PPC is a great way to get your business in front of potential customers. But which paid advertising channel should you use: paid social or paid search? 

Well, it all relies on what your goals are for your company. And it can be tough to figure out which is the best channel for you. Many marketers have had great success with both paid search and paid social, but each advertising method is different. 

But what you should consider is to get an SEO service in Austin and build your overall marketing plan by professionals and know where this falls into it. Here, we’ll compare paid social vs. paid search and how they each can be beneficial for businesses in terms of reach, engagement, and conversions.

Paid Social

With paid social advertising, businesses can target potential customers through platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. It happens due to the fact that when you run social ads on these platforms, they’re shown in the user’s newsfeed or timeline.

Since people are already spending a lot of time on these platforms, they’re more likely to see your ad. You can also target by demographics, interests, behaviors, and connections.

Paid Search

On the other hand, Paid search advertising allows you to target potential customers through keywords. This is because paid search ads are shown on the search engine results pages (SERP).

When someone types in a keyword related to your business, your ad will be one of the sponsored results that show up. You can also target by demographics, interests, behaviors, and devices used.

Difference between Paid search vs. paid social advertisements

Paid search advertising focuses on keywords, while paid social advertising targets people on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn. Since social platforms are where people spend a lot of their time (especially during the day), these ads will be able to reach targets more readily.

Paid search advertising is great for increasing conversions, while paid social advertising is good in terms of engagement and reach. However, both channels should be used together in order to achieve the most success. Paid social and paid search advertising, when used together, can help increase brand awareness, loyalty, and conversions.

If you’re interested in boosting your business’s visibility through paid advertising, contact an agency that offers you professional SEO service and helps you to develop your marketing plan.

Several factors make paid search and paid social ads different

Targeting

You can target by demographics, interests, behaviors, and connections in paid social. In paid search, you target potential customers by using keywords related to what you offer. Many businesses choose to target both types of advertising.

Real-time example

If you run a business that offers SEO services, you can target people who have been searching for “SEO services“ with ads on paid search and then promote your business on paid social media.

In paid search, you can target people who are looking to purchase a service like yours. You may even be able to further target people by the device they’re using, location, and time of day.

User intent

In paid search, the user’s intent is to find a specific product or service. They’ve already decided they need what you’re offering and are actively looking for it. In paid social, the user’s intent is more about entertainment and connection than actually wanting to buy anything.

For example, if you have a restaurant, your social posts should be more about sharing recipe videos and getting people to engage with the brand in a conversation, rather than trying to sell them a meal. Whereas, if you’re running a PPC campaign for that restaurant, your ads will focus on keywords like “restaurants near me” and “dinner reservations.”

What makes paid social and paid search different is the intent of the user; it is essential to understand it. In paid social, the user is more interested in being entertained or connecting with the brand. Paid search is when the user is already looking for a product or service and is ready to buy.

Ad formats

In paid search, the most common ad format is a text ad. However, there are many different types of ad formats in paid social, including video, carousel, and ads that look like organic posts.

In paid search, your ads will show up as text links at the top of the page, and they may also show up as expanded text ads on the right-hand side of the page. Your ads can show up in paid social as native ads in people’s newsfeeds or as videos or carousels in the sidebar.

Timing

In paid social, you can post ads at any time of day. However, the most popular times are during lunchtime, between 3 p.m. and 5 p.m., on evenings before weekends, and Monday through Fridays in the morning.

In paid search, you’re want to set your ads up when users are most likely to be searching for what you offer. That typically means running your ads from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., but variations are always depending on the industry.

Paid search ads are usually text-based ads that appear on search engines like Google and Bing, while paid social advertising is a form of online advertising that employs the use of social networking sites like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram. Paid social and paid search advertising can be complementary components of an integrated marketing plan, with each different serving purpose.

To sum it up,

It’s up to you. It depends on your goals and just what you need out of your overall marketing plan. Paid social advertising is good for getting people to connect with your brand and learn more about what you offer. Paid search advertising is excellent for getting people to buy your product or service. When used together, they can be extremely effective in increasing brand awareness, loyalty, and conversions. If you’re interested in using paid advertising to grow your business, contact an SEO Services agency in Austin, TX, to help you develop a marketing plan.