subject: Facebook Ads versus Google Adwords [print this page] If you are deciding where to do your online advertising, this article has some valuable information for you. Read on to find out how to leverage social networks, in particular Facebook to get the most out of your advertising dollar.
In order to determine how Facebook and Google compare, we will look at their requirements and limitations, targeting, platforms and cost effectiveness.
1. Ads: You will notice some striking differences between adwords and when creating facebook ads. On Google, the body of your ad is limited to 70 characters, split between two lines of text. This does not including the headline, which is an additional 25 characters. Facebook allows up to 135 characters in addition to the 25 character headline. One other difference is that on Google, you have to include keywords in your headline, and that is not a requirement of Facebook.
2. Targeting: Targeting is key to making all ad campaign successful. You must get your products, services and information in front of your targeted audience. Google Adwords target primarily with keywords, then target location and language.
When you create Facebook Ads, however, you have many options to help your ad reach just the right people. Your choices for targeting include by location; age groups; gender; an individual's interests; birthdays; education; language; occupation; relationship status; connections to certain groups, applications, pages, etc.
3. Platform: Google is a search engine and Facebook is a social community. This means that the way they present your ad to people is totally different. With Google, you use keywords so that a person sees your ad according to what they are searching for.
On Facebook, targeting is achieved by different criteria. Because it is a social network, there are other ways to expose your product or service to people. There is a definite viral aspect to Facebook simply because of its social platform. You can connect to customers in a variety of ways that are not even possible through Google Adwords.
4. Cost Effectiveness: Advertising in today's economy is big business and when the economy is sluggish, your ROI becomes even more important. Facebook Ads are extremely cost effective versus googles ad's. Not to mention better targeting mechanisms which equals higher conversion rates and more profit dollars.
The bottom line is that you can save money with Facebook Ads simply because prices are more affordable and Facebook has vastly superior targeting.
I found a great site, http://www.createfacebookads.com that will show you how to leverage this social network for targeted traffic and better conversions. It has a Facebook Ads tutorial that takes you step by step through the process of creating a killer facebook ad's campaign.
