Google Ads vs LinkedIn Ads: Google is a heavyweight of pay per click (PPC), but LinkedIn has been giving the tough competition from recent years winter.
LinkedIn is fast becoming my favorite advertising platform when it comes to reaching a ‘professional’ audience.
Because of its growing influence, it now puts up a great fight for a healthy share of my advertising budget.
Google Ads hasn’t lost any of its clouts either and it still commands a big chunk of my monthly spend – but what are the pros and cons?
Which one has the knockout punch when it comes to ROI? And which one should you back with your Marketing budget? Here are my thoughts:
Table of Contents
1. Functionality - Google Ads vs LinkedIn Ads
Google Ads:
Google Ads are a great way to immediately improve the traffic to your website – Google is still the king of search engines and offers a targeted way to get in front of your audience.
Google Ads can hone in on Countries, but getting in front of specific organizations isn’t as easy as with LinkedIn.
That said, you will be bidding on keywords and phrases meaning you have the opportunity to get in front of people who are searching for what you have to offer – that’s a very different concept to LinkedIn.
LinkedIn Ads:
LinkedIn’s granular targeting functionality is outstanding.
It’s so specific it allows you to get in front of individuals with a particular job title, working for a specific organization who are located in the country of your choice.. that’s powerful.
Another great strength of LinkedIn’s advertising is that it’s simple to manage, their ad set up ‘wizard’ steps you through each stage, so even if it’s your first time, you’ll probably find it intuitive.
2. Key Strength - LinkedIn Ads vs Google Ads
LinkedIn Ads:
The judges are split on this one as they both add a lot of value, so I thought I’d mention both.
The first is the new media ads that can give your creatives some flair (i.e. videos) and the ‘follow up’ button which can be clicked by the user to request a call from you.
This landing page is an additional call to action to tempt them to get in touch.. the difference is, if someone clicks it you’ll receive a notification within LinkedIn itself.
Google Ads:
I think Google’s display network is a really powerful tool allowing you to ‘re-market’ to people who have previously searched for keywords relating to your products.
Just for clarity, this is when you search for a new power drill or pair of shoes and then you see ads for those products following you around the web, tempting you to buy them!
This is great too because it brings in a graphical element to Google Ads which is otherwise lost.
3. Audience: LinkedIn Ads vs Google Ads
LinkedIn Ads:
The one thing to remember with LinkedIn Ads is that your audience isn’t necessarily looking for what you have to offer – so it’s a ‘colder sell’.
That’s not a major issue because you only pay for the clicks you get and hopefully, they won’t be able to resist what you have to offer!
But expect a low click-through rate.. don’t be surprised if it’s well under 1%.
Google Ads:
Because of the search volume and different combinations of keywords, your Google Ads account needs daily management.
Neglecting it can lead to poor ad performance and wasted spend within a matter of weeks – that said, get it right and it’s a gold mine of exposure.
Best Services
-> Best Google Ads Services in Fiverr: Google Ads Setup and Management
-> Best LinkedIn Ads Services in Fiverr: LinkedIn Ads Setup and Management
Conclusion
It’s a fair fight and you should consider sharing your budget across both – the split is up to you and depends on the skills you have to hand and current marketing weaknesses.
I would always start small e.g. one or two ads and a modest daily spend and build up as you go.
My honest opinion would be to consider bringing in an expert for Google Ads which you can hire from Upwork or Fiverr, but I think you can be confident up some LinkedIn Ads on your own.
Some agencies can set up and manage your accounts, but you of course need to pay for that.
Most agencies will charge a minimum monthly fee e.g. $300 or around 10% of your monthly Ad spend, whichever is greater.
I hope that helps you decide where to spend some of your Digital Marketing budgets. Let us know how you get on.