In today’s fast paced world of modern-day digital, it’s an ongoing challenge for most companies today to acquire, engage and convert their audience. Two of the most popular advertising mediums – social media ads and search ads grow as the cornerstone topic of paid marketing conversation. Instead of making one of them as an absolute best option, you should know that both have their own perks, being the choice of the one that works better for your brand a matter of your goal, budget, target audience, and stage in the marketing funnel.
As you’re looking to pursue a career in advertising or currently pursuing a digital marketing course, you must’ve discovered that both mediums are important in their own ways. But, isn’t it tough to decide which channel to go with when you are looking for the most of your ad dollars? Let’s take a look at the similarities, differences, and where each shines best.
What Are Search Ads?
Search ads or pay-per-click (PPC) ads appear on search engines like Google and Bing when users are looking for a specific keyword. These are the ads that show above or below the organic search results and are designed to capture the highest intent traffic. Simply put together, search ads have an audience actively looking for a product, service, or answer. Basically Saving time.
One of the greatest benefits of search advertising is its fundamental alignment with user intent. If someone is looking for “best running shoes under $100,” then an ad, followed by a product page experience provides an immediate answer. The intent is obvious and the purchase funnel is shallow.
But while search ads may have a high ROI, particularly in industries fueled by immediate need such as law or home repair, they can also be expensive in terms of cost-per-click especially for competitive keywords. You’re also chained by your creativity as your message is confined to text, so you have less visual storytelling muscle.
What Are Social Media Ads?
Social media ads show up on a variety of platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and X (which used to be known as Twitter). Whereas search ads depend on a keyword query, social advertisements are behaviorally and demographically targeted. You’re targeting users according to interests, past behavior, job titles, location and more even if they’re not actively searching for your product at that time.
The prime benefit here is visibility and interaction. Social channels are ideal places for brand storytelling, visual interest and emotional connections. You can use image-based ads, videos, carousel slideshows, polls, and now even interactive story ads.
But social ads can be great for brand awareness, top-of-the-funnel engagement or retargeting people who have already interacted with your brand once at least. However, a thing to note is that social users aren’t shopping when they’re on social platforms. Either they’re scrolling, or chatting, or otherwise seeking entertainment. The immediate intent to purchase is less compared to that from search ads, so you may need more than one touchpoint to achieve a conversion.
When Would You Use Social Media Ads?
If you’re trying to sell, or get your company (or certain content and events) noticed by a target audience, you can’t really beat social media as a communications platform. It’s perfect for brands that are launching new products, entering new markets or need to drive engagement with niche or hard-to-reach audiences.
For instance, if you’re launching a line of green skin care products, Instagram and TikTok ads can help you show rather than simply tell how your product works, surf testimonials and capitalize on fads like unboxing videos or before-and-after transformations. For lifestyle, fashion, wellness and consumer tech brands, that creates an opportunity for an emotional resonance, which can be very strong.
They are also great for retargeting with social ads. A well-placed Facebook ad, perhaps including a discount or limited-time offer, can be just the thing to bring such a shopper back, after all users to your site are never going to be 100% invested in making a purchase on the first call to action.
Additionally, many digital marketing training programs now include instruction on the social media advertising platforms that are used by today’s digital marketers. They even show you how to use tools such as Meta Ads Manager to optimize for engagement and measure campaign success based on demographics and variations in creative.
When do you need search ads?
Search ads are great to capture demand and drive immediate action. If you offer services (like, say, “emergency plumbing New York”) or “sell the kind of product only mandated for sale by or to the state of California,” search ads will get you a direct line to people who are looking to take action right away.
These ads also work great for local businesses, ecomm brands, and high ticket service providers. Because users are already in “search mode,” your ad is presented to them at that exact moment that they’re most likely to click on it. You can also leverage search ads to do some “brand” domination, guard against competitors bidding on your name, and promote offers during high-volume times of year.
Your keyword strategy is the make-or-break factor for search ads. How High is the Purchase Intent of Each Keyword You have to know what words show high intention to buy and you “bid up” on those words. Most students of a paid digital marketing course have an opportunity to write Google Ads, experiment with ads and ad copy, create landing pages and use negative keywords to eliminate irrelevant traffic.
Which Delivers Better ROI?
It depends on what you are trying to achieve. Search ads usually have higher conversion rates due to high intent. When people search for a solution, they click and buy more often. But search ads can be more expensive per click, particularly in category-heavy verticals like finance, legal or health care.
Social ads may not turn over as quickly, but they generally cost less per impression, and do better at sending traffic, engaging people and building long-term brand value. A visually compelling ad campaign on Instagram can attract thousands of views, comments and shares for a fraction of the cost of a high-ranking search ad.
And sometimes the biggest return is not even in a single effort, but in how they work together. Countless high-performing brands that use social advertising to generate interest and awareness and re-target with search ads use social ads. This system has the effect of building a multi-point of contact funnel that pulls users from awareness to action over time.
Key Considerations Before You Decide
To decide between social and search ads intelligently, ask yourself the following:
Where am I trying to reach my audience? Are they hunting, in other words, or merely hunting?
What part of the funnel am I going for? If it’s awareness, go social. If it’s conversion, go find.
What is my budget? If you’re restricted, consider creating a spend-per-result comparison between platforms for your industry.
What are the tools in my toolbox? And if you’ve got great visuals and storytelling content, go hard on social. If concise, keyword-stuffed copy is your forte, search could cut out the middle man.
What do I know, and what am I capable of doing? If you sit down to write something that ends up being in one versus the other, then that may give you an advantage when it comes to both performance and optimization.
Learn before you burn (through your budget)
In your journey as a marketer, a digital marketing course can provide the clarity, traction, and actionable knowledge that you crave. Good digital marketing courses will teach you those skills along with providing clarity on how to develop cross-channel programs, measure budgets, run A/B tests, analyze the results and optimize a campaign.
You’ll also gain hands-on experience with Google Ads, Meta Ads and LinkedIn Campaign Manager, and you’ll learn which ad types, formats and bidding strategies are appropriate for different goals.
In the cutthroat world of marketing today, knowledge isn’t just power; it’s profit.
Final Thoughts
There’s no one-size-fits-all victor in the contest between social media ads and search ads. They each have their rightful place in a comprehensive marketing plan. Social ads provide the ability to tell stories, discover and engage. Search ads deliver immediacy, action and enormous conversion potential. But smart marketers know that the true strength isn’t in the “or” but rather in how they can be used together, depending on campaign objectives and audience engagement.
If you are really serious about digital advertising, I would encourage you to take a digital marketing course and/or comprehensive digital marketing courses that cover search and social in great detail. With project-based learning, live sessions and simulations, you’ll have everything you need to deliver regardless of the technology.
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