Solved: Google Ads or Meta Ads? (The Real Reason)

Hi there,

Thanks for reaching out! It's a question I hear all the time: Google or Meta? It's easy to get lost and burn a lot of cash trying to figure it out. I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance based on my experience running campaigns for all sorts of businesses. The short answer is that the "right" platform depends less on the platform itself and more on your customer's mindset and how they search for and discover solutions.

I'll walk you through how I'd approach this problem, hopefully it will give you some clarity.

The Real Question: Are You Capturing Demand or Creating It?

This is the absolute core of the issue, and it's where most businesses go wrong. They treat Google and Meta as if they're interchangeable, but they serve fundamentally different purposes. It all comes down to user intent.

Google is for capturing demand. Think of it like a library. Someone goes to Google with a specific question or a known problem. They are actively searching for a solution, a product, or a service. They have high intent. Your job on Google is to be the best, most relevant book on the shelf for their query. If someone in Austin is searching for "emergency electrical repair," they don't want to see an ad for a new coffee shop. They have an urgent need, and you're there to fulfill it. This is what we call 'intent-based marketing'. The customer is already problem-aware and solution-aware.

Meta is for creating demand. Think of it like a glossy magazine or a busy high street. People are there to be entertained, to connect with friends, to browse. They are not actively looking for your product. Your job on Meta is to be the most captivating advert that interrupts their scrolling and makes them realise they have a problem you can solve, or a desire you can fulfill. This is 'interruption-based marketing'. You're making them problem-aware. For example, someone might see an ad for a unique piece of handcrafted jewellery and suddenly want it, even though they weren't shopping for it a minute ago. Or a small business owner sees an ad for a new project management tool that solves a frustration they thought they just had to live with.

Getting this distinction right is everything. If you try to create demand on Google with broad, unspecific ads, you'll pay a fortune for clicks that don't convert. If you try to capture high-intent buyers on Meta without a very specific retargeting strategy, your message will be lost in the noise. Most of the time, the budget is wasted because of this simple missunderstanding.

We'll need to look at when to use Google Ads...

You should prioritise Google Ads when your customers know they have a problem and are actively looking for someone to fix it. This is especially true for service-based businesses and for products that are solutions to well-understood needs.

Here's a simple test: Go to Google and type in the exact phrases you think a desperate customer would use to find you. Are your competitors' ads showing up? If yes, that's where you need to be. You're missing out on customers who are, right now, ready to pay for a solution.

I remember one campaign we worked on for an HVAC company in a competitive area. They were spending a bit on Facebook with poor results. Their customers weren't browsing Instagram thinking about their broken air conditioning. They were frantically Googling "AC repair now." We shifted their entire budget to Google Search Ads, focusing on keywords with high commercial intent like "emergency HVAC service". Their cost per lead was around $60, which sounds high, but for a job that could be worth thousands, it was incredibly profitable. It worked because we met the customer at their exact moment of need.

This applies to B2B as well. We've run many campaigns for B2B SaaS clients. If a business realises they need to change their accounting system, they don't scroll through LinkedIn hoping for an answer. They go to Google and search for "best accounting software for small business" or "Quickbooks alternative". For one client in the medical recruitment space, we used a mix of Google and Meta Ads, but the Google Ads targeting specific job-related searches were crucial for finding qualified candidates and employers, helping reduce their cost per user acquisition from over £100 down to just £7. You have to be there when they search, otherwise you're invisible.

So, the first step is to figure out if that active search behaviour exists for your business. The flowchart below should help you visualise this decision process.

I'd say you should use Meta Ads when...

You should prioritise Meta Ads when you're selling something innovative, visually appealing, or something people don't know they need yet. It's for products and services that benefit from discovery. If no one is searching for what you do (perhaps because it's a new catagory), then Google Ads won't work – there's no demand to capture.

This is the stomping ground of eCommerce brands, course creators, software with a novel approach, and any business that can tell a compelling story visually. For instance, we've had massive success with Meta ads for eCommerce clients. One campaign for a women's apparel brand generated a 691% return on ad spend. Another for a cleaning products company saw a 633% return. These customers weren't searching for those specific products. They saw a beautiful image or a clever video in their feed, it caught their eye, and it created a desire that led to a purchase.

