In this blog we discuss the benefits of different types of online advertising. Pay per click advertising and Facebook boosted posts come under our microscope.
We often get asked by our clients where they ought to invest their marketing budgets. Small businesses don’t have a large pocket of money they can afford to waste unlike some larger companies. The idea of investing their savings into brand awareness can be a daunting one. So it’s completely understandable why many SMEs in the UK use Facebook business pages to promote themselves.
Why is Facebook advertising good for SMEs?
Facebook advertising is a relatively cheap means of advertising. It can lead to a flood of enquiries if your product is something people are likely to purchase on a whim. For example, if you are selling toys for small children, then advertising through Facebook can be a big earner. Parents may not be looking to buy a new toy, but seeing it a few times could be enough to generate a sale.
Facebooks advertising is a big topic and we explore it in a little more detail in a separate blog post. However, a brief summary is that Facebook tries to post your advert to groups of people using the tremendous amounts of data that they gather. You can target people based on all manner of different rules.
What is best, advertising on Facebook or Google Ads?
It depends on the type of product you are offering and how likely people are to click on the advert if they’re scrolling their news feed. Facebook is undoubtedly cheaper to advertise through than Google. However this doesn’t mean it is the best route to go down.
You may end up spending more on Facebook than Google to get a sale. The biggest difference between Facebook and Google promotions is the intent.
Intent and advertising on Google and Facebook?
The biggest difference between Facebook and Google is the user intent.
When you use Google you are actively searching for something. This means that if you, as a business, promote yourself for a key-term that is searched, then you are likely to see enquiries/sales. That is, as long as your website is trustworthy, appealing, quick to load and meets the expectations of the user.
Facebook is passive advertising. This means that generally your advert is shown while someone browses through Facebook. They may have recently shown an interest in your product/service. They may just meet the criteria set by the advertiser – for example, target 18-35 year-olds in the UK. The chances are they aren’t on Facebook to find your product though, they are there to catch up on what friends are sharing and relax. In order for someone to convert, you have to find the right moment when they are open to click on your link.
Imagine a billboard at the side of the road. Imagine that only the right people are passing that billboard advert. The key target audience. But they drive past it at different times. On their way to work, to the gym, to the shops. Whilst they are technically the right people for the billboard, but it’s not necessarily the right time to get them to want to buy something.
If your product can be tailored to Facebook audience settings, knowing when they are likely to purchase, then Facebook is a really cost effective method for small businesses. If your product isn’t something people are likely to buy on a whim, or something that may need a lot of repetition to gain clicks, and it outweighs the profits you would receive, then it isn’t right for you. Make sure you do the math and calculate the cost per lead – this way you can test both Google and Facebook and see which one delivers best for the money.
Facebook advertising versus boosted posts, which is right for you in 2021?
Knowing your end goal is essential to selecting which option is right for you; boosted post or Facebook advertising.
If you are looking to get a high reach (the number of people seeing your advert), want interactions, but you aren’t looking for leads as a direct measure of success, then boosted posts is an excellent tool. The benefit here is that Facebook does the audience research for you. If you have enough data for Facebook to assist, it will recognise the best people to put your post out to so that it performs well.
If you are looking for leads, website conversions, page engagement, product or shop orders, and brand awareness then choosing Facebook Adverts is the best route to take.
If you are seeking increased brand awareness, interactions, shares and page followers, then boosting your post is the best choice.
We recommend you take a two-pronged approach and use both methods. Facebook posts will help improve your long-term marketing goals of getting known and getting recommendations. Adverts will help you to gain the short-term goals of enquiries.
If you’re new to Facebook and you want a reputable agency to manage your Facebook posts and adverts for a competitive price, then speak to us. We are a small business that supports small businesses in the UK. We help the small, brave and the mighty businesses looking to grow through these tough times.