Most online advertising today takes place on two main options, Facebook and Google. While both of these ad giants offer marketers targeting capabilities, automation options, and multiple campaign objectives, some things separate ad conversions. Google and Facebook ads it’s search intent. Google typically shows ads to searchers based on their specific searches, while Facebook users receive ads based on their demographics, interests, location, and behavior.

You can think of Google Search Ads as pull ads and Facebook Ads as push ads. Google Search ads answer calls from potential customers looking for more information. Facebook places ads on the platform for potential customers to convince them to be part of an advertiser’s conversion journey. How do search intent factors affect Google Ads conversions and Facebook Ads conversions differently? Let’s find out in the following article.

What role does search intent play in Google Ads conversions?

Potential customers searching on Google know what they want. They are looking for something specific, and go to Google to find it. They may be open to new or better solutions to the problem, they are looking to solve, within their search parameters. Advertisers must ensure that users see their ads while searching for answers, and the best way to achieve this is with a high-Quality Score (QS).

Quality Score measures the quality of your ads relative to other advertisers. A higher Quality Score means that your ads and landing pages are more relevant and valuable to someone searching for your keywords than other advertisers. Google calculates this metric on a scale of 1 to 10 based on the combined performance of the following three components:

• Expected Click Through Rate (CTR): The likelihood of your ad being clicked.
• Ad Relevancy: How relevant your ad is to the user’s search intent
• Landing Page Experience: How relevant and useful your landing page is to people who click your ad.

Choosing relevant keywords for your search audience allows you to receive a high-quality score, helping your ad appear in front of your target audience. Here’s how you determine the right ad relevancy:

• Your direct ad text language matches the user’s search term
• Searching for many different keywords that the same ad cannot effectively address. Divide ads into groups that are more relevant to user searches
• Try organizing your keywords into topics based on your product and user interests to increase relevance.

To get Google Ads conversions, you need to understand that relevancy shouldn’t stop with ads. If you want ad clicks to convert to ad conversions and not waste your ad dollars, you must connect every ad to a compatible, optimized, and personalized page.

What role does brand awareness play in Facebook Ads?

Unlike Google Search, Facebook users are not actively looking for solutions. However, the platform can still target them for ads based on online behavior, interests, location, and demographics.

So while Facebook users may not be “looking for” a particular solution, Facebook tracks user activity off-platform and includes this in “preferences” along with platform indicators, like following Groups or Pages, to show them ads that are appealing to them.

Where Google Search is specific in answering potential customers’ needs and pursuits at the moment, Facebook takes a more holistic approach.

Apple’s iOS 14 update affected Facebook Ads in terms of conversions, domain verification, ad reporting, and targeting. Facebook created “Aggregate Event Measurement” to help marketers measure how campaigns are performing in a way that matches consumer decisions about their data.

Facebook Ads allow you to create awareness and interest in your product. What Facebook lacks in user search intent on the platform makes up for in its myriad targeting capabilities. The platform measures how relevant your ads are to your audience through the ad quality metric.

Higher quality ads perform better in the auction to help create a seamless user experience. Ad quality depends on many sources, including feedback from people viewing or hiding the ad and low-quality property reviews and practices. If you want to receive ad clicks and conversions, your ads and landing pages must be relevant and valuable to your target audience. Creating relevant and optimizing Facebook ads is about understanding user behavior and preferences and developing an ad that perfectly describes what they’re looking for. Converting users on a landing page includes following an ad offer, maintaining the brand, and ensuring the right message is in place.

Your ability to match customer intent on each platform affects your ad rank, ad conversions, and ROAS (Return on Ad Spend). While Google Ads and Facebook Ads conversions may not be the same, both reward relevancy and attention to customer intent. If you want users’ clicks on your ads to convert, you should create dedicated, personalized landing pages for every ad.