Google Ads vs Facebook Ads: Better Results for Local Businesses
Small business owners who pick their pay per click (PPC) digital marketing strategy based on what they personally use, not what actually works for their target audience, can cost them thousands in ad spend and months of frustration.
Google Ads and Facebook Ads serve different purposes in your comprehensive marketing strategy. One focuses on building brand awareness, the other captures people actively searching for your services. Picking the wrong ad platform is like using a hammer when you need a screwdriver.
Good to Know When Choosing
Choose Google Ads when your potential customers actively search for the products or services you sell. Think plumbers, lawyers, dentists, or contractors. Your customers have pain points, and they want them solved now. Google Search Ads capture users with high search intent who are ready to convert.
Choose Facebook Ads when you need people to discover your business or products first. Think retail stores, event venues, or brand new businesses. Facebook advertising excels at putting your brand in front of your target audience before they start searching for your services.
Why Google Ads Wins for Lead Generation and Paid Search
Google advertising works because it captures users actively searching at the exact moment they need your service. When someone types “emergency plumber Squamish” into the search engine, they appear in Google search results, ready to hire someone today. They have a burst pipe, water everywhere, and they need help immediately.
This search intent makes all the difference in your PPC campaigns. Advertisers typically aim for conversion rates between 2% and 5% with successful Google Ads campaigns. That means for every 100 people who click your search ad, 2 to 5 become paying customers.
Google Ads work beyond just immediate conversions. When your Google Ads campaigns perform well on the search engine results page, Google notices. This can boost your organic search results too. It’s like getting a two-for-one deal in your online advertising strategy.
Google Search Ads work best for:
- Service-based businesses targeting keyword searches
- High-value purchases people research through search queries
- Businesses that handle urgent requests from Google users
- Companies competing for relevant keywords in local search terms
Why Facebook Ads Excel at Brand Building and Social Ads
Facebook advertising shines when you need people to discover your business for the first time. The platform excels at putting your business in front of users who fit your target audience profile, even when they weren’t actively searching for you. Unlike Google Ads, Facebook ads work by intercepting potential customers during their social media browsing.
Facebook ads work by intercepting potential customers during their social media browsing.
Facebook offers incredibly specific targeting options. You can target users based on age, interests, life events, and even behaviours. Want to reach new parents in Whistler who are interested in outdoor activities? Meta ads can do that with lookalike audiences and precise demographic targeting.
The visual nature of Facebook makes it ideal for businesses to utilize various ad formats. Carousel ads let businesses showcase their business. Story ads help stores display their products. Video ads enable event venues to showcase their spaces through engaging content, thereby preventing ad fatigue.
Facebook ads work best for:
- Businesses using visual ad formats
- Stores and product-based businesses with existing customers to retarget
- Event venues and entertainment companies building brand awareness
- Brand new businesses introducing themselves to Facebook users
Companies with strong visual content for social ad campaigns
Budget Reality Check for Your Advertising Strategy
This is where most small businesses stumble with their paid advertising. Both ad platforms require a minimum advertising budget to work effectively, but those minimums are significantly different.
Google Ads: $500 Monthly Minimum for PPC Success
Google advertising costs more because you’re competing for users actively searching with high search intent. In British Columbia, clicks for commercial search terms often cost $15 to $25 each through keyword targeting. A “dentist near me” search query might cost $20 per click in Vancouver or Squamish search results.
With a $500 monthly ad spend, you get roughly 20 to 30 clicks from your Google search campaigns. That should generate 1 to 3 new customers if your landing pages convert well. For most service businesses, one new customer covers the entire advertising budget.
Anything less than $500 per month doesn’t provide your PPC campaigns with enough data to optimize properly. You’ll spend months trying to figure out what works without getting meaningful results from your paid search efforts.
Facebook Ads: $150 Monthly Minimum for Social Advertising
Facebook campaigns cost significantly less per click because people aren’t actively searching to buy. You might pay $2 to $5 per click instead of $20 with your Facebook advertising. This means your ad spend goes much further in terms of reaching your target audience.
A $150 monthly budget can generate hundreds of clicks and thousands of impressions across various ad formats. While fewer Facebook users convert immediately, you’re building brand awareness through social ads that pays off in the long term.
How to Choose the Right Advertising Platform
Ask yourself this simple question: When someone needs your service, do they Google search for it or scroll through social media looking for inspiration?
If they use the search engine, invest in Google advertising. If they need to be inspired or educated first through social ads, start with Facebook advertising.
