There are many avenues available for making sales and building brand awareness online. As much as social media has been the favorite recently, other formats of online marketing have proven much more valuable over time.
Advertising, either through individual websites or using larger ad networks, has been a staple of web marketing for over a decade. It’s easy to track, provides excellent value, and lets you find your customers in some unexpected places. But how do you decide which networks to advertise on?
While independent ad networks, or private channel advertising, can be a great way to boost your brand, let’s look at two of the most recognized ad channels, to see why they’re different, and what they’re best at promoting.
Google AdWords – Advertising at the Point of Need
AdWords has been around for some time, and are undisputedly one of the largest internet entities on the planet. Advertising using this system allows you to target a potential customer’s exact needs – exactly when they express those needs.
For example; if your business is a service – let’s say you’re a plumber who handles emergencies – AdWords is an excellent place to advertise, because there will always be people searching for terms related to your business.
When someone searches for “24 hour emergency plumbers” – you have an opportunity to appear right there, at the top of the page. Your ad could also appear in a website – perhaps a discussion forum using Google’s AdSense system to for funding – if that forum covers topics related to plumbing issues. In either case, using AdWords, you’re answering a need immediately.
Even in cases where someone clicks on your ad, or visits your website, but does not get in touch with you, AdWords can keep working through a system called Remarketing. Using this feature means that, if someone’s computer contains signs they’ve visited your website recently, Google will be much more likely to remind them you exist in future ads – keeping you top of mind.
In this way, Google’s biggest advertising system shines in providing answers right when people ask questions, or matching someone’s activity to an ad in real time through the context of their actions.
Facebook Ads – Responding to Who You Are
Where Google answers your questions when you ask, Facebook allows advertisers to target their offerings based on who you’ve expressed yourself to be already.
Do you like movies, going to the theatre, popcorn, or a particular critic? You’re very likely seeing ads based on those preferences. You might have clicked on some just because they seemed more interesting. Do you prefer Mexican food over Italian? One national pizza franchise over another? Again – you may see ads, and if you want to, you can build ads for your business, based on these pieces of information.
Everything from someone’s age, to where they live, to which popular pages a person has liked can be used when targeting advertisements on Facebook.
Facebook ads are also not limited to promoting an action like clicking through to your website. They can be used to build a longer-term relationship with your brand, either by promoting posts from your page – or by promoting the page itself and getting users to connect with you there, where you can continue to share your messages at no cost.
In this way, Facebook advertising is more about relationships – the ones that users have expressed, and the ones you want to build with them – than what they may need at a given moment.
So what’s the difference, really?
It’s all about what you’re promoting, and why.
Facebook advertising works best when the focus is on awareness of a product, service, or promotion – limited time offers, events, that kind of thing. Finding your audience and spreading the word about something.
Google advertising works best when you’re answering a desire. On-demand services, online purchases, connecting with people who have needs right then and there.
The beautiful part is that there’s no need to choose one or the other.
As with most businesses, success using any of these platforms is all about message and positioning. Getting the best value for your business out of both platforms takes time and attention, just like any other marketing action.
If you’re interested in advertising – either through Facebook, Google, or any other platform – we’d like to help. Feel free to leave a comment here, or get in touch with us to start a conversation.
Source: Hello BLOG
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