Google or Meta Ads: Where Should You Spend Budget?

Blog| Insights and Tips

August 27, 2025•5 min read

The best returns don’t come from picking one - it comes from pairing both.

You’re Not Losing to Competitors. You’re Losing a Bad Ad Strategy.

Most businesses burn money by asking the wrong question: “Which is better, Google or Facebook?”

Wrong. The real question is: How do I get the most customers for the least money?

Here’s the answer:

Google Ads = people who are ready to buy right now.

Meta Ads = people who aren’t ready yet, but will be if you stay in front of them.

The winners? They use both.

Forget hacks, forget hype. This is about ROI - cash in vs cash out.

Let’s dig in!

P.S. If you want me to take a look at your account and what I could do for your business, get in touch with me here.

Quick breakdown of how they actually work:

Google Ads: You pay to push specific keywords higher in Google search. When someone types those words in, your business shows up first, catching people with clear purpose.
Meta Ads: You pay to show ads to a highly targeted audience on Facebook and Instagram. Instead of waiting for searches, you get in front of people based on interests, behaviors, and demographics.

Intent vs Interest: Spearfishing vs Line Fishing

Google Ads are like spearfishing.
Someone shouts “I need a plumber NOW!”, types it into Google, and your ad is right there at the top. That’s intent-driven marketing - people actively looking for what you sell.

Yes, clicks cost more. But one high-value job can cover the whole campaign.

Meta Ads (Facebook & Instagram) are like regular line fishing.
You cast into a big school of fish. They’re not searching for you - they’re just swimming by, distracted.

The upside? Cheaper clicks, massive reach, and plenty of chances to show off visuals, build brand recognition, and retarget site visitors. The catch? You’re interrupting them - so it takes creativity and persistence to land the sale.

And here’s where the real power kicks in: Use Google Ads to catch people actively searching, then Meta Ads to retarget and stay in front of them until they’re ready to buy.

Google finds the buyers, Meta keeps you in front of them constant reminders - it’s the perfect one-two punch.

ROI Over Clicks

Likes, views and impressions don't pay the bills… Sales do.

ROI (return on investment) is the only metric that will truly matter to your business.

How much money is getting out for what you are putting in.

A $5 Google click that turns into a $500 sale is a 1000% ROI.
A $1 Meta click that never converts is just wasted change.

The platform matters less than the outcome: if $50 in ads brings you a $500 client, that’s a win - no matter where it came from.

Google shines when people are ready to act. With almost every search starting there, if you’re not visible, your competitor is.

Meta wins at staying top-of-mind. Perfect for keeping your brand in front of people until the moment they’re ready to buy.

I'm about to show you exactly how it works:

Double the Impact: Google + Meta Working as One

Let’s say you’ve got a google ad running.

When someone searches:

You come up first. The person searching is looking for exactly what you are offering.

They click your ad and visit your site but leave. They are not ready to buy yet.

You can track that visit with the Meta Pixel (a small piece of code you add to your site).

Every visitor who comes through gets logged into a list inside Meta Ads Manager. Over time, this builds a list of people who found you through Google but didn’t buy right away.

You can then run targeted ads that are shown only to that group of people.

So you’re not paying to show ads to strangers who may never care about your offer. Instead, you’re zeroing in on people who already searched for you, clicked, and showed interest.

It’s like giving Meta a “hotlist” of people who already showed interest - so instead of spraying ads everywhere, you’re following up only with the ones most likely to buy.

P.S. If you’d like us to show you how this could work for your business, get in touch by clicking here.

When to Go Solo: Using Google or Meta on Their Own

Sometimes, budget or strategy calls for focusing on just one platform.

Google Ads on their own work best when you want fast, high-intent leads. If someone is searching “air conditioning installation near me,” you don’t need weeks of nurturing - you just need to be the first business they see. That’s direct, intent-driven, and it brings results quickly.

Meta Ads on their own shine when you’re building awareness, promoting something visual, or growing a local presence. You can put your business in front of thousands of people who didn’t even know you existed. The clicks are cheaper, and with the right creativity, you can generate demand instead of waiting for people to go searching.

Both can work separately - it just depends on whether you’re chasing quick wins (Google) or longer-term brand growth (Meta).

P.S. If you run a business and are thinking about using Google or Meta ads to bring in more clients, we can help. Book a free consultation call today, click here.

Bottom Line: Stop Guessing, Start Winning

At the end of the day, ads aren’t about opinions, trends, or who’s “better” between Google and Meta. They’re about data.

The businesses that grow fastest are the ones that let numbers lead the way:

Which ads bring in leads at the lowest cost.
Which audiences actually convert.
Which campaigns generate real, measurable ROI.

When you make decisions based on data instead of guesswork, your ads stop being an expense and start becoming an investment.

That’s the difference between throwing money at clicks… and building a predictable *client machine.

If you’re serious about growth, stop gambling with your ad spend. Run smart, track everything, and let the results tell you where to double down. That’s how you win.