PPC advertising is proven to be a type of paid marketing that offers consistent results. Additionally, the way the pricing models usually work mean that PPC is usually cost-effective, and you can easily control your budget allocation.
This begs the question, which PPC platform is the best option for your business? There are several to choose from, and while Google Ads is the first choice for most businesses, I want to introduce you to two other more niche options – LinkedIn and Facebook Ads.
In this article, I provide a comprehensive overview of both platforms, how they work, and their pros and cons. I will then make a Facebook vs LinkedIn ads comparison so you can see which is the better PPC platform for your business.
Facebook Ads – Overview
Facebook Ads or Meta Ads as the service is now called is a social PPC platform where you can create customised ads to display on various parts of the social media platform.
Meta Ads gives you a range of data and analytics to help create targeted ads known as audience insights. It also has some excellent remarketing tools to customers you have already established a rapport with. Meta Ads offers multiple ad types including:
- Link click ads.
- Boosted page posts.
- Video ads.
- Lead ads.
- Messenger ads.
- Multi-product ads (also known-as carousel ads).
- Dynamic product ads.
- Canvas ads.
These ads can be customised in various ways including the headings, copy, and multimedia content. You also have a wealth of additional targeting tools to make sure you are using the right keywords, etc. The Meta Ads API also offers a range of analytics and metrics so you can monitor the performance of your ads and make continual adjustments.
Meta Ads – Pros & Cons
Pros
- They allow for excellent audience targeting.
- Huge potential audience with over 2.8 billion monthly active users.
- Great variety of ad formats.
- Easy to measure results and effectiveness.
- It also includes Instagram.
Cons
- Highly competitive ad landscape.
- Potential privacy concerns with recent Meta data breaches.
LinkedIn Ads – Overview
Like Facebook Ads, LinkedIn Ads is a PPC platform. It allows you to create several different types of ads that are displayed on their platform including:
- Sponsored content.
- Sponsored messaging.
- Dynamic ads.
- Text ads.
- Lead gen forms.
The ads are aimed at professionals and businesses who are already registered on the platform. There are 11 different ad formats including carousel ads, video ads, event ads, and single job ads. The platform uses a step-by-step ad creation process and there is a range of customisation options and analytics.
LinkedIn Ads – Pros & Cons
Pros
- Simple and easy-to-understand interface.
- Unique targeting options not available on other platforms.
- Fantastic for B2B marketing.
Cons
- More expensive than Facebook and Google Ads.
- Historically LinkedIn Ads generate fewer conversions.
Facebook vs LinkedIn Ads – Situational Comparisons
As with many decisions, choosing between Facebook vs LinkedIn ads is not a straightforward one. It depends on the situation including aspects like your target audience, budget, and the detail of analytics you require.
Who is Your Target Audience?
One of the more clear-cut choices between LinkedIn and Facebook ads concerns your target audience. Historically, Facebook is seen as a B2C marketing platform.
This is because the people who use it most are either individuals simply sharing info with their friends and family, or businesses selling mainly to customers. It’s just the nature of Facebook – I consider it more of an individual-orientated social media platform.
Businesses advertising on Facebook include local tradespeople, arts and crafts designers, fashion retailers, garden landscapers, etc. Therefore, if your business is primarily B2C, Facebook Ads should yield better results and contain more of your target audience.
In contrast, LinkedIn markets itself as a professional networking platform. It caters primarily to B2B and professionals. The statistics back this, for example, surveys conducted by Statista show that around 84% of B2B marketers find LinkedIn to be the best option.
If you sell exclusively to other businesses, or your customer base consists of professionals, the audience on LinkedIn should yield better results. On LinkedIn you find people and businesses looking to forge links, find new B2B opportunities, and build contact networks.
Facebook certainly has the larger potential for ad exposure due to the estimated 2.8 billion monthly active users, but LinkedIn is more likely to provide you with high-quality exposure.
What is Your Ads Budget?
Ad budget is also an important factor and there are two parts to this section. Firstly, we can look at the estimated CPC (Cost Per Click) for both platforms. Facebook Ad CPC averages at an estimated $0.79, while LinkedIn is typically much higher at CPC averages of between $3-8 (with the minimum being $2).
Coincidentally, these are both more expensive than the average Google Ads CPC which weighs in at $0.11-0.50.
So, from a basic cost standpoint, LinkedIn is the more expensive option, and potentially not a great idea if you are making your first foray int PPC as a new business. In this scenario, it could be an idea to start with Facebook Ads until your marketing budget grows and you can accommodate LinkedIn Ads.
That’s the basic CPC, but we have to look at things like conversion rates and the quality of those clicks too to really understand which is the most cost-effective option. LinkedIn has an average conversion rate of 6.1%, while Facebook Ads is higher with an average of 9.21%.
So, Facebook is cheaper, AND on average results in more conversions. BUT, if we can’t look at those statistics in a vacuum and this is where the other factors like target audience and usability come into play. However, if you are purely approaching this from a budget perspective, Facebook Ads is the better option.
What Analytical Features to You Require?
Both LinkedIn and Meta ads have analytical tools so you can monitor your ad’s performance. However, it’s important to delve into these tools to see which are better suited for your business.
LinkedIn has a simple analytical interface divided into three main sections – followers, visitors, and updates. The updates section shows info like clicks, impressions, followers acquired, and engagement. This includes numbers and graphs.
The followers and visitors sections show more metrics including things like organic followers, your followers compared to the competition, follower demographics, page views, unique visitors, and visitor demographics. This set of analytical tools is more than enough, but it is certainly not as developed as Meta Ads or Google Ads.
Meta Ads has seven main analytical sections – people, video, posts, visits, reach, likes, and overview. The data here is again presented in easy-to-understand numerical and graph formats and it’s easy to see general trends for stats like page likes and post reach.
What Ad Formats Do You Want to Create?
Lastly, it’s important to look at the types of ads available on each platform. You may find that Facebook/Meta ads offers ad formats that are better suited to your business and content, for example.
Meta Ads currently offers 10+ different ad types including image, video, poll, carousel, slideshow, collection, instant experiences, lead, dynamic, messenger, stories, and augmented reality to name a few.
LinkedIn Ads offers 7 ad types including single image, document, carousel, video, text, dynamic, and sponsored messaging.
From this, we can see that Meta Ads has the greater variety. I also feel that Meta Ads offers more unique and inventive ad types such as the augmented reality, messenger, and instant experience ads. If you want to get creative and experiment with different ad types, Meta has the better selection.
That shouldn’t downplay the LinkedIn Ad types either though. The main point is that as a business you must look at which ads you are more likely to use.
Conclusion – LinkedIn Ads for B2B, Facebook Ads for B2C
I hope you have a clearer idea of the Facebook vs LinkedIn ads battle and can see which PPC platform is suitable for your business. It’s difficult not to put too much emphasis on the target audience, but this is the overriding factor when choosing between the two PPC systems.
Simply put, Facebook Ads are better suited if your business serves a B2C market, while LinkedIn Ads excels for B2B and professional markets. We can look at two examples. First, what about a digital marketing agency like Key principles? We provide services such as social media marketing to other businesses so Facebook Ads would have a limited impact.
In contrast, what about a domestic cleaning company who provide cleaning services to homes and apartment blocks? In this scenario, Facebook Ads is the better option as they are more likely to find people looking for home cleaning services as opposed to on LinkedIn.
Aside from your target audience, don’t overlook the importance of PPC budgeting, and the usability of the platform such as ad formats and analytical features. Lastly, if you want additional direction and advice for your PPC marketing contact us; we have years of experience with both LinkedIn and Facebook Ads and would be happy to help!
