Facebook or Google ads — which is right for your business?
By Tom · 12 June 2026
"Should I be on Facebook or Google?" It's one of the most common questions we get — and the answer you should ignore is "whichever one the agency happens to sell." The honest version depends entirely on how your customers actually decide to buy.
There's really one question underneath it all.
Are people already looking for you?
That's the whole thing. It splits neatly into two:
- Existing demand — people are already searching for what you do. Someone's boiler has packed in and they're typing "emergency boiler repair near me" into Google right now. The demand exists; you just need to be there when they look.
- Created demand — nobody's searching for you yet, but plenty of people would be interested if they saw the right offer. A garden room, a new lash set, a boutique's mid-season sale — people aren't hunting for it, but show them a great ad and they'll want it.
Get that distinction and the platform choice almost makes itself.
When Google tends to win
Google ads put you in front of people at the exact moment they're searching. That's gold when your service is urgent or need-driven — the customer already knows what they want, they just need someone to call.
Think emergency trades, repairs, "near me" services, anything where someone's actively hunting for a fix. The intent is sky-high: they're not browsing, they're buying. You're capturing demand that already exists.
The trade-off is that you're often bidding against competitors for those same searches, so cost per click can be higher — but the leads are red-hot.
When Facebook & Instagram tend to win
Facebook and Instagram are about putting your offer in front of the right person before they're actively looking. Nobody wakes up googling "garden studio" — but show a homeowner a beautiful one with a seasonal offer, and you've created a lead that didn't exist a second ago.
That's why it's such a strong fit for visual, discovery-led and impulse-friendly businesses: beauty and salons, retail and ecommerce, garden rooms, anything where seeing it sparks the want. You can also target tightly by area and audience, and the creative does the heavy lifting.
The trade-off: you're interrupting people mid-scroll, so the ad has to earn the stop. Done well, the cost per lead is often lower than Google.
"So... both?"
Sometimes, yes — and the two work beautifully together. Google catches the people already searching; Facebook builds awareness and creates demand that feeds future searches. For an established business with a decent budget, running both covers all bases.
But early on, splitting a small budget across two platforms usually means doing neither well. It's almost always smarter to start on the one that fits how your customers buy, get it working and profitable, then expand to the second. Win one, then widen.
A quick gut-check
- Do people actively search for your service when they need it? Lean Google.
- Is it something people buy when they see it, or that looks great in a photo? Lean Facebook/Instagram.
- Not sure, or a bit of both? Start with whichever matches your most urgent, highest-value job — and scale from there.
There's no universal right answer, which is rather the point — anyone telling you "always Facebook" or "always Google" without asking about your business is selling, not advising.
Want a straight recommendation for your business? On a quick call we'll tell you which platform fits, and why — no jargon, no pressure, and leads in your first 14 days or you don't pay.