The key to Meta is understanding you need to earn their attention. Your ad creative (the image or video) does 80% of the work. It has to stop them from scrolling. Then your copy has to hook them in seconds. I remember one campaign for a luxury brand launch that got over 10 million video views on Meta. The product was new and exclusive; we had to *create* the hype and desire from scratch, and Meta was the perfect place to do it with stunning visuals.

Meta is also incredibly powerful for B2B, but you have to be smart. You can't just target "business owners". It's too broad. But you can target people based on behaviour that suggests they are your ideal customer. For one B2B software client, we targeted users with interests in competitor software and specific business publications. We used persuasive video ads showing how our client's software solved a major pain point. The result? 4,622 registrations at just $2.38 each. They weren't searching for a solution at that moment, but the ad made them realise they had a problem that needed solving. That's demand creation in action.

The costs can be very different too. While a high-intent click on Google might cost several pounds, you might be able to get a click on Meta for under a pound. But it's a different kind of click – lower intent, more speculative. You need to convert a higher volume of them, which is why a slick landing page and a compelling offer are non-negotiable for Meta campaigns. It's a numbers game, but one you can win if you understand the rules. The performance will very much depend on your niche and targeting of course, there is no one size fits all.

You probably should define your customer by their nightmare

This is where we get into the stuff that separates successful campaigns from the ones that just burn cash. Forget the generic Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) that says "we target businesses in Austin with 10-50 employees". It's useless. It tells you nothing about their motivations, their fears, or their real problems. It leads to bland, generic ads that get ignored.

Your ICP isn't a demographic; it's a nightmare. It's a specific, urgent, expensive, and emotionally charged problem. Your job is to become the world's leading expert on that nightmare.

• A fractional CFO service doesn't sell 'financial planning'. They sell a good night's sleep to a founder who is terrified of making payroll next month. The nightmare is the impending cash flow crisis.
• A project management SaaS doesn't sell 'Gantt charts and tasks'. They sell relief to an engineering manager who's afraid her best developers are about to quit out of sheer frustration with a chaotic workflow. The nightmare is losing top talent.
• A law firm doesn't sell 'legal advice'. It sells protection from the nightmare of a multi-million dollar lawsuit that could bankrupt the company.

When you define your customer by their pain, everything else becomes clear. Your ad copy writes itself. Your messaging becomes sharp and resonant. And your platform choice becomes obvious.

If the nightmare is acute and well-defined (like a plumbing emergency), the customer will be on Google, typing their problem into the search bar. Your ad needs to reflect that urgency. If the nightmare is a chronic, simmering frustration (like a clunky internal process), the customer might not be actively searching for a fix. You need to interrupt them on Meta or LinkedIn with a message that holds up a mirror to their pain and says, "There's a better way." This is how you make your ads feel personal and relevant, not like spam.

Before you spend another dollar, take the time to do this. Interview your best customers. Ask them what was going on in their business the week before they hired you. What was the tipping point? What was the real fear? Once you know that, you'll know exactly what to say, and where to say it.

You'll need an offer they can't ignore

Here's a hard truth: the best targeting in the world can't save a bad offer. The number one reason I see campaigns fail, on any platform, is a weak, high-friction, low-value offer. Your offer's only job is to provide a moment of undeniable value that makes the prospect feel smart for taking the next step.

And for the love of god, please reconsider the "Request a Demo" button. It is the most arrogant, self-serving Call to Action in marketing. It presumes your prospect, a busy professional, wants to schedule a time to be sold to. It screams "I am a vendor, prepare for a sales pitch." It's the digital equivalent of a cold call.

You must do better. You need to create a low-friction "first step" that solves a small, real problem for them for free. This builds trust and proves your expertise before you ever ask for money.

• If you're a SaaS company: The gold standard is a free trial or a freemium plan. No credit card. Let them use the actual product. Let the software do the selling. Your goal should be creating Product Qualified Leads (PQLs) who are already convinced, not Marketing Qualified Leads (MQLs) for a salesperson to chase.
• If you're a service business: You need to 'productise' your expertise. Can you offer a free, automated audit? A 15-minute diagnostic tool? A free calculator? For my own consultancy, our best offer is a free 20-minute strategy session where we audit failing ad campaigns. We provide real value upfront, which earns us the right to discuss a paid engagement later.
• If you're in eCommerce: Your offer isn't just the product, it's the entire proposition. Is there a discount for first-time buyers? Free shipping? A risk-free guarantee? Look at your product page. Does it have great photos, clear descriptions, and customer reviews? I've seen so many eCom stores fail because they send expensive ad traffic to a page that looks untrustworthy or is slow to load. Your offer has to be compelling from the ad click all the way to the checkout confirmation.

