Facebook ads or Google ads: which should you try first?

You have decided to spend something on ads. Then you stall, because everyone you ask gives a different answer: your cousin swears by Facebook, a competitor is clearly on Google, and both platforms keep emailing you free credit.

The choice between Facebook ads and Google ads for a small business comes down to one question, and you can answer it about your own customers in a minute.

What is the actual difference?

Google ads catch demand that already exists. Someone types “emergency plumber near me” and your ad appears. They were already looking, so the job is to be there at that moment.

Facebook and Instagram ads create demand. Nobody opens Facebook looking for a plumber. Your ad interrupts them, so the job is to be interesting enough that someone who was not shopping decides they want what you have.

That difference decides everything else: what you spend, what you say, and how long it takes to work.

Which should a small business try first?

Ask one question: do people search for what you sell?

If someone with your problem would type it into Google, start with Google. That covers urgent and practical trades: plumbers, electricians, roofers, locksmiths, dentists, lawyers, car repair, pest control. The intent is already there and you are paying to meet it.

If nobody searches for it, start with Facebook and Instagram. That covers things people buy when they see them rather than when they need them: boutiques, salons, gyms, restaurants, events, most gifts, anything new enough that people do not know the words for it yet.

When both apply, which is common, start with Google. Demand that already exists is cheaper to convert than demand you have to manufacture, so you learn faster whether ads work for you at all.

What does each one cost?

Google charges per click, and the price is set by competition for that search. Across small business industries in the United States, clicks commonly run one to seven dollars, with legal, insurance and cosmetic surgery running far higher. Local trade searches usually sit in the middle of that range.

Facebook and Instagram charge for reach, and work out cheaper per click, often under a dollar. The catch is that a cheap click from someone who was not shopping is worth less than an expensive click from someone who was.

Ignore the headline cost per click and watch the cost per customer. A seven dollar click that books a two thousand dollar job is cheap. A thirty cent click that books nothing is not.

How much do you need to spend to learn anything?

Plan on five hundred to a thousand dollars over about a month on one platform. Below that you get numbers too small to read: three clicks and no calls tells you nothing, and people tend to switch platforms at exactly that point and start over.

Run one platform at a time when you are starting. Splitting a small budget in two halves the data and doubles the work.

What has to be ready before you spend anything?

Ads send people somewhere. If that somewhere is weak, the money goes regardless.

• A page that matches the ad. An ad about gutter cleaning should land on gutter cleaning, not your home page.
• An obvious way to make contact, above the fold, on a phone. A tappable phone number beats a contact form for urgent work.
• A way to tell what happened. Without conversion tracking you are guessing, and both platforms will happily report “results” that are not customers.
• Somebody to answer. Paid clicks calling a phone nobody picks up is the most expensive mistake in this whole article.

You can do all of it yourself. Both platforms walk you through account setup, and their tracking guides are decent if you follow them exactly. Give it an afternoon and set a low daily cap while you learn.

If you would rather not learn two ad platforms to find out, our ad account and tracking setup is a one off job that runs $195, and getting your first campaign built and launched runs $185.

How long before you know if it is working?

Give Google two weeks before judging anything and a month before deciding. Give Facebook a month, because it needs volume to find your audience.

Turning ads off and on weekly is the most common way small businesses waste ad money. Every restart throws away what the platform learned.

Target Marketeer builds and runs marketing for small businesses nationwide, based in Greensboro, North Carolina, and most of the ad budgets we inherit were not too small, they were spread too thin.

Quick answers

Should I use Facebook ads or Google ads?

Use Google when people search for what you sell, such as plumbing, dentistry or car repair. Use Facebook and Instagram when they do not, such as boutiques, salons and restaurants. If both fit, start with Google, because existing demand converts faster.

How much do Google ads cost for a small business?

Clicks typically run one to seven dollars depending on industry and competition, with legal and insurance far higher. Budget five hundred to a thousand dollars over a month to learn whether it works for you.

Are Facebook ads cheaper than Google ads?

Per click, usually yes, often under a dollar. Per customer, frequently not, because the person was not shopping when they clicked. Compare cost per booked job, not cost per click.

Can I run both at once?

Once either one is reliably producing customers, yes. Starting on both with a small budget splits your data and makes it harder to tell what worked.

Do I need a website to run ads?

You need somewhere relevant to send people that loads fast on a phone and makes contact obvious. A single well built landing page is enough to start; a Facebook page alone usually is not.

If you are still deciding whether to spend at all, how to know if paid ads are worth it is the place to start, and when local ads are worth it covers the ways local budgets get wasted. Our paid advertising services page explains how we run campaigns month to month.