Google Ads vs. Meta Ads: The 2024 UK Founder's Guide

Most founders I speak to are asking the wrong question. They come to me asking "Should I use Google Ads or Meta Ads?" as if one is inherently superior to the other. They're looking for a simple answer, a silver bullet. But that's the first mistake. The truth is, choosing between them is less about the platforms themselves and more about the fundamental nature of your business and your customer's mindset. It's about whether you're fishing in a stocked pond or creating a new one.

Thinking one platform is just "better" is why so many businesses with limited budgets burn through their cash and get nothing back. They put an ad for a groundbreaking new app on Google, where no one is searching for it yet, or they try to sell urgent plumbing services on Instagram to people casually scrolling through pictures of cats. It's a fundamental mismatch. In this guide, I'm going to give you the framework to make the right choice, based not on guesswork, but on how your customers actually think and behave. We'll ditch the generic advice and focus on what works for UK businesses today.

So, what's the real difference? Demand Capture vs. Demand Generation

This is the single most important concept you need to grasp. Get this right, and you're already ahead of 90% of your competitors.

Google Ads is a Demand Capture platform. Think of it like a yellow pages on steroids. People go to Google with a clear intent. They have a problem, and they are actively, right now, searching for the solution. They're typing in "best accounting software for small business UK" or "24 hour electrician London". They have their wallets out, metaphorically speaking. Your job on Google isn't to convince them they have a problem; it's to convince them you are the best solution out of all the options they're looking at. You are *capturing* existing demand.

Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram) is a Demand Generation platform. Nobody wakes up in the morning thinking, "I'm going to scroll through Instagram to find a new CRM today." People are on Meta to be entertained, to connect with friends, to kill time. They are not in a buying mindset. Your ad is an interruption. Your job here is to stop their scroll, create a desire they didn't know they had, and introduce them to a problem they might not have even considered. You are *generating* new demand from scratch.

Trying to generate demand on a capture platform is incredibly difficult and expensive. Trying to capture demand on a generation platform is inefficient. Using the right tool for the right job is everything. A lot of businesses get stuck because they can't figure out the core strategic differences between Google and Meta, and end up applying the wrong tactics to the wrong platform.

When should my business use Google Ads?

You should prioritise Google Ads when your customers have a high degree of intent and urgency. This is where your marketing budget will see the fastest return, because you're meeting a pre-existing need. Think about it, if your boiler breaks in the middle of a London winter, you're not scrolling Instagram; you're on Google typing "emergency boiler repair Islington".

Here are the classic scenarios where Google Ads is the undisputed champion:

• Urgent Local Services: This is the most obvious one. Electricians, locksmiths, plumbers, IT support, removal companies. If someone needs you *now*, you need to be at the top of Google. I remember one campaign we ran for an HVAC company in a competitive area, and even at $60/lead, it was massively profitable because the job value was so high.
• "I need this specific thing" E-commerce: When people search for specific product names, model numbers, or categories with buying intent ("buy nike air max 90 size 10 uk"). They know what they want, and they're comparing prices and suppliers. Shopping Ads are particularly powerful here.
• High-Consideration B2B Services: When a business has identified a specific, expensive problem, they will start researching solutions. Think keywords like "commercial law firm city of london", "ISO 27001 consultant", or "salesforce implementation partner". These searches are often made by decision-makers with company credit cards.
• SaaS with a Known Category: If you've built a better mousetrap in an established software category, like accounting software or a project management tool, you need to bid on keywords related to that category. One of our clients, a medical job matching platform, was paying £100 per user. We refined their Google Ads targeting to focus only on high-intent keywords and got it down to £7. That's the power of capturing the right demand. It's not about getting clicks; its about getting the *right* clicks.

The key with Google is to be ruthless with your keyword selection. You must target keywords that signal commercial intent. Avoid broad, informational keywords like "how does accounting work" and focus on transactional ones like "xero accountant for startups". The first is a researcher; the second is a buyer.

And when is Meta the right choice?

Meta is your go-to platform when your customer doesn't know you exist, or doesn't even realise they have the problem your product solves. It's for building brands, creating markets, and selling things that people buy with their eyes and hearts, not just their heads.

You should prioritise Meta Ads in these situations:

• New & Innovative Products: If you've invented something completely new, no one is searching for it on Google. You have to *show* it to them. Think about all the successful Kickstarter products or new DTC brands. They almost all got their start with compelling video ads on Facebook and Instagram.
• Visually-Driven & Impulse E-commerce: Fashion, cosmetics, home decor, food & drink, gadgets. If your product looks amazing in a photo or video, Meta is your playground. We've seen incredible results for e-commerce brands, like a 691% return for a women's apparel brand and a 1000% ROAS for a subscription box. These sales weren't driven by need; they were driven by desire created by a great ad.
• Products/Services Targeting Lifestyles & Interests: Meta's targeting capabilities are incredible for reaching people based on who they are, not just what they type. Selling high-end cycling gear? You can target members of cycling clubs who read cycling magazines and follow pro cyclists. Offering financial advice for new parents? You can target people who have recently had a child and live in affluent London postcodes.
• Building an Audience & Brand: If your business relies on community, content, and long-term customer relationships, Meta is invaluable. You can run ads to grow your email list, promote a lead magnet, or get signups for a webinar. For one B2B software client, we generated over 4,600 registrations at just $2.38 each by offering a valuable piece of content. This built a huge audience of potential customers they could nurture over time. It's a slightly longer game, but can be incredably effective.

