You run a business in Arkansas, and you want paid ads that bring in customers who call you and fill out your forms. Google Ads vs Facebook ads: which channel do you start with?
Both channels can bring you customers, and we manage both of them for our clients. They reach a person at two different moments in a sale, and once you see the difference, the first pick gets easier. You can run a short test on your phone this afternoon and see which channel fits your business today.
The result you want is a phone that rings with the right customers, and a clear answer about which ads made it ring. Whichever channel goes first, the ad account belongs to your business and stays in your business name. You keep that account, and you can log in to it any day.
Google Ads vs Facebook ads: how each channel finds your customer
Google Ads starts with a search. Google’s help page for advertisers says your Search ad can show when someone searches with terms related to one of your keywords. The ad can appear on Google’s search results and on its search partner sites, and Google marks it with an Ad label.
So the person who sees your Google ad already has a need in mind. They typed those words because they want something done, and your ad puts your business in front of them at that moment.
Facebook ads start from the other end, with the person. Facebook lets you choose an audience by location, age, gender and interests. Your ad then shows to the people in that audience while they use Facebook, and they may not have searched for anything that day.
The two channels give you two different controls. With Google Ads you choose the words that can show your ad. With Facebook ads you choose the people who see it. Both controls start from the same thing, a clear picture of the customer you want to reach.
When Google Ads fits as your first channel
Start with Google Ads when people already search for the service you sell. Think about the last few customers who called you and how they found you. If they searched for the work and found you that way, people already look for what you do on Google. Google Ads can put your business in front of the next person who types those words.
The words in your campaign set which searches can show your ad. A keyword list built from the work you want more of can put your ad in front of the people who want that work.
You can check this on your phone this afternoon. Open Google and type what a customer would type to find your service, in everyday words. Try two or three wordings, because a customer may not use the name you use for the work. Then run each search again with the name of your town or county added.
Look above and below the results on each search for listings marked Ad. If you find them, other businesses already pay to show up on those searches, and that means people search for your service. If the ads come from businesses that sell what you sell, they want the same customers you want, and Google Ads makes a strong first channel.
If you find no ads and the results show nothing close to your service, your customers may not search for it yet. Then try the second half of the check. Describe your best customer by where they live, their age, their gender and their interests. If you can describe that person clearly, Facebook ads make the stronger first channel.
The town and county searches add one more answer. If the ads show up mostly when you add a town, people look for the work close to home, and your first campaign should stay close to home too.
Write down what you typed and what you saw on each search. Bring those notes to your first call with us.
When Google Ads goes first, we build the campaign around the words your customers type. We write each ad to match those words, because the person who sees it typed them a moment ago. Once the ads go live, we open the search terms report in your account with you and see which searches brought calls.
When Facebook ads fit as your first channel
Start with Facebook ads when people need to see your offer before they think to search for it. A new service is the clearest case. If you add a service your customers have never heard you offer, they have no reason to type its name into Google yet. The same is true when you start serving a new part of the state, where people do not know your business.
Look back at the customer you described in the check. Facebook offers the same four choices when you build an audience, so you can set up your first audience from that description.
For your business, location comes first in the audience. Keep the audience inside the area you serve, because every call from that area is a job you can take. Interests and age then narrow the audience toward the people who buy from you.
A Facebook ad has more work to do than a Google ad. The person did not ask for it, so the image and the words have to show what the service is and how a customer books it. Then the ad gives the person one clear reason to call you.
Pick one service for the first Facebook campaign. One clear offer shown to one audience in the area you serve gives you a clean count at the end of the month.
If Facebook ads go first, our job starts with the audience. We build it around the area you serve and the people who buy from you. Then we write each ad so a person who has never heard of you can see the offer and pick up the phone.
How you know which one works
A channel works when it brings in calls and forms from people who want your work. Each call or form is a lead. A click is a visit to your site, and a lead is a person who reached out to you.
Count leads the same way on both channels. A call from a Google ad and a call from a Facebook ad should each count as one lead, so the two numbers mean the same thing when you compare them.
Before the first ad runs, write down how many calls and forms you get in a normal month. That number gives the new channel something to beat. Keep the note where you can find it, because you will want it after the first full month.
Ask the person who answers your phone to write down how each new caller found you. That gives you a second count to set beside the tracking, and it shows you which channel your callers remember.
We review each ad against the account’s analytics and call tracking. That review shows which ads bring calls and which ads bring only clicks. The tracking has to count the right thing, and our post on Google Ads conversion tracking covers four setups that count the wrong number and how we repair each one. On the Facebook side, the count depends on the pixel, and our post on a Facebook ads audit covers how we check it.
Each client gets one PDF report a month. It comes monthly because Google and Facebook need time to track results, and a full month gives a new channel a fair test. If you want to hear from us sooner, we send a shorter email update every week or every two weeks.
At the end of each month, ask two questions. How many leads did each channel bring in, and which ads brought them? Once you can answer both, you know which channel works for your business and where next month’s ads should go.
When to run both
Add the second channel once the first one brings in leads you can count. By then you have a monthly number from the first channel, and you can measure the second one against it.
One customer can meet you on both channels. A person might see your Facebook ad this week and search for your service on Google next month. With both channels live, your business can show up at each of those moments.
The first channel also gives the second one a head start. Its leads show you which service people call about and which ads they answer. Start the second channel with that service, and count its leads the same way you counted the first. Give it a full month before you compare the two, for the same reason the report comes monthly.
As the owner, you set the date the second channel starts. We bring you what the account’s analytics and call tracking counted for the first channel, and you decide with those numbers in front of you. Both channels can stay on for as long as they bring you work.
We manage Google Ads and Facebook ads with our own staff, and one monthly report covers both channels. You can read about that service on our search and paid ads service page.
Pick your first channel with us
Call us before either account goes live. We create or confirm the ad account in your business name before any campaign work begins. You approve every ad and image before it runs, and we open the account with you to show what each campaign does.
Ty Woods answers for the work himself, and no account manager sits between you and the people doing it. Our team of five people manages eight client accounts from Arkansas, and we serve clients across the country.
Tell us what you sell, and bring the notes from your search test and your count of calls and forms from a normal month. The consultation costs nothing. Call us at 501.232.1017 or send a note through our contact page.