Fix your offer first. Make it so valuable that it feels like a no-brainer. Only then should you start thinking about pouring petrol on the fire with paid ads. A great offer on the wrong platform might struggle, but a bad offer won't work anywhere.

How to budget and what to expect

This is where the rubber meets the road. The question isn't "how much do ads cost?" but "how much can I afford to pay for a customer and still be profitable?" To answer that, you need to understand two key metrics: Customer Lifetime Value (LTV) and Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC).

Your LTV is the total profit you expect to make from an average customer over the entire course of their relationship with you. A simple way to estimate it is:

LTV = (Average Monthly Revenue Per Customer * Gross Margin %) / Monthly Churn Rate

Once you know your LTV, you can determine a sustainable CAC. A healthy ratio for many businesses is a 3:1 LTV to CAC. So, if your LTV is £10,000, you can afford to spend up to £3,333 to acquire that customer. This single calculation changes everything. It frees you from the tyranny of chasing cheap, low-quality leads and allows you to invest confidently in acquiring the right customers. Suddenly, a £250 lead from LinkedIn doesn't seem so expensive if you know it has a high probability of turning into a £10,000 customer.

Use the calculator below to get a rough idea of your own LTV. It will help you frame your ad spend as an investment, not an expense.

You'll need a hybrid approach for growth

So far, I've presented it as an 'either/or' choice to make the core concepts clear. But the reality is, the most successful businesses use a hybrid approach where Google and Meta work together, each playing to their strengths. This is how you build a robust, scalable customer acquisition machine.

Here’s how it typically works:

1. Top of Funnel (Demand Creation) - Meta: You use Meta (Facebook/Instagram/LinkedIn) to reach a broad but relevant audience. The goal here isn't necessarily direct sales. It's to make people aware of your brand and the problem you solve. You might run video ad campaigns optimised for views or traffic campaigns to a valuable blog post or guide. You are filling the top of your funnel with potential customers who now know you exist.
2. Mid Funnel (Demand Capture) - Google: As those people become more problem-aware, some of them will eventually turn to Google to research solutions more deeply. Because you've already introduced your brand to them, when they see your ad in the search results, there's a flicker of recognition. You're not a stranger anymore. This increases your click-through rate and credibility. Here you capture the intent you helped create.
3. Bottom of Funnel (Conversion & Retargeting) - Meta & Google: This is where it all comes together. Anyone who has visited your website from any source (Google, organic, direct, etc.) but hasn't converted yet gets added to a retargeting audience. You can then show them highly specific ads on Meta and across the Google Display Network. These ads can feature testimonials, case studies, special offers, or simply remind them of the value you provide. I've seen retargeting campaigns deliver 10x return on ad spend because you're only talking to a warm audience who has already shown interest. It's the most efficient money you can spend.

This integrated system is powerful because it covers the entire customer journey, from first impression to final sale. It's more complex to set up, but it's how businesses scale past the initial low-hanging fruit.

Ultimately, this isn't a simple decision, and what works today might need adjusting in six months. The digital advertising landscape is always shifting. The key is to start with a clear strategy based on your customer, test methodically, and be ruthless about measuring what actually drives results for your business, not what creates the most clicks.

Running these campaigns effectively, especially a hybrid system, takes a lot of time, expertise, and constant attention to detail. It's not just about setting it up and letting it run; it's about daily monitoring, creative testing, audience refinement, and strategic budget allocation. This is, of course, where working with an expert can make a huge difference, helping you avoid costly mistakes and accelerate your growth far more quickly than you could on your own.

If you'd like to chat through your specific situation in more detail, we offer a free, no-obligation initial consultation where we can review your strategy and give you some more tailored advice. Feel free to get in touch if that's of interest.

Hope this helps!

Regards,

Team @ Lukas Holschuh