The secret to Meta is the creative. Since you're interrupting people, your ad has to be thumb-stopping. It must grab their attention in the first three seconds and give them a reason to care. Generic stock photos and corporate-speak will get you nowhere. You need to test different images, videos, and copywriting angles relentlessly to find what resonates.

How do I calculate what I can afford to spend?

This is where most businesses go blind. They obsess over Cost Per Click (CPC) or Cost Per Lead (CPL) without knowing the most important number of all: what a customer is actually worth to them. You can't know if a £50 lead is expensive or cheap until you know this.

The metric that unlocks this is Customer Lifetime Value (LTV). It tells you the total profit you can expect to make from a single customer over the entire course of your relationship. Once you know your LTV, you can work backwards to determine your maximum allowable Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

A healthy business model typically aims for an LTV to CAC ratio of at least 3:1. This means for every £1 you spend to acquire a customer, you should get at least £3 back in profit over their lifetime. Let's do the maths. You need three bits of information:

1. Average Revenue Per Account (ARPA): How much does an average customer pay you per month?
2. Gross Margin %: What's your profit margin on that revenue after deducting the cost of goods sold?
3. Monthly Churn Rate %: What percentage of customers do you lose each month?

The calculation is: LTV = (ARPA * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

For example, if your ARPA is £200, your gross margin is 70%, and you lose 5% of your customers each month, your LTV would be (£200 * 0.70) / 0.05 = £2,800. With a 3:1 ratio, you can afford to spend up to £933 to acquire a customer. Suddenly that £50 lead from Google or Meta doesn't look so bad, does it? Knowing this number is a super power, it gives you the confidence to invest properly in growth.

Why your ads are probably failing (and it's not the platform's fault)

I've audited hundreds of ad accounts. Most of the time, the reason for failure isn't the targeting, the budget, or the choice of platform. It's the offer. The call to action is weak, arrogant, and provides zero immediate value to the prospect.

The worst offender is "Request a Demo". Think about it. You're asking a busy, important person to give up 30-60 minutes of their time to be sold to. It's high-friction and low-value. It presumes they already care enough about your solution to commit time to it. On Meta, where you're interrupting them, it's an instant scroll-past. Even on Google, where they have higher intent, it's a huge ask compared to a competitor who might be offering a free trial or a valuable resource.

Your offer's only job is to provide an "aha!" moment. A moment of undeniable value that makes the prospect sell themselves on your solution. It has to be tailored to the platform's temperature.

• For Meta (Cold Traffic): You need something low-friction and high-value. A free tool, a checklist, a webinar, an industry report, a free chapter of a book. For a marketing agency, this could be a free SEO audit. For a data platform, a free 'Data Health Check'. You have to solve a small, real problem for free to earn the right to solve the whole thing. The goal isn't a sale; it's to start a conversation and build trust.
• For Google (Warm/Hot Traffic): You can afford slightly higher friction because the intent is there. "Get a Quote", "Book a Free Consultation", or "Start a Free Trial" work well. Notice the word "Free". Even with high intent, removing the risk and financial barrier is paramount. For SaaS, a no-credit-card-required free trial is the gold standard. Let the product do the selling.

If you're selling a service, don't just say "Contact Us". Frame it around value. Instead of "Contact us for Fractional CFO services", try "Book a free 20-min strategy call to identify your top 3 cashflow risks". One is a sales pitch; the other is an offer of help. It makes all the diffrence.

So, what's the verdict?

The smartest businesses don't see it as "Google vs. Meta". They see it as "Google *and* Meta". They use both platforms strategically as part of a cohesive full-funnel strategy.

It often looks something like this:

1. Top of Funnel (Awareness): Use Meta Ads with compelling video content to introduce your brand and the problem you solve to a cold, but highly relevant, audience. You're not going for the sale here; you're educating and generating initial interest.
2. Middle of Funnel (Consideration): Retarget the people who watched your videos or visited your website with more in-depth content on Meta—case studies, testimonials, webinar invites. At the same time, use Google Search Ads to capture people who, having been made aware of the problem, are now actively searching for solutions. They might even be searching for your brand name directly.
3. Bottom of Funnel (Conversion): Use Google Shopping ads and high-intent search ads to capture those ready to buy. Use Meta retargeting ads with special offers to bring back people who abandoned their carts.

This approach allows you to create demand and then efficiently capture it. You're building a predictable engine for growth, not just throwing money at one platform and hoping for the best. Deciding which channel to prioritise first depends entirely on your business model, but the ultimate goal should be to make them work together.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

Choosing the right platform is just the first step. Executing a campaign that actually delivers a positive ROI requires deep expertise, constant testing, and a ruthless focus on the numbers that matter. If you've tried to run ads yourself and been disappointed with the results, it's likely not your fault—it's a complex and ever-changing field. If you'd like an expert pair of eyes on your strategy and a clear plan to move forward, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation where we can review your goals and see if we can help.