When you operate in a competitive industry or want to showcase your brand to as many customers as possible, paying for additional exposure can help your business.
Think of paid search marketing and paid social ads as the modern-day equivalent of paying for a radio or television ad. You’re using your marketing budget to gain additional exposure as well as drive sales and leads.
At Bubblegum Search, we have experience in both paid search marketing and paid social ads. As a result, we’re often asked by businesses we work with which is the best fit for their needs.
In this article, we’ll look at the advantages of paid search marketing and paid social ads and what you need to consider when choosing which one to use.
What is paid search marketing?
Paid search marketing is when you pay to place an ad on a search engine results page, for example, on Google.
Let’s say someone uses Google to search for a particular keyword or phrase. Google will come back with a list of websites it believes matches the user’s search intent. With a paid search marketing campaign, you are ‘leap frogging’ these organic results to appear on the first page and ensure your business gets noticed.
What are paid social ads?
A paid social ad campaign is when you pay for your website or a product/service you sell to be promoted on a social media platform like Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok or Instagram.
All the major social media platforms now offer paid advertising to businesses that want to put their ads in front of the right people. These ads can appear in a variety of places, from your customer’s newsfeed to a direct marketing message in their inbox.
What are the advantages of paid search marketing over paid social ads?
Paid search marketing and paid social ads provide significant benefits for digital marketers. For example, they both offer detailed stats and analytics so you can see how your campaign is doing. Both ad types are also available on desktop and mobile, meaning you can advertise to people wherever they are.
However, both have their own distinct benefits too. Let’s start by looking at the advantages of paid search marketing over paid social ads.
You can focus on people who are ready to make a purchase
The benefit of a paid search marketing campaign is you can use it to target people who are ready to buy from your business.
For example, if someone searches for ‘most affordable mobile phone’, it’s likely that they are past the research stage and ready to make a purchase. So by ensuring you’re in the number one spot, you’re increasing the chances of them buying from you.
You’ve got a ready-made audience
Google has a global market share of 92%, and it’s estimated that 63,000 search queries are processed every second. This means if you want to increase the odds of your ad being seen, Google is a great starting point.
With paid social ads, users typically use multiple platforms, meaning they might not potentially see your advert.
What are the advantages of paid social ads over paid search marketing?
Let’s have a look at the benefits of paid social ads that could potentially upstage paid search marketing.
You can precisely target the right people
One of the main advantages of paid social ads is how you can target customers. As social media networks amass a lot of data about people who use the platforms, you can use this information to your advantage.
While paid search marketing lets you target people by demographics, a lot of this is assumed. For example, unless you tell Google your gender and age, it will guess depending on the type of websites you visit and the search terms you use. With social media platforms, the customer explicitly provides this information, making targeting more precise and meaning you’re more likely to see conversions.
The demographics you can target are also more diverse. For example, with Facebook you can target people who are interested in a particular hobby or have experienced a specific life event like getting married or having a baby. With LinkedIn, you can focus on people who work in a certain role or at a specific company.
You can take advantage of a variety of different ad types
With a paid search marketing campaign, you don’t have many options when customising your ad, as search ads are predominantly text-based. In Google Ads, you can add extensions, images, and short video clips, but your choices are still limited.
When you utilise paid social, you can create an advertisement that suits your audience’s specific needs. For example, Facebook lets you use multiple photos and videos, as well as showcase your product range. If you’re selling an app, you can let people play an interactive preview before downloading it.
What factors do I need to consider when planning a paid search marketing or paid social ad campaign?
Both paid search marketing and paid social ads can be a valuable way to grow your brand and boost traffic to your website. However, in order to avoid wasted ad spend, it’s important to understand your prospective customers’ goals and aims.
In our experience, as paid search marketing relies on keywords, it’s best for targeting customers that have done their research and are ready to purchase. However, paid social is best for building relationships and making customers aware of your brand.
If you have the marketing budget, you can use both paid search marketing and paid social ads to attract customers at different stages of the buying journey. Use an engaging social media campaign to appeal to customers who are at the start of their journey and conduct extensive keyword research to appeal to those who are in a position to buy.
In conclusion: do your research and understand your target audience. That way, you’ll be better positioned to determine whether paid search marketing or paid social ads are right for you.
We hope this guide has helped you understand the difference between paid search marketing and paid social ads, and which is the ideal option for your business.
If you still need extra help deciding, Bubblegum Search can give you the insight you need. Contact us today for your free, no-obligation marketing plan.