Search intent versus demand creation
The fundamental difference between the two platforms is what the user is doing at that moment. When someone searches Google for “custom software company in Sakarya”, they already have a need and are looking for a solution. Google Ads is very good at capturing that existing demand.
Meta ads, on Facebook and Instagram, reach people who aren’t searching for anything. The aim there is to create demand rather than capture it: introducing your brand, reminding people of a problem and building interest over time.
Which one, and when?
There’s no universal right answer; it depends on how well known your offering is and how your customers make decisions. Still, a few general patterns are worth bearing in mind.
- If people actively search for your service: start with Google Ads
- If the solution is new or little known: use Meta to build awareness
- If you need to target decision-makers by job title: consider LinkedIn
- For long sales cycles: add remarketing campaigns
- On a tight budget: go deep on one channel first
How to think about budget
Rather than starting with “how much can we spend each month?”, ask “what is a new customer worth to us?”. Without knowing your average contract value, how often proposals turn into sales and how long the sales cycle runs, it’s hard to judge whether ad spend is paying off.
A sensible approach is usually to test with a budget that is modest but large enough to produce meaningful data, then shift spend between channels as the results come in.
Conversion tracking and landing pages
You can’t compare the two platforms fairly until measurement is set up properly. Form submissions, phone calls and email clicks should all be tracked as conversions and, ideally, linked to your CRM.
Sending ad traffic to a dedicated landing page that matches the ad’s message and focuses on a single action, rather than to your home page, makes a noticeable difference to lead quality.
Measure leads, not clicks
In B2B, a high click-through rate isn’t success in itself. The real question is whether the people arriving from your ads are genuine, qualified prospects.
- Qualified enquiries by channel
- Share of enquiries that reach the proposal stage
- Which channel won business came from
- Cost per acquired customer by channel
In short, and how fountr can help
Where demand already exists, Google Ads tends to lead; where you need to create it, Meta or LinkedIn come into their own. For most B2B businesses the answer is a well-measured combination. At fountr we handle campaign set-up, conversion tracking and landing pages together. Email [email protected] if you’d like to talk it through.
