Google Adwords has been at the
core of digital advertising for years now.
Look at any digital advertising or marketing position and you will see
the qualification clearly listed: experience using Google Adwords. You can take classes to become an expert and
even become certified.
Why has there been so much focus
on one specific form of digital
marketing? The first reason is that
Google has an incredible amount of traffic.
Where do you head first when you need something? For most of us, it’s Google. Elisa Gabbert notes 10 Reasons to Use Adwords which include two
very appealing reasons: it’s flexible and easier than SEO (Gabbert, 2012). Google allows you to target your audience and
customize your campaign through an array of options. Geographics, demographics and browsing
behavior are just the start. Google
allows you to be very flexible and experiment through different campaigns. As for SEO, don’t get me wrong, it is extremely important in order to organic
traffic. But with paid search traffic
getting more conversions than organic traffic, it is well-worth your time and
money to be investing in Adwords as well.
However, it can be easy to get
turned-off or confused by the ever-changing landscape of Google Adwords. Just recently, the search giant released a
statement saying that they will be updating the Adwords Ad Rank algorithm. You might be thinking: I didn’t really
understand the algorithm before, so do I need to try to spend the time learning
the new one? Here’s what you need to
know: the cost and placement of your ad is based on expected impact from ad
extensions and formats (Kim, 2013). This
means, that if you aren’t using ad extensions, it’s time to start!
Larry Kim says that in lieu of
this new algorithm, we should expect a few things to be happening:
●
Expect the mobile transition to pick up
the pace.
●
Rising average CPCs.
●
AdWords becomes more competitive.
●
SMBs will fall down or have to outsource
help.
●
Goodbye, more organic SERPs space.
So, in addition to Adwords, what are our
other options? Many businesses, both big
and small, have been utilizing Facebook as an advertising platform. Facebook, like Google, is a good place to
advertise because of the sheer amount of people who are on the site every day. You also have the ability to target people by
geographic location, age and other simple demographics. However, the type of hyper-targeting offered
by Google is not supported by Facebook yet.
In order to compete, Facebook has recently unveiled a new system of
advertising which I briefly outlined in a previous post. This system will allow marketers to use new
“objective-based” buying to purchase ads by determining an ideal click-through
rate, amount of likes or app installations.
With this new program, Facebook is hoping to draw in more marketers by
providing more options while simplifying the process.
So which platform is for you? Let’s take a look at this infographic for a
few takeaways:
● First we see that the country you are in matters. The Philippines for instance, has a much
higher use of Facebook ads than Google ads.
● Next we notice that online revenue for Google Adwords is
about ten times as much as Facebook Ads.
● Market share also demonstrates that Facebook only accounts
for 3.10% of global online ads while Google accounts for 44.10%. However, in the US, Facebook accounts for
16.76% of online display ads which is more than Google’s 16.50%
● Skipping down to Global Online Advertising Reach, we see
that Google has twice as much reach, and about the same amount of unique US
visitors
● Google’s average CPC for the US was significantly higher
than Facebook’s
● However, Google’s CTR is light-years beyond Facebook’s
Each platform has its own forte. Perhaps the answer is not simply which one is
better for your business. Try
experimenting with both, and you may find that certain products or pages are
more successful on either Google or Facebook.
References:
Gabbert, E. (2012). Why use adwords? Here are 10
reasons. WordStream. Retrieved from: http://www.wordstream.com/blog/ws/2012/12/03/why-use-adwords
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