Choose Google Ads and paid search if:
- Potential customers search for your services when they need them
- You provide urgent or essential services that drive keyword searches
- You can handle immediate phone calls and bookings from search results
- Your profit margins support higher ad spend from PPC campaigns
- You want leads that convert quickly from users actively searching
Choose Facebook ads and social advertising if:
- People need to discover your business first by building brand awareness
- Your service or product works well with visual ad formats
- You’re launching something new and need a comprehensive marketing strategy
- You want to build long-term brand recognition with your target audience
- You have great photos or video ads to showcase across various ad formats
The Hybrid Approach: Combining Both Google and Facebook
If you have a monthly advertising budget of over $750, consider utilizing both ad platforms strategically as part of your comprehensive marketing strategy. Spend about 70% on Google ads campaigns for immediate leads and 30% on Facebook campaigns for building brand awareness and retargeting.
Utilize Google advertising to capture potential customers who are ready to buy now through paid search. Use Facebook advertising to stay in front of everyone else until they’re ready to make a decision, creating a full-funnel approach that combines Google Ads and Facebook.
This hybrid approach also lets you leverage different ad formats. Google offers search ads, Google display ads through the Google Display Network, shopping ads, and YouTube ads. Facebook offers carousel ads, story ads, video ads, and various social ads formats that engage users differently.
Common Mistakes With Ad Spend
Google advertising mistakes we seen:
- Setting advertising budgets too low to compete effectively in paid search
- Using broad relevant keywords that attract unqualified clicks in PPC ads
- Sending traffic to your homepage instead of optimized landing pages
- Not tracking phone calls as conversions in Google ads campaigns
Not taking advantage of the Google Display Network for retargeting existing customers
Facebook advertising mistakes that hurt social ads results:
- Expecting immediate sales from Facebook users who never heard of you
- Using target audience sizes that are too small for local businesses
- Ignoring video ads content that gets 5 times more engagement
- Not retargeting people who visited your website with Facebook Pixel
- Creating ad fatigue by not rotating your various ad formats regularly
Special Considerations for Local Businesses and Digital Marketing
If you serve the Sea to Sky corridor or similar markets, remember that seasonality plays a crucial role in your advertising strategy. Tourism-based businesses may find that Facebook when people research their trips through social media. Service businesses typically see consistent demand year-round through Google search.
Always use location extensions with Google ads campaigns and local interest targeting with Facebook campaigns. Track both online conversions and phone calls to get the complete picture of your paid advertising results. Consider that Google processes billions of search queries daily, while Facebook reaches millions of websites through its network.
Both Google and Facebook offer sophisticated targeting options. Google advertising focuses on search intent and keyword targeting, whereas Facebook advertising excels at targeting your audience based on demographics and interests.
Making Your Digital Marketing Decision
Start with the advertising platform that matches how your potential customers find businesses like yours. If you’re still unsure, look at your current leads. Do they come from referrals and word of mouth? That suggests Facebook advertising for broader building of brand awareness. Do they come from Google search results? Double down on Google advertising and paid search.
Remember, the best ad platform is the one that consistently brings you profitable customers through your comprehensive marketing strategy. Everything else is just noise in your online advertising efforts.
Contact us and let’s create a digital marketing strategy that actually fits your business and advertising budget, whether that’s PPC campaigns, social ads, or a combination of both Google and Facebook advertising platforms.
LET'S HAVE AN GOOGLE ADS CHAT
This deep familiarity with the community can be harnessed to deliver more effective SEO strategies. The agency can identify local events or news stories to which your business can respond or contribute, thereby improving your business’s visibility and local relevance. They can also customize your website’s keywords, meta descriptions, and content to align with local search trends and jargon, ensuring that your online presence resonates with local customers.
A local agency can help manage and enhance your online reputation, guiding you on responding to local reviews and with local customers. Through comprehensive competitor analysis, the agency can help your business identify opportunities to outperform other local businesses in search rankings.
In essence, the agency’s local knowledge allows them to craft an SEO strategy that is not only technically sound but also deeply rooted in the local context, resulting in higher search engine rankings and greater visibility among local customers.
Case Study: Craftsman Supply Co. started working with L8P Digital in 2022 with a goal of increased website visibility. Through collaboration with them, a solid SEO strategy was designed to bring them to the next level. Within six months, Craftsman Supply Co website visitors had tripled! Read more here.
