and brand awareness at $3.30 per click. 

Therefore, it is generally cheaper to run your campaign on Facebook than it is on Google. Using Google Ads may result in overspending on clicks, which poses a major problem for advertisers. 

It is recommended that you start your Google Ads campaign launch with high bids to give your ads a better opportunity to get more clicks. As a result, you will get higher Quality Scores, which will guarantee cheaper clicks. However, if you bid too high, your advertising budget will not be sufficient and you will end up getting a negative return on investment.

Because of the complexity of the Facebook vs Google advertising algorithm, some mistakes are made by business owners when using these platforms for advertisement. Here are six common mistakes and how to avoid them:

One of the common mistakes business owners make when using this platform is that they allow the algorithm to do guesswork. The algorithm just guesses how to place your ads based on certain factors.

But you can help the algorithm do less guesswork by defining your audience. Since the algorithm uses the data you input to determine a potential audience, putting in the wrong information means the algorithm will deviate your audience. 

Also, when you input the correct data, the algorithm will direct your ads to the right audience. The more defined your audience is, the more accurate Facebook and Google will show your advertisement to your market. 

Neglect is another common mistake often associated with people using Facebook for ads. You use Facebook ads without the Facebook presence and individual relationship. Still, do you expect the same level of ads optimization as the business owners who take time to grow a large following? 

People who follow your brand are already halfway to becoming customers or are already customers who have enjoyed your products or services. Following your brand is a way of telling you that they want to be the first to know the latest about your brand.

Allowing Facebook followership is another way to help the Facebook algorithm know the specific people interested in your brand. They are usually one of the first people interested in your ads. 

The information your ads are carrying is one of the most important factors to consider before placing the ads. For example, while some people of a particular age may laugh about vague content, others will find it offensive. Likewise, while people of a specific region will find certain ads offensive, people of another area will welcome them with open arms.

If your ads must use certain vague or explicit ad content, you need to let the algorithms understand which age groups or regions are best for the ads. People will likely not click on your ads if they find them offensive.

Ads that have been shown many times to a specific audience become devalued. All business owners must avoid making this mistake. People become irritated or avoid ads when they have seen the ads too many times. The result of this is negative branding and ad blindness. 

Help the algorithm to help you. Before launching your ads campaign, adjust the frequency cap of your ads in your settings to help control the number of times your ads appear to a specific audience at a particular time frame. 

Not trying to beat the competition is a common mistake. Competition plays an essential role in how your ads are displayed. The algorithm that determines how your ads perform prioritizes higher budgets and bid rates which means more pay for Facebook and Google. 

Google ads are more competitive; hence, increasing your cost per click for specific keywords will help the algorithm increase your click-through rate and rank your search results. 

As soon as you launch your first campaign, Google starts serving your ads to people who are most likely to buy from you. That\'s why you see a high conversion rate right off the bat. But, as you scale up your ads, Google will notice and start serving them to other potential customers, as well.

(Source: Apex Infotech)

When potential customers tap on your ad, it is better to send the person to a dedicated landing page than the homepage of your website. Most times, the home page can be distracting for most visitors; the worst is poorly designed or those pages with different products and services. 

It is better to use a targeted landing page; that way, the user will not abandon the page since it deals directly with the reason for the click.

Using this ad optimization strategy is ideal for businesses selling distinct products. For example, user A may view your cap product page while user B will view the shoe product page, but both users view the same display page. 

Moreover, the ads bring back visitors to your landing page who visited at one point but didn’t complete the purchase. In addition, the chances of them being converted are higher than the second time since the ads show them the variety of your products. 

Remarketing list search ads make it easier for you to serve search ads to potential customers who visit your website by targeting them whenever they search competitor\'s websites on Google.

We strongly recommend spending more because of what you stand to gain when you reach more consumers or buyers with a larger budget.

Two good heads are better than one, right? Look at Google vs. Facebook advertising in that way. Each of these platforms has an advantage that is different from the other. Also, some of their disadvantages are complimentary. 

Picking one over the other means you will be losing out on the advantages of the other. For example, due to how the algorithm works, there could be a time when you may find it impossible to optimize your Facebook ads, but you will quickly optimize your Google ads. So it is safe to say that “it is not good to put your eggs in one basket.” 

Facebook and Google ads are powerful advertising platforms with distinct advantages that can help grow any business. 

But why will you want to settle for one when you can have two?

Facebook vs Google advertising is the most effective advertising combo you can get in most parts of the world that suits all businesses. 

As ringleaders in the online advertising sphere, the duo has provided modern companies with an enormous user base to advertise to. Moreover, each platform is the best in its unique way of brand awareness. 

Unfortunately, your marketing success is dictated by how well you overcome the challenges posed by the advanced algorithms of these paid digital marketing big dogs.

To help surmount these challenges, you should partner with a ‘white-glove’ digital marketing agency like Flying V Group. We have the marketing experience, systems, and resources to help overcome today’s paid advertising challenges.

Contact us and we can help you develop a multi-channel, cohesive paid advertising strategy serving sales-based ads and content-based ads, across the best social media networks.