Google Adwords and Facebook Ads

Google Adwords

Advertisers have always wanted to be able to pitch a product or service with the right offer, to the right person, at the right time.

Google adwords attempts to bring this long-sought-out functionality to marketers: it provides highly-targeted messages delivered to users based on what those users are specifically looking for at that exact moment.

The platform is further compelling because of its user-directed nature, allowing buyers to set their budget, location, and keywords. Results are then displayed on a dashboard interface which can include a number of metrics, including the total amount of sales generated by a specific keyword. Campaign managers can modify campaign specifics at any time.

An example of how a marketing campaign based on adwords can be effective is seen in a case study done by the InterContinental Hotel Group that was written about a Marketing Week article:

“IHG created mobile-based AdWords campaigns for each hotel brand for localised sites in the UK, France, Germany and Italy. These campaigns contained unique messaging, which included phrases such as 'Holiday Inn Hotels', 'Mobile site - book now' and 'Call or book direct on mobile site'. De Rosa says: "It seemed clear that to maximise traffic, we needed mobile-specific ad text for the different hotels worldwide."

The adoption of unique messaging delivered great results. "By using text specifically aimed at mobile users, we saw revenue from our mobile search activity increase by 91% year on year," says De Rosa. Further analysis showed the UK produced the best results, closely followed by Germany, France and Italy. De Rosa adds: "Thanks to our current activity with Google, traffic to our mobile site is increasing by 20% month on month." (2010)

Google is the second most popular website in the world after Facebook (Alexa: top sites).  For this reason, its reach is one of the largest available to marketers. Furthermore, with search at the core of Google’s business, it will continue to refine its understanding of its users. In a Wired article, author Steven Levy wrote this of Google:

“The microeconomics of Google is more complicated. Selling ads doesn't generate only profits; it also generates torrents of data about users' tastes and habits, data that Google then sifts and processes in order to predict future consumer behavior, find ways to improve its products, and sell more ads. This is the heart and soul of Googlenomics. It's a system of constant self-analysis: a data-fueled feedback loop that defines not only Google's future but the future of anyone who does business online.” (2009)

  

Facebook

Facebook is currently the top ranked site in the world according to Alexa Rankings (Alexa: top sites). This means that for any marketer, it is an important site to understand and use effectively in order to reach your audience.

Facebook’s main advertising tool is Facebook Ads, display ads that can target users based on demographic and psychographic information.

Facebook Ads offer a number of benefits compared to Google adwords: they are visual, they can target psychographic profiles in addition to demographic profiles, and users simply spend more time on Facebook, allowing the advertised brand to get more exposure. The Facebook Ad selector tool will also inform campaign members of the number of users who will be reached through a certain campaign. To managers then have the option to either pay per click or pay for views.

To compare and contrast, Facebook and Google offer two fundamentally different approaches to reach an audience. Google focuses on specific intent of a user at a specific time. The ads are better targeted because a user is specifically looking for that information at that time. To give an example, a user might search for “Vacation rentals in Malibu” on 5 pm on a Sunday night. The ad for a service offering vacation rentals will be displayed to the person at that time. In this situation, Facebook, on the other hand, can only offer advertisers profiles of people who “like travel” in their hobbies and fit the demographic and psychographic profile of someone who might possibly be interested in traveling to Malibu and staying in a vacation rental. That being said, something like a buy one get one free coupon for a Burger King burger would likely be better on Facebook, as the target audience for that kind of promotion would not necessarily be people searching for fast food coupons.