We helped craft new website content to help better reflect their story. Through those efforts, they achieved a boost in their organic search rankings. A focus on local SEO through optimizing business listings and developing a complete content marketing strategy and categories of the products they carry.
Introduction to L8P Digital Marketing
L8P Digital Marketing is an established agency specializing in local SEO, committed to helping your business grow locally within Squamish and beyond. With an experienced team of SEO experts, L8P has a proven track record in boosting the online visibility of small businesses.
Our expertise is rooted in a deep understanding of major search engines, user search behaviour, and the unique dynamics of the Squamish business landscape. Our approach to local SEO is holistic and customized. We understand that each business has unique goals and target audiences.
Our approach starts with a comprehensive audit of your current digital footprint, illuminating areas for improvement. Based on this audit and an understanding of your business goals, we create a tailored SEO strategy. This strategy includes optimizing your website for locally relevant keywords, managing your local business listings, building authoritative local backlinks, and generating compelling content that resonates with your target audience.
At L8P Digital, our objective is to help your business rank at the top of local search results and turn those search users into loyal customers.
Mary and her team do a fantastic job, especially for small businesses. Our presence on Google was non-existent when we started with L8P and now we’re ranking on the first page! – Aaron Kopelow, GrantFinders
How Can L8P Digital Marketing Help Boost Your Online Presence?
We offer a comprehensive suite of services designed to amplify your online presence and drive growth.
- Local SEO: Our team conducts a detailed analysis of your existing SEO strategy, identifies areas of improvement, and develops a tailored solution to enhance your local search engine rankings.
- Online Audit and Research: We perform a meticulous audit of your website, focusing on its architecture, content, backlinks, and mobile compatibility. Based on this analysis, we implement necessary improvements, ensuring your website is easily discoverable and navigable by search engines and users.
- Content Creation: Our content team crafts high-quality, SEO-friendly content that resonates with your local audience. This includes blog posts, infographics, videos, and social media content.
- On-Page and Technical SEO: Optimizing on-page content and technical data, website speed and other necessary measures to make sure that your site is running as efficiently as it should when visitors arrive on your page.
- Off-Page and Outreach: Our team designs effective link-building strategies to boost your website’s authority and ranking, focusing especially on establishing strong local backlinks.
- Performance Reporting and Analytics: We provide regular, detailed reports on your SEO performance, enabling you to understand the effectiveness of our strategies and the return on your investment.
With L8P Digital Marketing, you can rest assured that your online presence is in expert hands. We strive to deliver a return on investment that meets and exceeds your expectations.
When you partner with us, the potential return on investment is significant. Tailored SEO tactics and online marketing strategies aim to enhance your online visibility, driving increased traffic to your website. This surge in web traffic often leads to an influx of leads and conversions, directly contributing to your business growth.
The heightened local presence can lead to long-term customer relationships, fostering brand loyalty and repeat business. Our comprehensive performance reporting allows your team to make data-driven decisions, optimizing your marketing spend for maximum effectiveness.
Accelerate Your Growth With A Digital Marketing Agency That Cares
Investing in local SEO is no longer optional but necessary for businesses looking to compete effectively and grow in the ever-evolving digital landscape. As a small business in Squamish, your online presence serves as your storefront, first impression, and primary touchpoint for potential customers.
Local SEO is the cornerstone that can elevate your visibility, making you the go-to choice for local customers seeking your products or services. By optimizing for local search, you’re improving your online visibility and driving high-intent traffic to your site, resulting in more inquiries, walk-ins, and, ultimately, sales. Don’t let your business be a needle in the digital haystack. Take the leap and invest in local SEO to truly boost your online presence, reach your target audience, and outperform your competition.
At our agency, we invite you to step into the world of optimization. Connect with us today for an in-depth consultation or to learn more about our services. Let’s bring your business to the forefront of the local Squamish market. Don’t stay unoptimized in a digital world. Let’s amplify your online presence together! Because your success is our success, and we’re pumped to get started!
Local SEO work is vital in paving the way for small businesses to make the right impression in Squamish and flourish. A strong local SEO strategy does more than boost your visibility on search engines; it connects you to your local community, helping you establish a strong, respected, and recognizable presence.
It’s about creating lasting relationships with your customers, becoming a trusted and reliable provider in your industry, and ultimately, contributing to Squamish’s vibrant and thriving local economy. Enhancing your local SEO is not simply an investment in your business but the community in which you operate. With the expert assistance of a local agency like L8P Digital Marketing, this goal is achievable for every small business in Squamish.
